Tag: advertising

The data on Connected TV (CTV)'s Return On Investment (ROI) is difficult to ignore. However, the slower pace of adoption is much harder to explain. Imagine a marketing channel that consistently delivers 30% higher ROI than almost every other medium in your media mix. Most marketers would naturally prioritise it. Yet CTV receives only 7% of total media budgets despite delivering exceptional CTV investment returns.

A piece landed in my feed recently that stopped me mid-scroll. Michael Farmer, a veteran advertising strategist, recently published a devastating analysis called Madison Avenue Media Madness. It examines what digital advertising has actually done to the world's biggest brands over the past 15 years.

Reaching young audiences in South Africa is becoming increasingly complex. Social platforms dominate discovery. However, attention is fragmented, competition is intense, and many brands still operate on outdated assumptions about how younger generations think, spend and engage.

Not long ago, watching television was a shared ritual. Families gathered around the same screen, tuning in to the daily soaps or the Sunday night 8 pm movie. Today, the experience has become deeply personal. Each viewer chooses what to watch, when to watch and even which ads they see. For marketers, this shift is not just a technology change; it is a change in attention. And attention is the currency that drives modern advertising.

For decades, television was the heavyweight of media spend. If you wanted mass reach, you bought primetime TV. Simple. However, audiences no longer consume video in the same way. The living room screen is still central. Yet, it is now connected, streaming, and personalised. This shift is pulling advertising budgets in a new direction.

Today’s marketers, particularly those working with SMEs, are finding that long-term gains often disappear in the pursuit of undefined "vanity metrics". These metrics are not moving the needle in ways that align with real returns on investment. The world has changed. As a result, marketing must change, too.

The often-cited and widely disputed claim from a 2015 Microsoft report, that today’s consumers have the attention span of a goldfish, may lack scientific credibility. Still, it remains a compelling metaphor for the fragmented nature of modern attention. Add to that the erosion of trust caused by fake news, exaggerated claims and constant digital noise, and it becomes clear why traditional sales strategies are losing ground.

We live in a time when information is everywhere. Consumers are savvy and seek information and reviews about products and brands to make informed purchasing decisions. Consumers no longer want to be convinced; they want to be informed.

If you’re a retailer, marketplace or e-commerce platform, you could be sitting on an untapped revenue stream – your first-party data. Brands are willing to pay for access to your audience, and with the right approach, you can turn that data into a powerful, scalable revenue channel.

In the world of advertising, strategy is often overlooked because it operates behind the scenes. Yet, much like the human nervous system, it plays a critical role in ensuring everything functions smoothly. The nervous system transmits signals that enable movement, sensation and reflexes, keeping the body in sync and responsive.