"Marketing's common sense - anyone can do it." Well, maybe not.

[Sharon Keith] When you see the finished object - the advertising campaign, the packaging, the new flavour, the shiny social media campaign, it's tempting to think that these things are relatively simple and straightforward to plan and execute. But those of us "in the know" know. It's a long hard slog. 10 Feb 2012 12:42

Mentoring the next generation - a challenge to the SA creative industry

[Brianna Graves] There is no doubt that South Africa's advertising industry is already present on the world stage. But are those leading the industry doing everything possible to prepare for the future and to ensure a continued and well-established presence on that world stage? Who will step up to the plate to represent SA on the same global stage that will connect the worldwide creative community on Portfolio Night 10 on 23 May 2012? 10 Feb 2012 12:26

Direct marketing in the context of privacy regulation

[Nick Altini] The ever-growing volume of consumer complaints relating to unsolicited and unwanted commercial messages seems to be having a legislative effect, as the issue of privacy and the right to reject and not receive unsolicited commercial messages is a theme in existing pieces of legislation and in the draft Protection of Personal Information (PPI) law. 9 Feb 2012 11:34

Are journos being real twits to tweet?

[Chris Moerdyk: @chrismoerdyk] I wasn't in the least surprised to hear that the BBC and SKY News had put a stop to their journalists breaking news on Twitter. For some time now, I have been following South Africa journos on Twitter as they report directly from events. And it has been so efficient that I might've felt that I needn't bother to tune in the hourly broadcasts or visit news sites because I actually get to hear the news before the radio stations and newspapers. 9 Feb 2012 10:57

Avusa set to join newspapers houses' centralising drive

[Gill Moodie: @grubstreetSA] Sunday Times sports staff have been told that they are to be moved (minus the sports editor) into a weekend sports hub serving most of the Avusa titles. One can really sympathise with them but, sadly, this is indeed the direction in which the media world is moving and, in fact, if Avusa's sports hub is a precursor to it creating more of these company-wide shared services, it is one of the last of the big SA newspaper houses to do so. 8 Feb 2012 10:37

EXCLUSIVE: Hewlett combines assets to launch new agency player, Machine

[Herman Manson: @marklives] Adrian Hewlett, CEO and founder of the Habari Group, has combined his group's significant through-the-line, below-the-line, research, digital and social businesses to launch a major new independent advertising agency called Machine. 8 Feb 2012 09:19

Can Facebook ever make (real) money?

[Thomas Oosthuizen] Growth is hardly the challenge Facebook faces. The challenge for the monetarisation of Facebook is not how many people it reaches - it is a huge medium by any standards - but how it extracts revenue from its core business: connecting people in an objective, friendly, social, non-threatening and non-commercial environment. 7 Feb 2012 10:40

EXCLUSIVE: Punk'd out of ATL funk

[Herman Manson: @marklives] Alistair King, group creative director of the King James Group, doesn't bother to hide his enthusiasm for the latest, possibly bravest, move within his agency to further define its offering in a competitive market, where budgets are shifting from above-the-line to integrated campaigns and what was traditionally considered below-the-line work. 6 Feb 2012 14:06

Tricks of the trade: improving your on-air content

[Caren Olsen] The South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF) invited a number of top players in the radio industry to speak at a recent Community Radio Forum, giving community radio delegates advice on everything from programming to marketing. This is my advice for presenters on how to deliver a show with the kind of on-air content that attracts and retains listeners. 6 Feb 2012 12:42

The humble but immeasurably powerful photograph

[Francois Rank] In the fast-growing world of social media and viral videos, conventional communication tools and their power to shape perception are often forgotten or ignored. Recently, however, the world's most-powerful spin machine has returned to use old-fashioned PR - particularly the humble but immeasurably powerful photograph. 6 Feb 2012 11:37

Afrikaans advertising slipping towards mediocrity?

[Andrea le Sueur] Gill Moodie's article "Banning English ads in Media24 digital, print speaks to Afrikaans ID", published on Bizcommunity on the eve of the Pendoring Awards last year, struck a chord with the project managers at Folio Translation Consultants, who invited me to open a window on their perspective, outlining some of the challenges that professional language practitioners experience in this regard. 3 Feb 2012 12:57

Frankie's vs Woolies: score one to the little guy

[Willem Steenkamp] It's not often, in the real world, that David deals Goliath a devastating blow. But that's just what has happened in the Frankie's vs Woolworths saga, when the latter broke the first rule of crisis communications - say something tangible and truthful, and say it quickly. 3 Feb 2012 10:30

How Woolworths lost its mojo

[Walter Pike] There was a time, those of us of a certain age will remember, when Woolworths was held up in marketing classes as a brand that had been built entirely on word of mouth. That has now changed. 2 Feb 2012 12:37

The delicate art of medical marketing

[Craig Lyon] Requiring specialised knowledge and high degrees of informed creativity, 'dark marketing' is becoming increasingly prominent in everyday life as more and more industries come under increased control and, even those that are not, turn to new and innovative ways to punt their wares. And it is in this domain that marketing for the pharmaceutical industry lies. 2 Feb 2012 11:46

A role for media agencies in solving the modern media blur

[Herman Manson: @marklives] London-based media company PHD Worldwide, a part of the Omnicom Media Group, recently stepped up its investment in the South African market with its purchase of a 70% shareholding in strategic media planning company page three. [video] 2 Feb 2012 10:31

What can Brand ANC learn from centenary brands?

