Uncategorized / 30.01.2020

by Zibusiso Mkhwanazi (@Zibusiso) Last week, I read Jarred Cinman’s 2020 trends piece here on MarkLives, #BigQ2020: The future is here, and I would like to expand on his views, which I fully agree with. What a difficult year 2019 was for what seems to have been a majority of ad agencies in South Africa. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut SA’s GDP growth prospects for 2020, from 1.1% to 0.8%. This in turn means that, when there’s little growth, marketing budgets are in the front of the chopping queue. This isn’t good news for SA agencies: our industry will...

Uncategorized / 15.01.2020

The digital marketing and communications sector is driven by the ever-changing technologies in this era of the digital economy. Thus it is safe to assume, even without the stats, that there is a gap between the digital marketing skills and available opportunities. Some background According to African Development Bank, Africa’s economic growth rates for 2019 and 2020 were projected at 4% and 4.1% respectively. This is on the back of sustained growth for several years now. However, the continent is plagued by jobless economic growth. Opportunities and challenges The digital marketing and communications sector holds promise for employment opportunities for Africa, given that this...

Industry News / 18.10.2019

by MarkLives (@marklives) Is adland embracing an African narrative? Are South African advertising agencies and brands embracing an authentically African narrative and aesthetic or do they continue to imitate American and European work? What can agencies, and brands, do to shift the paradigm towards embracing a unique creative identity that speaks to our African roots? Next in our panel to tackle this question is Avatar‘s Veli Ngubane. Veli Ngubane Veli Ngubane (@TheNduna) entered the world of advertising with a passion after completing his BSocSci (law, politics, and economics) at UCT and a post-graduate marketing diploma at Red & Yellow, where he’s currently advisory board chairman....

Industry News / 28.02.2019

The South African computer manufacturer Mecer recently released a new advert, celebrating three decades of producing local products.  But the ad - which features a three-letter local swearword - has not gone down well. In fact, at least one person is saying it may be the worst commercial ever released in South Africa.   The South African computer manufacturer Mecer recently released an advert celebrating thirty years of producing local products. It features a crew of singing and dancing people (presumably employees) in a factory, celebrating local manufacturing and everything South African, from the Springboks to Nelson Mandela. At one point, the lead singer raps...