#OrchidsandOnions Content Feature

#OrchidsandOnions: VW's romantic approach to marketing the latest Polo Vivo

[Brendan Seery] Brendan Seery discusses VW's latest marketing win and the Sunday Times' advertorial blunder...

#OrchidsandOnions: Showmax and Eric Cantona make a scene in the name of marketing

[Brendan Seery] Brendan Seery discusses Showmax's viral TV stunt with Manchester United football star Eric Cantona...

#OrchidsandOnions: Investec's elegant dance - A masterclass in sophisticated financial advertising

[Brendan Seery] Coming from a family which lived “on the wrong side of the tracks”, with a father who was a barman and, additionally with that fear of poverty which is in the DNA of the Irish, I was never a spendthrift...

#OrchidsandOnions: The Kolisi Foundation turns hunger into play

[Brendan Seery] Brendan Seery discusses the Kolisi Foundation's collaboration with KFC and Nando's notable lack of collaboration with SA athletes...

#OrchidsandOnions: Bic inspires with Paralympian Mpumelelo Mhlongo

[Brendan Seery] Brendan Seery is back! This week Bic inspires, two local radio stations disappoint, and Sasol's reward programme lets him down - again...

#OrchidsandOnions: Naked Insurance takes wait loss seriously in new ad

[Brendan Seery] Time is a precious thing. As you age, you appreciate it more, only too aware that it is not available in unlimited quantities...

#OrchidsandOnions: DA crosses line in political persuasion

[Brendan Seery] Centre stage was taken by the Democratic Alliance, with its AI image of a South African flag burning as a metaphor for the destruction of our country...

#OrchidsandOnions: Scientists sail across the seas to satisfy their KFC craving

[Brendan Seery] Old-school storytelling is not commonplace today, in SA or globally. So it’s refreshing to see that not only can it still be done, it can be done well...

#OrchidsandOnions: Auto and General sets the standard in insurance claims

[Brendan Seery] Brendan Seery talks insurance and mentoring in his weekly Onions & Orchids column...

#OrchidsandOnions: Checkers pranks commuters over holiday weekend, Curro Holdings faces backlash

[Brendan Seery] No one likes being stopped by the cops, so it was quite a brave move on the part of Checkers to pull a bit of a “Leon Schuster”...

#OrchidsandOnions: The Boswell family's multi-generational journey with Ford SA

[Brendan Seery] When it comes to CSI, there are companies that put their money where their mouths are when it comes to beneficial environmental programmes...

#OrchidsandOnions: Audi and Ogilvy's AI-generated ad is a piece of art

[Brendan Seery] The “next big thing” in marketing – after programmatic advertising and “influencers”, both of which consume billions and deliver little real benefit – is “Artificial Intelligence”...

#OrchidsandOnions: Capital Legacy's humorous approach to serious legal advertising

[Brendan Seery] Discussing end-of-life issues is something that Capital Legacy has been doing in an entertaining style for more than a year now...

#OrchidsandOnions: Builders Warehouse hits the nail on the head with latest ad

[Brendan Seery] I have learned that there are some duties a husband cannot avoid. And minor household repairs are first in that line...

#OrchidsandOnions: KFC embedded in SA culture, Eskom's social media misstep

[Brendan Seery] You only have to look at media trends to see that the elite love to put on foreign airs and graces. The same is true for advertising...

#OrchidsandOnions: Corona's stellar CSI project puts other brands to shame

[Brendan Seery] There are unscrupulous companies out there which are not beyond deploying a bit of “greenwashing”...

#OrchidsandOnions: Castle Lager gets surprise ROI on sponsoring Bafana Bafana

[Brendan Seery] Millions of South African sports fans would have been on the edges of their seats on Saturday night as the quarterfinal of the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) went into extra time and a penalty shoot-out…

#OrchidsandOnions: City Lodge and TBWA's funny take on South African life

[Brendan Seery] There’s a marketing/advertising theory that one of the best ways to get a consumer to buy into your product or service is to push the aspirational angle, loading on the glitz and glamour so a potential customer sees themselves in that fake little scenario...

#OrchidsandOnions: Betway stands out at SA20 cricket league

[Brendan Seery] I’ve always been sceptical about the marketing value of putting branding or logos on sports kit...

#OrchidsandOnions: Club Med invokes holiday bliss, KFC & Gift of the Givers add hope

[Brendan Seery] It’s that time of year when everybody’s battery is running down (the body’s one and the one in the Uninterruptible Power Supply – UPS – system which keeps your WIFI going), and the thoughts of most working stiffs turn to holidays.