Yellowwood - marketing and research specialists with offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town - recently appointed Matthew Glogauer as Group Head of Research and Analytics. Glogauer joined the company in early January 2012. 8 Feb 2012 Read more >>

There has been a shift in society's expectations of how we interact with our world. This has been driven by social media - making us a lot more communications savvy. It is little surprise then that companies are being challenged to translate this experience into how business interacts with its employees. 5 Dec 2011 Read more >>

Statistics suggest that South Africans go shopping at least 30 times per month. That's, in effect, once a day. So, if we thought of ourselves as a sports mad, 'outdoorsy' nation - we might have to redefine our perspective. 28 Nov 2011 Read more >>

Yellowwood, a leading brand strategy, research and design consultancy, has appointed Sonja Sanders as the new managing director of its Cape and Coastal region. 9 Nov 2011 Read more >>

An ancient Chinese proverb says, "Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand." The Chinese obviously knew a thing or two about engagement marketing, which is where our industry is now headed. 31 Oct 2011 Read more >>

There are at least four national annual surveys that try to provide insight into successful brands in the South African market. All of them effectively celebrate the brands' commercial performance; however none of them accurately pinpoint exactly what drives this success. 23 Aug 2011 Read more >>

Client Challenge:

Cobb™ is a locally developed cooking system that has found favour across the globe. Winner of the Vista Design Award, as well as the Spoga+Gafa Innovation Design Award, the Cobb™ is unique in its class. The system is aspirational, engaging and innovative. However, the product packaging left much to be desired and the brand identity was out of step with the contemporary and innovative nature of the product. Yellowwood was thus tasked with repositioning the brand as a whole, but also to refresh the identity and develop a packaging system that could be applied to the complete range of accessories in the Cobb™ offering. 26 Jul 2011 Read more >>

For many years we have said that marketing and brand building is customer driven, but never before has this been more true. The challenge of building great brands and enabling customer decision making has become more complex. This, combined with uncertainty as an entrenched reality and the tech-led behavioural change, is at the heart of Yellowwood's changing business model and search for new sources of growth and opportunity. 19 Jul 2011 Read more >>

Rapid digital innovation and the technological revolution are demanding dramatic changes to the way marketers and brand experts approach our profession. The brave new world of digital seems incredibly complex, and many daunting questions and answers are being thrown around. In an attempt to simplify the complexity and ask what it really means for brands, I have summarised a few issues we are grappling with as an industry, and proposed simple ways of succeeding in this dynamic and ever-changing environment... 23 Mar 2011 Read more >>

Shanduka Black Umbrellas is a non-profit, enterprise-development incubator. The organisation was battling to inform struggling entrepreneurs about their services and attract potential funders. They approached Yellowwood Future Architects to help them better package their offering and maximise their chances of success. We immediately recognised that the organisation had all the fundamentals in place to become a leader in enterprise development in South Africa. 28 Feb 2011 Read more >>

As companies tackle the prospect of a new year which is shaping up to be as challenging as the last one, marketing will most likely not be appearing near the top of boardroom agendas. At least not here, in South Africa. A quick peek at companies in Europe and the US will reveal a very different approach, where tremendous value is attached to marketing campaigns. These developed markets have long since embraced a marketing-driven culture, closely linking their brand messages to their general business strategy. The benefits are consistently reflected in annual reports, making it easy for shareholders to recognise the impact of marketing on the bottom line. So why do we continue to underestimate and undervalue marketing? 21 Jan 2011 Read more >>

Yellowwood Future Architects, leading brand strategists based in Johannesburg, recently partnered with Open Africa to assist the dynamic non-profit organisation in revitalizing its brand image. Working on a pro bono basis, the Yellowwood creative team provided fresh strategic direction and transformed the look and feel of the brand with innovative design work. 2 Nov 2010 Read more >>

Yellowwood Future Architects, strategic brand and marketing specialists based in Johannesburg and Cape Town, was recently approached by DairyBelle to revitalise their brand. As an ageing but iconic South African brand in a now commoditised dairy category, the company wanted to ensure that it could continue to grow profitably. Essentially, DairyBelle needed creative guidance on how the brand should look and what it should offer consumers. 19 Oct 2010 Read more >>

2010 and the rise of localization: Why we should be building city brands as much as our national brand. 7 Sep 2010 Read more >>

Power has shifted to individuals. What does this mean for attracting a new generation of talent? 24 Aug 2010 Read more >>

What does status mean in a world falling out of love with consumption? 14 Jul 2010 Read more >>

A young marketing strategist is likely to be more sensitive than most to the familiar accusation that what marketers do is "try to sell people things they don't need." Just about any generational study you could find would back me up that nothing is more horrifying to a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Gen Y than the concept of working for a Big Bad Corporate with no soul. Selling people things they don't need is not only 'selling out,' but it's responsible for everything from ecological collapse to societal malaise. 14 May 2010 Read more >>

Having survived the global financial crisis, marketers are breathing a collective sigh of relief. Yet it is imperative that we don't forget the valuable lessons learned from the recession when the good times roll around again. 31 Mar 2010 Read more >>

I remember a time when one heaped spoon of powdered chocolate would change my simple glass of milk into a delicious chocolate drink. Now I need three. When my packet of chips was not filled with air ‘to stop it from getting crushed', but with chips. When a piece of gum and a sucker cost a couple of cents, was bigger and the flavour seemed to last longer. And when I knew what I was getting. According to a definition by Warren Buffet, an Investment Entrepreneur from 1930, this is value. Price is what you pay and value is what you get. 20 Oct 2009 Read more >>

What a wonderful time to be alive. People the world over are hitting the reset button as they begin to realise that the modern model of life is not sustainable. They are re-evaluating their purpose. Values are changing and so must brands if they are to remain relevant to a changing audience that wants to contribute to a better world. We need to be looking for sustainable solutions to building ethical brands, and what better place to start than with our own uniquely African context, and what it has to teach us? 28 Sep 2009 Read more >>

Our obsession with speed has fast led to the death of slow, meaningful interactions between people and brands, and the breakdown of bonds between the two. Now is the time for slow cultures to overtake fast. 15 Sep 2009 Read more >>

The economic meltdown has bred a new type of consumer with a new set of values. The successful brands of tomorrow will be those that have given thought to how they should be responding to what is a very different market. 20 Aug 2009 Read more >>

Where does consumer ethics leave your company - and does it create any opportunities for a new way to differentiate your brand? 1 Jul 2009 Read more >>

People have woken up (and some may say it's about time) to the realisation that irresponsible private and public consumption is not a good thing - for anyone. And with this has come the rise of ‘triple-bottom-line responsibility'. It's a buzz-word that peppers corporate sustainability reports, but it's also an idea that's filtering through more and more into mainstream consciousness. It's underpinned by the belief that what's good for the pocket needs to be good for the planet and good for society as a whole as well. 19 Jun 2009 Read more >>

Do you ever wonder if people like Nkhensani, Steve Jobs and Richard Branson, who are responsible for some of the coolest brands we know ever said to themselves, "I'm going to create a cool brand that's going to make me rich and famous." I doubt it (and no, it wouldn't be cool to ask them). 23 Mar 2009 Read more >>