According to Ivan Moroke, MAA Chairperson, the debates happening across boardrooms and agency briefing rooms in South Africa right now are not new and not unique to our market. They go something like this: is marketing a science or a creative discipline; should we rely on data or on expert intuition; are we investing in […]
Bradly Howland, CEO, Alkemi Collective and President of the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA), says one of his team leads submitted a first draft of a client strategy document in under two hours. It was polished, well-structured, and covered all the expected ground. It was also, on closer reading, almost entirely generic. The […]
Jacques Burger, CEO at The Up&Up Group, says as creative industry leaders, we like to believe we are in the business of rational persuasion. We talk about being data-led, insight-driven and optimised. We measure what works and we defend what we can prove. We build cases, not just campaigns. And yet, quietly, often uncomfortably, we […]
Leslie Adams, Sales Director at Reach Africa, says Connected TV (CTV) receives just 7% of total media budgets, despite delivering a knockout punch on returns (30% higher ROI according to Analytics Partners). The question worth asking is why, because CTV is not new anymore, and the evidence is strong. Audiences have already made the move, […]
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 The days of ‘creative for creative’s sake’ have officially been replaced by a demand for uncompromising accountability.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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Veronica Moleele, CEO of Penquin, is calling on marketers to embrace purposeful risk-taking as an essential strategy for success. Moleele argues that as platforms become increasingly packed with forgettable content, creative risk-taking has transitioned from a creative ‘extra’ to a business necessity. ‘Every second, someone is selling something. That’s why I believe creative risk-taking is […]
Troy Niddrie, Managing Director, Billboard Management Technologies (BMT), says digital billboards are an inescapable part of our urban landscape, lighting up highways and malls alike. As more of them go up, we have to plan digital infrastructure that’s more resilient by design. This year will build on the momentum of last year, with the focus […]