As we approach Christmas and New Year, marketers should be looking for opportunities to harness the "season of gifting". However, with the economy not fully recovered and with consumer's interest in all things "green" and "social", we're anticipating that consumers are being more innovative in how they can spend less but actually give more. 16 Sep 2011 Read more >>

With more and more clients turning their focus to PR as a communications tool on its own and as an important part of the overall mix for marketing their brands and businesses, I thought it's about time to share with you the latest PR strategies we're making use of in the PR space at Gullan&Gullan. 24 Aug 2011 Read more >>

As the Managing Director of a full 360º agency I am always fascinated to see how the various communication disciplines fit into the mix and the virtues of each for different brands and campaigns. With today's empowered consumer and cluttered ad environment it is staggering to see how powerful Public Relations can be for consumer brands - both as a communications tool on its own and as part of the full 360º communications mix. 25 Jul 2011 Read more >>

Advertising agencies are supposed to create ideas for their clients' brands right? Right. However it seems that some entrepreneurial agencies around the world are starting to create their own brands as well - and in so doing becoming their own clients. 27 Jun 2011 Read more >>

While marketers have been trying to keep up with the carnage and changes that have occurred both as a result of the recession and as a result of the surge of digital and social media, I found these facts on global media consumption on adage.com fascinating. 27 May 2011 Read more >>

If you're trying to find break-through marketing for your brand in the digital and social space you may have to resort to more traditional analogue methods, such as creativity. I realise this will frustrate the bean counters and process people who have been celebrating the measurability of online marketing, but the harsh reality is that replicating what other brands are doing (even if you do it a little bit better) is not a formula for success anymore. 23 Mar 2011 Read more >>

Clients often comment that the team at Gullan&Gullan is very young. I always thank them for the compliment because I believe the tender age of our creatives is what affords them their passion, enthusiasm and fresh ideas. 11 Mar 2011 Read more >>

I'm no futurist, but the more Gullan&Gullan offers its clients digital and social media services the more we have to be at the cutting edge of online communication strategies and trends. Here are some online trends to look out for in 2011. 22 Feb 2011 Read more >>

I love this industry. There is always something new to be learnt and being on the agency side of the business I am always learning about diverse sectors, brands and consumer segments and buying behaviours. The truth is that our clients are also always teaching me new things. The most poignant of late is that the most important customer is the second purchase. 15 Feb 2011 Read more >>

Even though my agency specialises in the full 360º communication services, offering above, below, digital and PR services, we're finding that many of our current clients and new clients are coming to us for our social media expertise. We have proven it to be a real hardworking tool for generating new business leads and increasing growth - for both business to business and business to consumer organisations, no matter how great or small. 19 Jan 2011 Read more >>

It's never easy to fervently disagree with a client. But when a brand manager from one of our biggest clients insisted that rational rather than emotional messaging should be our strategy for the next fiscal, I was forced to differ. The purely rational brand communications of recession is over. Today's consumers are seeking to reconnect with brands on a much more emotional platform, which means the rational functional forms of persuasion are no longer enough. 1 Dec 2010 Read more >>

Bet you didn't know that the Internet is responsible for as much CO2 as air travel? And about two percent of total global emissions? 25 Nov 2010 Read more >>

There's so much discussion about the changes and related challenges marketers are facing in this highly connected, post-recessionary, networked age. What follows is a summary of an interesting book called "Marketing 3.0, From Products to Customers to the Human Spirit" by Philip Kotler, Hermawan Kartajaya, Iwan Setiawan. It basically explains that the history of marketing has followed three main stages and I will attempt to summarise my learnings. Sincere apologies to the authors for any misrepresentation. 22 Nov 2010 Read more >>

With Gullan&Gullan's focus on 360º communications - that includes a strong focus on digital - we're seeing an insane amount of data as a result of the many metrics available for the online space. And with all these facts and stats at our fingertips, it's tempting to forget about the people behind the stats. Performance metrics can't tell you what motivates your audience to start a blog, share a video or post about your brand on Facebook. 7 Oct 2010 Read more >>

When it comes to brands, emotions mean business. While this is easy to sit at my apple computer and write, it's not always easy to convince some of our clients at Gullan&Gullan to invest in emotion rich above the line and below the line communications, when all they're looking for is to convey their brand's features and benefits, facts and stats on television, outdoor and in print. 22 Sep 2010 Read more >>

Recently a client of Gullan&Gullan's asked the question - When should a brand make use of PR and when should it use paid for advertising? On my quest to find the right answer I happened upon some research conducted by Context Analytics last year. The project's aim was to assess how unpaid media publicity and paid for advertising contributes to brand value. 25 Aug 2010 Read more >>

Be warned. Creativity can go into a recession following an economic nosedive. I've noticed this happen to some of our clients at Gullan&Gullan. The reason for this is that marketing professionals, whether brand managers or their advertising agencies, tend to stop approving creative ideas and start staring at numbers. 16 Aug 2010 Read more >>

If you think word of mouth (WOM) marketing is last season, you may be surprised to know that this powerful marketing tool has become even more important and turbo-enhanced by the latest technology trends. 2 Aug 2010 Read more >>

Brand value is a term hot on the lips of most ad people and marketing professionals but unfortunately it does not get the same share of mind by financial suits. So why then is the gap between an organisation's market value and its tangible assets often so great? The answer: brand value. 21 Jul 2010 Read more >>

