Stereotyping in advertising is rife, it seems, with certain roles and tasks still being exclusively attributed to men or women. And while it’s nothing like the gender depiction in the 1950s and 1960s, which would be deemed offensive today, women are still shown predominantly in domestic or family settings that bear little resemblance to modern […]
Author Archives: Maggs
With South Africa on the edge of recession after a larger than expected contraction in GDP, many senior marketers are re-examining their strategic planning and budget allocation. The country’s economy declined 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2022 — three times more than the market consensus estimate of a 0.4% drop. Several marketers tell the […]
How a leading South African agency is navigating the challenges of artificial intelligence and using technology to carve out a new agency model The flurry of panic that filled our timelines in the wake of the introduction of ChatGPT was inescapable. Are copywriters redundant? Has the industry been subsumed by artificial intelligence? Do we even […]
It’s not often those in the advertising and marketing industry are blunt and critical. It’s a sector partly built on smoke, mirrors, spin, and client retention at all costs. And so, when a little honesty is handed down, it’s not only refreshing but should be taken seriously. César Vacchiano, president and CEO of Scopen, a […]
The purpose of advertising agencies has long been debated. Are they purely in the business of creating, planning, and handling advertising (and sometimes other) forms of promotion and marketing? Or has the remit now moved beyond that — to become a valued business partner, steeped in its client’s operations as well as providing intelligence and […]
For the past 10 years, the digital realm has dominated marketing budgets, but there seems to be a slow return by some brands to more traditional platforms. Data from a survey by a chief marketing officer organisation says spend on more traditional forms of marketing is set to increase by as much as 3% in […]
Advertising campaigns are starting to feature more characters who identify as gay or transgender, but there is still a sense of inauthenticity or misrepresentation of queer people in advertisements. This has prompted groundbreaking research by Khangelani Dziba from the agency RAPT Creative. He says while the global advertising industry is adopting a “queer identity lens” […]
On the Trophies The Effie Awards celebrate excellence in marketing effectiveness. This year’s winners all have one thing in common: a desire to create work that works – meeting key objectives, inspiring positive action, changing behaviour and making a real difference. Clear leaders have emerged, driven by instinct, insight and a healthy respect for long-term […]
An internal spat at the Association for Communication & Advertising (ACA) over a board director’s public criticism of the annual Loeries Awards has left some in the industry questioning the relevance of advertising’s representative body. One senior ACA board member tells the FM the ACA is seen by some as anachronistic, representing traditional old-school agencies […]
Formal measurement and evaluation are at a record high in the South African reputation management sector — jumping from 60% in 2019 to 79% in 2022. External agencies are leading the charge, with in-house practitioners the least likely to have a formal process in place. This has emerged from the release this week of the […]