SA Trendwatch 2015

According to Fortune magazine, Goldman Sachs and Vogue magazine - trusted authorities in maternal wear - both agreed the Mom jean was getting hot in 2014 and predict it will explode, yes explode, into the mainstream in 2015.

Not that that has any bearing on us here in the R of SA. Overseas trends normally take about a decade to reach our shores. The following local trends, however, could have a major impact on business in South Africa in the coming year. Let's hold thumbs they materialise.

Consumer sponsored billboards will really take off

If you work in a consumer services call room, breathe a big sigh of relief. In 2015 you'll be able to get consumer complaints on your way to work. Following 2014's hugely successful "Most Useless Service Provider" Cell C billboard, consumers will find their voice above highways and outside airports. Look out for Standard Bank's "Worst Internet Banking" and Eskom's "Failure Is Our Business". Coming to a highway near you.

We'll see more people running down streets in ads

Unless we run out of streets, of course. It's my belief the running down the street idea was born in a boardroom in Midrand and - like the Ebola virus - spread rapidly infecting studios and agencies as it swept through the advertising community. Like the Ebola virus, the street idea will, sadly, gain momentum in 2015 slowly killing creative advertising one step at a time.

Logos on sports fields will get even bigger

The Sunfoil margarine block on display in the recent test series against the West Indies was roughly the size of a tennis court. At the rate logos are growing it's safe to predict someone's going to place a logo the size of a rugby field on a rugby field. We'll see players walking off the field covered in smut from head to toe like coal miners returning home after a hard day's toil. We won't see the ball. We might buy more margarine.

Many other cities will update their logos to be current and trendy

In 2014 Cape Town launched a new logo. It's stunning. Arranged in repeated circles, silhouettes of Table Mountain form a happy kaleidoscope in colours you'd expect to see in a décor shop in De Waterkant. I expect the rest of SA to follow, albeit with a lower budget. Joburg will simply copy the idea arranging Hillbrow tower to form the spokes of a wheel. Durban will go for a line drawing of a banana, Bloem will opt for a simple clipart of a rose and P.E., with no budget, will stick with the logo they have.

The ASA will receive 19 complaints - Up from 15 in 2014

10 of those will be from Mrs. M. Hendriks who hails from Vanderbijl Park. Mrs. Hendriks went to the trouble registering with the ASA in 2014 to keep an eye on obscenities, including the name Steve, repeatedly hurled at the public during 30-second TV ads. Mrs. Hendriks checks in weekly with W. Hartley from Margate - the other registered ASA user. Together they speak for all of us in matters relating to advertising.