Archive
Year: 2013
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The Mandela Brand – Commercialisation Gone Too Far?
May 30, 2013
Celebrated and honoured across the globe for its bearer’s selfless role in the liberation of South Africa, the name Nelson Mandela has become an iconic brand. The popular brand has inspired a clothing line, pricey artworks, countless cheap souvenirs, the recently announced ‘House of Mandela’ wine range, and more bizarrely, a reality TV show by his grandchildren. This has fuelled interesting debates over the use of his image...
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When Has a One Night Stand Ever Been a Great Idea?
May 28, 2013
The setting is all right, you look great, your confidence level is at a record high and you almost feel invincible. You tell yourself that you just going to try it out and that it does not have to be serious. So you flirt and you engage and all goes exactly according to plan and for that brief moment in time everything is perfect. But as quickly as you got into bed – you jump...
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Mobile Turns Out Tops at the World Economic Forum
May 15, 2013
Be it financial inclusion, education, healthcare or social reform, mobile was the key word associated with discussions around these topics at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2013, held in Cape Town this past week. Mobile is perhaps a distinctly African opportunity. The fact is that more people have mobile phones in Africa than they have bank accounts. Africa has more than 650 million mobile phone subscribers, which is more than the US or the...
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Working Women – Their Own Worst Enemies?
May 13, 2013
The debate around the penetration of women into executive positions across public and private sector remains a healthy one, and one that it would seem no concrete solution has yet to be found. Attending the ‘Working Women: from Talent to Leadership’ session at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2013 last week I was struck by two initial thoughts. Firstly, just how few men there were in the audience – the brave few in this...
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Charting a New Path for Sharing Africa’s Natural Resources More Equitably
May 10, 2013
It appears the days of plundering Africa’s natural mineral for the benefit of foreign multinationals and enrichment of a few local powerful elites, while the vast majority of the continent’s people wallow in poverty, are numbered. A lot has been said in recent times about how Africa is pregnant with possibility, a view influenced largely by the rapid growth the continent has enjoyed over the past decade, fuelled by exploitation of its abundant natural...
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Regional Integration Key to Driving Africa’s Growing Competitiveness
May 10, 2013
Poor economic integration and the low levels of trade and cooperation among its countries have, once again, been identified as the biggest impediments to Africa’s growth and ability to become the prosperous economic giant it could. Speaking at the launch of the Africa Competitiveness Report 2013, at the World Economic Forum on Africa being held in Cape Town yesterday (9 May), WEF chief economist Jennifer Blanke, and her fellow panellists, had a simple message: Africa...
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NEWS FROM WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
May 10, 2013
Shaping norms and values in Social Media – Democracy is messy, certainly in the media space On May 8, I was asked to participate in a panel discussion around ‘Shaping Norms and Values of Social Media’, I was to share the World Economic Forum stage with Minister of Communications Dina Pule, the Executive Chairman of MultiChoice, Nolo Letele and two highly regarded representatives from Africa...
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FleishmanHillard Unveils Newly Refreshed Brand
May 7, 2013
FleishmanHillard Unveils Newly Refreshed Brand; Showcases Evolution of Leading Public Relations Firm into the World’s Most Complete, Fully Integrated Communications Company ST. LOUIS, May 1, 2013 — FleishmanHillard today unveiled a newly refreshed corporate brand and associated digital media property. The new branding reflects the evolution of the leading public relations firm into a fully integrated communications company that provides clients with the world’s most complete communications solutions. Long recognized around the world for excellence...
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Communications in a Time of Conflict
May 3, 2013
In a time of war, whether declared or not, how much access do you, as a citizen, have to critical information? After the recent debacle in the Central African Republic there was an outcry from the general public that they should have had greater access to sensitive information relating to the SANDF operations in the CAR. But where is the line. How much information can you share with the general public to keep them happy...
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The Rise of the ‘Authentic Voice’ in Crisis Communications
April 30, 2013
One of the challenges that all communicators experience during a crisis is balancing transparency and the need for authentic responses with the requirements of legal teams protecting a business’s liability when trouble comes knocking. Recently we saw a crisis explode on Twitter pertaining to a large global brand. The legal team took too long to approve the recommended responses to those defaming the brand on this most public of forums. The result was that the...