Marketing & Selling

South African brands have experienced several marketing blunders over the years, with the recent haircare brand catastrophe gaining considerable international attention on the back of consumer uproar and political party protests.

Brands across the globe are slowly but surely coming to terms with a world in the midst of COVID-19. Doing so has resulted in major campaigns being placed on ice or pivoted to a digital execution. The latter has significantly increased as brands used the opportunity to talk to their target audience online.

One of the great things about digital marketing is the ability to track and measure all your efforts across all channels and in immense detail. It is also one of the dangers. Marketing leaders should be wary of a bottom-up approach to measurement, which could leave them with a skewed view of their efforts - often at the expense of business performance. 

Retailers are transforming their digital capabilities to attract new customers and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving industry. The global pandemic has shown us the importance of being able to quickly shift with changes in the environment, for example, enabling contactless payments, supporting a remote workforce, and pivoting to entirely new business models.

In a recent decision by the Advertising Regulatory Board against FlySafair, the board found that compliance with COVID-19 regulations extends to 'make-believe' marketing initiatives such as advertisements or commercials. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on many businesses, which have been irreparably harmed by the lockdown restrictions.

In a world where digital is now everywhere and data is driving everything, trust has become the currency of value. To trust is human. It’s through that invisible human bond that all business and societal relationships are developed and sustained.

English as the language of business in South Africa can cause a lot of problems, because for more than 90% of the population it is not their home language. Find answers to these and many other language questions in the fourth, updated edition of The Write Stuff, which focuses on typical problems that non-English speakers encounter when writing English.

Plain Language is an excellent guide to using clear and simple language, especially in South Africa where approximately 90% of the population consists of non-English first language speakers in a mostly English speaking business world.

Calling bullshit is a performative utterance, a speech act in which one publicly repudiates something objectionable. The scope of targets is broader than bullshit alone. You can call bullshit on bullshit, but you can also call bullshit on lies, treachery, trickery, or injustice.

Technology has permeated all facets of business. Today, it has become less about the bits and bytes and more about unlocking the efficiency of processes, improving the customer experience, and better understanding data to deliver on the company strategy.