How South African advertising can be a world leader

Leagas Delaney South Africa, CEO Ray Langa shares his insights from a recent trip to the West Coast of the USA (Image supplied)

I recently spent time in San Francisco and Los Angeles in California, Two of the most influential advertising landscapes in the world.

What struck me wasn’t just the sheer scale of the work being produced, but how each city embodies a very different face of modern advertising. Looking at them through an African lens, I couldn’t help but reflect on where we stand as a continent, our strengths, our struggles and our opportunity to define the future.

San Francisco: Technology without fear

San Francisco, home to Silicon Valley, is a city where technology and advertising are inseparable. Here, agencies are not debating whether AI belongs in the creative process; that belief is already embedded in every role.

Copywriters are expected to use generative tools. Strategists must understand predictive analytics. Designers are AI-augmented. In fact, job descriptions now assume AI competence. Upskilling isn’t optional, it’s the baseline.

For us in South Africa, this is a fundamental wake-up call. If we want to compete, we cannot afford to treat AI as an experiment on the side. It must become part of how we train, how we hire, and how we work.

San Francisco also reminded me that creativity doesn’t disappear under regulation; it adapts. I was struck by the sheer amount of pharma advertising across out-of-home, radio, and especially TV.

Every slot came with heavy legal disclaimers, yet agencies still managed to create cut-through work.If they can thrive under such strict guardrails, what excuse do we have in South Africa, where our regulatory environment is relatively open, but we often fail to push boundaries?

Los Angeles: Advertising as entertainment

Los Angeles tells a different story. Here, advertising and entertainment are almost indistinguishable. From Hollywood studios to sports arenas, it’s all one ecosystem.

The sheer volume of assets is staggering. Mid-movie placements, squeeze backs during live sport, endless variations of TV and radio. Advertising isn’t an interruption; it’s stitched into the cultural fabric.

Brands aren’t simply sponsoring; they are co-creating culture.

What I found most compelling, though, is how LA thinks in ecosystems, not campaigns. A single idea becomes a show, an influencer series, a music collaboration, a sports activation.

Agencies and brands don’t just buy space, they create IP. Advertising is a cultural export, content that lives beyond the campaign.

That’s a mindset shift South Africa must embrace. Too often, we still think in campaign cycles: launch, run, end. Los Angeles shows us the power of building living, breathing brand platforms that transcend traditional boundaries.

And most of all, LA demonstrates confidence. Its agencies and brands think globally by default. Our industry in Africa often limits itself to the local or regional stage. Why do we not have a world-first mentality when it comes to our creative concepts?

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South Africa: Creativity under constraint

Coming home, I reflected on where we are. South Africa has always been admired for its creativity.

Our campaigns have won global recognition, and our creatives have gone on to shape advertising in London, New York and Amsterdam to name a few.

African flair is now present in boardrooms and studios all over the world.

But here’s the tension, while our talent is winning globally, our industry is struggling locally.

South African agencies are not winning at Cannes and other global shows the way they used to.

Budgets are under strain, economic pressures are real, and brain drain means the best of our people are working for other markets.

This is a crisis of identity.

Do we remain the continent that exports talent to the world, or do we build an industry where talent can thrive at home?

I’ve said it before. We shouldn’t focus on taking Africa to the world; but rather bringing the world to Africa.

What we can learn

From my time in California, a few lessons stand out clearly:

From San Francisco:

1. Be fearless with AI and technology. Upskilling is not optional; it must be written into every job description.
   
2. Learn agility, campaigns should be living organisms, not static executions.
   
3. Creativity can thrive even in regulation-heavy categories. We must learn to push boundaries in sectors like healthcare, alcohol, and pharma.

From Los Angeles:

1. Fuse advertising with entertainment, music and sport, not as add-ons, but as cultural extensions.
   
2. Build content ecosystems that last beyond campaigns.
   
3. Think globally by default. South Africa must stop being shy about its place on the world stage.

Where Africa already leads

At the same time, California can learn a thing or two from us:

1. Authenticity: Our work is rooted in cultural truth, not just consumer personas. Authenticity isn’t manufactured here, it’s lived.
   
2. Efficiency: We’ve mastered the art of stretching budgets while still creating impact. Where others need millions, we find a way with thousands.
   
3. Talent: Our creatives are shaping global culture, from directing campaigns in Amsterdam to driving Afrobeats and Amapiano into the mainstream.

The Future: Clients and agencies together

The future of African advertising depends on how both clients and agencies choose to move forward.

A truly collaborative and successful client/agency relationship hinges on two things:

1. Clients must look beyond cost efficiency. The real value lies in African agencies’ ability to deliver cultural storytelling powered by technology.
   
2. Agencies must move from being service providers to creative-tech partners. That means building in-house AI studios, owning IP, and confidently exporting African culture at scale.

Where culture meets technology

California is bold. Bold with budgets, bold with technology, bold with entertainment. Africa must be bold too, but in our own inimitable way.

Our boldness should come from combining the authenticity of our culture with the efficiency of our creativity, and now, with the confidence to integrate technology and AI into everything we do.

If Los Angeles represents culture at scale and San Francisco represents technology at scale, then South Africa has the opportunity to be the place where culture and technology meet.

That’s where the future of advertising lies and it’s a future Africa can lead.