Episode 31: Don’t Say Digital with Mike Stopforth

Following on our very exciting Bookmark award, a Silver pixel in the category Streaming Services, Dan and Esther discuss the development of the podcast, the journey so far and lessons learned along the way. We also say a happy farewell and ‘thanks for all the fish’ to Dan Herman in this Episode of the Brave Ideas Podcast.

Our digital world has changed the ‘music’ landscape. Right now there is a lot more music available to audiences than ever before because of digital platforms such as streaming sites and digital audio consumption channels.

Change is hard but change is constant, especially in this #agencylife. Change management is about taking an organisation from one state to another.

There are clear distinctions between the global definition of ‘millennials’ and what African millennials can be defined as.

In this episode, Yongama Nxiweni, Conversation Analyst @ Aqua, educates us about how to leverage social listening and research to provide a critical advantage in sports gambling.

Artists and designers battle with the idea that they think that they own their ideas, but that their ideas are mostly references of other ideas so can they really own anything? Often originality of design, and the creativity of artists, is contested by other artists and corporations, delegitimising ideas and feeding people unoriginal outcomes. In this episode we discuss whether originality is the key to success for creators (maybe it’s not) and what does originality even look like anymore?...

In this episode, we talk to Mike Oelschig, Head of Strategy @ Cerebra about the importance of crisis communication on social media. We explore different types of crises and the potential impact that they can have on brands. We further explore what we, as agencies, can do to mitigate this type of risk for our clients. An informative episode for those looking to better understand how to navigate a crisis.

On the 1st of December, we celebrated #wundermanday by inviting representatives from the different Wunderman Companies in South Africa (Aqua, Base2, Cerebra and Applogix) and discussing what it means to 'come together'.

Batsirai Madzonga, Associate Creative Director @ Aqua, talks to us about how it is critical for creatives to get inspiration from their local contexts. He shares with us how the African context has inspired creatives across multiple disciplines including fashion, design, art and marketing. An important and intelligent discussion.

We talk to Tara Marsh, Global Head of Content @ Wunderman and self-professed content queen, about all things content. A deeply informative conversation with a global leader in content marketing.

Matt Black, senior content strategist @ Aqua, comes on the show to talk about the evolution of political communication in the digital world. We look at the key examples of the US presidential election, Brexit and the political landscape in South Africa, with a view to identifying key lessons for marketers.

Lisa Partington, Social Media Brand Manager @ Coca-Cola Customer Interaction Centre, joins us on the show to us about how social media influencers can be used to create marketing value for brands.

In this controversial episode, we talk about the distinction that exists between creative advertising and effective advertising, and what agencies need to do to balance out the pressures of client demands and creative egos. Our conversation explores the challenge of maintaining an artist’s mindset in an environment where clients are expecting advertising that delivers meaningful results, and what can be done to drive a balanced perspective in agencies. We discuss the initiatives that Rory has introduced into Aqua in order to achieve this mindset. An exciting and revealing podcast....

We talk to Mpho Maseko, Chief Marketing Officer at Wunderman South Africa, about the worlds of broadcast marketing and digital/CRM are intersecting to create more meaningful opportunities for brand storytelling. We explore the ways in which brand owners and agencies can come together to meet the needs of changing consumers while evolving their capability to tell authentic stories.

We chat to Sean Hearn, SEO lead at Aqua, about how brands can dominate the internet through effective search engine optimisation.