[Thabani Khumalo] Think of giant brands such as Chevrolet, Kiwi polish, Coca-Cola, Jonnie Walker, Shell, Xerox, Guinness, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, IBM, Tata, HSBC, Levi's and a few more. All these brands are more than a century old, yet they continue to dominate their landscapes today. They just thrive on a solid reputation built in the past and preserved for the future. What can the ANC learn from the 10th-decade greats? 1 Feb 2012 13:00

Press freedom as the ANC sees it

[Stephen Grootes: @StephenGrootes] On Tuesday, 31 January 2012, in front of the Press Freedom Commission's members, the ANC had its say. Parts of its submission make you think the ANC is paranoid, and parts make you think it has a serious point. 1 Feb 2012 11:16

Tomas Roope on brands and social platforms

[Herman Manson: @marklives] Tomas Roope has been doing multimedia since 1991. That was before most of the rest of us even realised it existed. So listen closely. Once it might have described CD-ROMs (he did that, too) but today multimedia features in numerous consumer touchpoints, both online and off, and Roope has had a front-row view as a technical and creative director at The Rumpus Room. [video] 1 Feb 2012 10:34

[2012 trends] In case the world doesn't end...

[Louise Marsland: @Louise_Marsland] While the theme song for the Year 2012 will undoubtedly be ''It's the end of the world as we know it..." by R.E.M., and we'll be bored with all the End-of-the-World theme parties and raves and launches by March already... in case the world doesn't end, these are some essential trends and things you need to know for the year to come [with additional editing and contributions from moi - managing ed]. 31 Jan 2012 14:13

[2012 trends] Will someone (Eskom, maybe) please pull the plug?

[Sue Disler] That was my first reaction when Bizcommunity's editor Simone Puterman requested an article predicting 12 trends for 2012. A "trend" is defined as "a general tendency, movement, or direction". In my honest opinion, what most people will be purporting as trend is merely (if you analyse it properly), new and improved technology and ideas. 31 Jan 2012 12:06

[2012 trends] Bob, where's my flying car?

[Matt Ross] I'm risking joining the ranks of ludicrousness by jumping in the mire of guesstimation. I'm not focusing on any specific area of our industry; after all, any development affects us all. I have tried to be broad, though. Oh, and I've avoided trends. The following will be stalwarts for years to come - the temporary is never attractive, anyway. Unless you married Liz Taylor. 31 Jan 2012 11:36

Francois de Villiers joins Haas Collective as agency takes Spur account

[Herman Manson: @marklives] A small Cape Town agency has just taken the Spur account and brought on board the former executive creative director of Draftfcb - Francois de Villiers. Haas Collective is a creative collective run by Mike Orrey, one of the founders of Orrey, Rightford & Drysdale Advertising (ORD Advertising) and Glynn Venter, a former ECD of the Draftfcb through-the-line studio. 31 Jan 2012 09:25

John Farquhar, a man of fascinating contradiction

[Gill Moodie: @grubstreetSA] John Farquhar, the legendary ad man and commentator who died at the weekend, was a man of fascinating contradiction: a sophisticated thinker with a poor education; a loner who worked in the team-based world of advertising; an irascible man who was shy at heart. 30 Jan 2012 15:58

Cell C's Camerer to take marketing reins at MultiChoice

[Duncan McLeod: @mcleodd] Simon Camerer, the man who "appointed" comedian Trevor Noah as Cell C's CEO ("chief experience officer") and who led the makeover of the cellular operator's brand, is set to take the top sales and marketing job at DStv operator MultiChoice on 1 February 2012. 30 Jan 2012 12:19

Chris Moerdyk pays tribute to John Farquhar

[Chris Moerdyk: @chrismoerdyk] This is most unlike you, John. This dying thing. I mean, dash it all, we had a lunch date in mid-February and it really is most unlike you to do anything that might compromise lunch, especially as it was my turn to pay. 30 Jan 2012 10:31

[2012 trends] Media industry encountering unprecedented challenges

[Angela Quintal] The fragmentation of the media and the mind-boggling range of sources of information available to readers have conspired to cause publishers of print media to re-evaluate their roles. Does that mean that print is dead? No, far from it, but periods of serious introspection are nonetheless the order of the day for publishers of newspapers and magazines across the globe. 27 Jan 2012 14:28

[2012 trends] Thoughts to challenge SA's communications industry

[Marcus Sorour] With social media and connectivity transforming communications, clients are asking for dedicated, proactive and tech-savvy teams who can provide content and counsel which talks beyond 'the product' and positions them as industry leaders. Lower marketing budgets and higher client expectations means agencies need to continually develop and deliver more to address the challenges faced by the communications industry in 2012. 27 Jan 2012 14:16

[2012 trends] Getting found in 2012

[Lana Hindmarch] In 2012, businesses will take a more aggressive approach to transforming their marketing efforts and reducing their cost per lead, by focusing more on permission-based, inbound marketing programmes that allow customers to find them. 27 Jan 2012 13:01

Press freedom in South Africa and why self-regulation is best

[Dr Julie Reid] Forget all the emotive arguments for and against self-regulation of the media. The numbers alone paint a clear picture: 70% of the top 50 countries in the Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House press-freedom rankings practice self-regulation. 27 Jan 2012 12:03

[2012 trends] Reasons not to 'touch that dial'

[Gilda de Araujo] 2012 heralds a brand new chapter for radio advertising and, more and more, savvy advertisers are acknowledging that successful campaigns demand the time, effort and nurturing of an involved team and more. Here's the lowdown on what to expect from radio (advertising) in 2012... [multimedia] 26 Jan 2012 14:18