You are a unique individual - just like everyone else

[John Laurence] In a passage borrowed from Columbia Business School professor, Sheen Inyengar's book, The Art of Choosing, she makes her point that although everyone believes they are unique, we are actually more alike than we think. Barnum Effect statements like this are often used by mentalists, fortune tellers and clairvoyants to make "accurate" predictions about their subjects. And I've seen them used in marketing research. 18 Nov 2012 10:04

The importance of building shared values

[Ben Wagner] In a highly-connected world where social media savvy-consumers expect greater transparency from the companies whose brands they use, the absence of shared values is becoming an imposing threat to companies' triple bottom lines*. 16 Nov 2012 12:11

Lessons from Marge Simpson and casinos

[John Laurence] In an episode of season 5 of The Simpsons cartoon, the townsfolk of Springfield decided to legalise gambling in order to boost the town's flagging coffers. Marge, the mom, develops a gambling addiction after putting a loose coin in a slot machine. She becomes permanently glued to the machines, feeding in coins in a zombie-like fashion and consequently neglecting her family, who proceed to stir up all sorts of unconstrained mayhem. 16 Nov 2012 09:48

Tonight's Biz Takeouts show cancelled

Tonight's Biz Takeouts Marketing & Media radio show, streamed live every Thursday from 5pm-6pm via 2oceansVibe Radio, has unfortunately been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. [twitterfall] 15 Nov 2012 11:25

Crowdsourcing ways to drive traffic, two companies team up

Hiring Bounty, which makes use of crowdsourcing as a recruitment tool, and Idea Bounty, which solves business problems by tapping into the creativity of the masses, are working together to find the best and most creative idea to drive traffic to the recruitment site. 15 Nov 2012 10:13

Pay attention to mobile as email marketing channel

[Richard Mullins] Email is still one of the most important and widely-used communication channels that marketers have at their disposal, but the way that many organisations use it is still surprisingly unrefined. Nowhere is this clearer than in the lack of attention many marketers pay to the mobile device as a channel for email marketing. 15 Nov 2012 08:30

Indigo Tree launch sees jacaranda trees swathed in scented ribbons

As a method of launching the new online fragrance site, Indigo Tree, Morrisjones wrapped rows and rows of jacaranda trees in designer-scented, purple ribbons. 15 Nov 2012 06:17

5FM appoints Natalie Frank as new marketing manager

5FM has announced that Natalie Frank has been appointed as the station's new marketing manager which will see her developing and implementing the marketing and CSI strategy for 5FM and for promoting the station, its programming and events. 14 Nov 2012 15:47

34

34Woman and Clover lift the Clover Aardklop National Arts Festival to new heights!

[Issued by 34] Tasked with developing an insightful, relevant marketing campaign that would connect with the festival's target audience, 34Woman used the classic knock-knock joke (or klop-klop grap, in Afrikaans) to give this year's Aardklop festival more gees. 14 Nov 2012 10:35

Digital Marketing Institute partners with Vega School

The Irish-based Digital Marketing Institute announced a new partnership with Vega School of Brand Leadership to train over 3000 students in digital marketing in South Africa next year. The Institute forecasts that the South African market will generate revenues in excess of €3 million for the company by 2015. 14 Nov 2012 09:42

Millward Brown

Millward Brown opens in Cairo, Egypt

[Issued by Millward Brown] Leading market research firm Millward Brown has officially opened its newest office in Cairo, Egypt to serve the North Africa market. This is the third office opened by the global firm in the Africa and Middle East region this year. 14 Nov 2012 09:08

Marketing for results

[Louise Robinson] You have a fantastic product or service. You have invested valuable resources into creating or acquiring an up-to-date, accurate and extensive database of prospective leads and clients for your company. So why aren't you seeing any results in terms of return on investment and sales? 14 Nov 2012 07:46

New app offers members discounts on luxury items

Recently launched by Liveoutloud at one of its events in the Sandton Audi Centre, the new Playoutloud App contains a cache of luxury goods worth over R5.7m and offers a competitive format to an exclusive subscriber base, which is limited to 500 members. 13 Nov 2012 09:27

Skyfall promotion reaches South Africa

In celebration of Heineken's 15-year association with the James Bond franchise and, in anticipation of the launch of Skyfall at the end of November 2102, the company has launched its international 'Crack the Case' campaign in South Africa. (video) 13 Nov 2012 06:20