The agency-client relationship is undergoing a radical transformation in 2026. The days of ‘creative for creative’s sake’ have officially been replaced by a demand for uncompromising accountability. With every cent of marketing spend under scrutiny, the definition of ‘value’ has shifted from the volume of output to the velocity of impact. According to Neill Robertson, […]
Garon Campbell, Founder and Director, Breadbin Productions, discusses why AI prompting is pulling editors upstream. Most editors recognise this pattern, even if it is rarely called out directly: the footage arrives, the first assembly begins, and somewhere along the early cuts, it becomes clear that something is not working in the way it was expected […]
Steve Duck, Chief Revenue Officer: Media at Tractor Outdoor, says South Africa now has roughly 16,200 billboard faces, with steady growth over the past six months, and digital inventory expanding even faster, with roadside screens up around 10% year-on-year. But most of that growth continues to concentrate in Gauteng, where new sites are added to […]
Nombulelo Ntakakazi, Marketing Academic and Lecturer at Milpark Education, discusses responsible marketing’s role in a marketplace where confidence must be earned. There is no doubt that consumer trust is evolving. Shoppers are willing to spend 51% more with retailers they trust compared to those they do not, but that trust is fragile. In fact, building trust requires an […]
Mogorosi Mashilo, Founder and Director at Trender, a VML supplier development partner, says research only becomes useful when you know how to use it effectively. That starts with gathering the right insights to achieve your specific goals. It also means knowing how to interpret the information you receive and use it strategically. Here’s where many […]
According to Mateen Suliman, Business Development Executive for digital media at iqbusiness, digital marketing has never had more tools, targeting options, and dashboards. And yet, many brands are working harder than ever for returns that feel smaller than they should. Often, the reason for this is that brands are still following ‘conventional wisdom’ that has […]
Kgomotso Lebele, Country Managing Director for Accenture South Africa says in a low-growth economy where expanding revenue is challenging, organisations are under increasing pressure to unlock efficiencies and do more with less. Consider a major South African bank that recently celebrated a successful AI-powered fraud detection pilot. Results were impressive: faster detection, fewer false positives, […]
Caitlyn Greve, Digital Co-Ordinator at Sauce Advertising, says if you’re a marketing decision-maker, you need to hear this: brands aren’t just losing clicks, they’re losing eligibility. As we all know, online search doesn’t work like it used to. Discovery is becoming increasingly local and context-aware, and that means your marketing mix needs to be managed […]
According to new data from consumer insights agency KLA using YouGov Profiles+ data, among South African internet users, 62% stream games and 61% download games. A further 49% actively play games online, placing gaming firmly alongside the most common internet activities. These are not fringe numbers, they reflect a mainstream shift in how South Africans […]
There is a quiet coup happening in the C-suite. It isn’t being led by a rival brand or a disruptive startup, but by a department two floors down: procurement, writes Pieter Geyser, Commercial Director, Humanz. In the modern corporate machine, marketing, once the engine of growth and the soul of the brand, has been demoted […]