Experiential marketing has been used for decades now, and is increasingly becoming the channel of choice for sectors that have to rely on dark marketing to get their brand messages out there. So why are marketers still talking about brand experiences as the new frontier for marketing innovation? 8 Jul 2010 Read more >>

As you know, your brand's price-point is a powerful vehicle in the marketing mix to harness sales and meet your marketing objectives. Undercut your competitors and you will gain market share. Right? While this may be true in some instances, in others the opposite is true. I found this out recently when researching a subject called "Behavioural Economics" for one of our clients at Gullan&Gullan, and would like to share some of my findings with you. 15 Jun 2010 Read more >>

You don't have to be a fan of their music - or their positioning - but as far as debut musicians go, few artists have had quite the zero-to-hero ascent as South Africa's newest anarchic hip-hop trio, Die Antwoord. And as far as South African brands go, few marketers have leveraged social media the way Die Antwoord has to entice fans. 3 Jun 2010 Read more >>

The argument for social media as a highly effective marketing tool is not new and I'm certain I don't need to waste energy or bandwidth defending it. The prediction that Facebook will be the most dominant online property of the 20-teens - even more pervasive than Google - should tip you over the edge, if you're still pessimistic. 5 May 2010 Read more >>

Gullan&Gullan Advertising ruffled a few feathers with a recent print campaign for Radisson Blu Gautrain Hotel. 4 May 2010 Read more >>

Micaela Soliani joins Gullan&Gullan Advertising as General Manager of the PR division. 1 Apr 2010 Read more >>

Forrester's 2009 Global Marketing Recession Survey showed that 71% of marketing budgets were reduced in 2009 and more than half reported reductions greater than 20%. 11 Mar 2010 Read more >>

Botox - the world's leading non-invasive, anti-ageing treatment - entrusted Gullan&Gullan Advertising with designing a logo to celebrate its 20-year anniversary. 3 Mar 2010 Read more >>

The launch of Women's Health SA in 2009 caused a stir in the publishing industry. Not only because magazine titles were getting skinnier, or worse closing down, with ad budgets being slashed in the wake of the recession, but also because Touchline Media launched the first multi-platform brand. Women's Health is much more than a magazine. 1 Mar 2010 Read more >>

Leading Pharmacy - a network of South African pharmacies - looked to Gullan&Gullan Advertising to assist them with a brand strategy and corporate identity for the Leading Pharmacy brand. 25 Feb 2010 Read more >>

Integration is not a new concept. Throughout time, industries with similar formats, products or systems have grown by bringing their offerings together. For example, once-separate grocery stores and pharmacies are now commonly housed together in one supermarket. More recently, Facebook has incorporated Twitter-like status updates into its news feed. The same should apply to PR and other communications channels. However, the opposite is happening. The media landscape is becoming more fragmented while communications agencies are becoming more specialised. The result? A greater rift between disciplines. 10 Dec 2009 Read more >>

How often has your ad agency promised that their concepts will "cut through the clutter" only to blast out more of the same brand messages placed on new urban surfaces, media channels and emerging digital platforms. Unfortunately clutter is leading to more clutter. 2 Nov 2009 Read more >>

The role of the communications agency is changing. Marketers no longer expect their agencies to conceptualise creative communications and be their media and production brokers. Today's agency should be taking a good look at their clients' business issues. 8 Oct 2009 Read more >>

Al Ries in his book “The fall of advertising and the rise of PR” observed that public relations may be more effective today than advertising because it engenders both attention and trust. 7 Sep 2009 Read more >>

Marketing heavyweights around the world are coming to terms with the fact that consumers control their brands and that this power shift has far-reaching implications. As Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley noted, "We now have a greater opportunity to move beyond transactions to relationships, but to do so requires that we strike the right balance between being in control and being in touch. Ironically, the more in control we are, the more out of touch we become. But the more we're willing to let go, the more we're able to get in touch with consumers." 11 Aug 2009 Read more >>

Marketing heavyweights around the world are coming to terms with the fact that consumers are taking as much control of their brands as their brand teams. 22 Jul 2009 Read more >>

If you're in the business of marketing a product or service, you're probably trying to do both. For some, your business is your brand. For others, your organisation produces and markets many brands. Current thinking suggests that what's good for the business is not always good for the brand. And vice versa. The following explores this, to ensure that your business objectives do not dilute your brand objectives and importantly, to ensure that your brand adds value to your business in terms of real profit. 2 Jul 2009 Read more >>

Marketers who want to grow their brands in these challenging times are looking to public relations to do more of the work and many are expanding their use of grassroots promotion, PR, events and multimedia marketing. 18 Jun 2009 Read more >>

We're talking about your consumers, not your spouse. Decades ago Walt Disney said, “People spend when they feel good.” This was true then and is still true today. Emotional branding has progressed from fad to requirement in creating longevity for brands. 26 May 2009 Read more >>

Property prices are tricky. Share portfolios are not to be trusted. Starting a business right now is not for the fainthearted. The one thing you can rely on today is your steady paycheck. Provided you look after and nurture your job. 2 Apr 2009 Read more >>

Too often when reviewing clients' marketing plans, I notice incongruence between their brand strategy and their marketing plans. Not only that, I see so many businesses marketing their brands without a real understanding of just what their brand stands for and what it promises to consumers. 17 Mar 2009 Read more >>