Getting a better return on investment from TV commercials

[Chris Moerdyk] With 20% of all advertising failing or negatively affecting the brand it is supposed to be promoting, it only takes a tiny amount of time and money to make sure that a huge bundle of both is not being wasted...

How quality content can seal the B2B deal

Charlie Stewart

Internal communication that really works

[Chris Moerdyk] Most internal communications methods are outdated and inefficient. Getting something that works means thinking logically and making things simple...

What's the big deal about branding?

[Chris Moerdyk] A few nights ago I had a dream about the beggar who regularly comes to my gate asking for a cup of tea or a handful of change and suddenly, there he was in a pinstripe suit declining my offer of a cuppa...

Advertising without marketing is just wishful thinking

[Chris Moerdyk] Getting a measurable return on investment from advertising, branding and PR depends entirely on making sure they are monitored by marketing...

Digital impact on consumer habits

[Chris Moerdyk] Mobile devices don't just mean cell phones anymore. They have literally grown up and will soon be having a huge impact on South African business...

Marketing isn't an optional extra

[Chris Moerdyk] It is still quite remarkable how many companies and consumers think that marketing is either pretty much the same as the Lotto or that it is just an excuse for yuppies to get to own Porsches...

New Year resolutions for marketers

[Chris Moerdyk] 2011 is going to be a year in which marketers and especially advertisers are challenged to the limit with an increasing number of CEOs and financial directors insisting on more precise returns on investment and a lot more measurement of marketing strategies and funds employed...

11 tips for successful marketing in 2011

[Chris Moerdyk] Accountability, measurement, getting closer to customers and understanding the opportunity of new media and pressurea on the old, are all important role players for the year ahead...

Race no longer has a place in marketing

[Chris Moerdyk] Culture is important in marketing today but race is completely irrelevant. You can't just group all whites and all blacks into a single target market. Marketing is about emotion and aspiration not pigmentation...

PROs need to be careful with those last-minute invites

[Chris Moerdyk] PR practitioners need to be very careful when they try to kid people they're celebrities or influential while back at the ranch they're actually just one notch above rent-a-crowd...

Marketing audits improve return on investment and efficiency

[Chris Moerdyk] With marketing costs having gone up substantially in the past few years, more and more boards of directors and non-marketing CEOs are demanding answers with regard to actual returns on investment and measurement...

Marketing is getting cheaper

[Chris Moerdyk] A lot of smoke and mirrors are disappearing from the marketing environment with focus returning once more to basing everything on the most direct contact possible with consumers...

Are ad agencies too timid to stand up to unscrupulous clients?

[Chris Moerdyk] Why is it that unscrupulous clients are able to rip off agencies during pitch processes without a twinge of guilt about stealing ideas and defrauding intellectual capital?...

A guide to surviving tough times

[Chris Moerdyk] Global economic chaos and talks of double-dip recessions, it's no wonder that South African businesses are concerned about what is in store for them in the months and years ahead...

Getting a return on sponsorship investments

[Chris Moerdyk] Marketing in South Africa is rapidly moving toward direct contact with target markets and at the same time sponsors are realising the need to not only get a good return on investment but also to develop communities which in turn creates powerful brand loyalty...

How to raise sponsorship online

[Chris Moerdyk] Of all the requests for help I get, asking me to put someone in touch with potential sponsors is top of the list...

The important role of mass media in education

[Chris Moerdyk] The education of our children has always been emotive and when the mass media is added to the mix, volatility is inevitable...

How much money are you wasting on marketing and advertising?

[Chris Moerdyk] I have calculated that about R50 billion - yes, billion - is wasted on bad marketing decisions in South Africa every year and independent research has shown that 20 per cent of all advertising in this country doesn't work.

See my new online educational marketing programme

[Chris Moerdyk] Over the past year I've been working on creating an online educational programme and learning community targeted at anybody interested in learning more about marketing...