Archive
Opinions
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Celebrating Freedom Day in a time of COVID-19
April 27, 2020
Reflect - On what is important Freedom Day commemorates the first democratic post-apartheid non-racial elections held on April 27th 1994, which saw Nelson Mandela elected as President, and made freedom an inalienable right for all the citizens of South Africa - regardless of race, gender or creed. Today, this symbolic time in our history is being celebrated while the country, and the globe as a whole, finds itself at war with the COVID-19 pandemic. As...
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Great minds don’t think alike
August 8, 2018
Cognitive Diversity is a term that we’re hearing more and more about, not only in communications, but in various industries, across a variety of sectors. In their 2018 Trends Brief, Sparks and Honey identified “Cognitive Diversity” as an important ideological trend for the year. The concept recommends bringing together people with different ways of thinking and distinctive working styles to create a debate and ultimately produce more creative ideas. Cognitive diversity is not predicted by...
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Adapt or die: brands and cultural diversity across Africa
May 29, 2018
A one-size-fits-all approach to marketing communications does not work in Africa, or any of its 54 countries. Yes, there is a huge sense of optimism around Africa, and we continue to find our voice, but to build on and harness the massive progress we have already made, there is a real need for African-born creativity to be recognised and respected by an international community. This means that when businesses from beyond African borders plan to...
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5 Reasons your business needs SEO
May 21, 2018
With over 85 percent of consumers taking to online search engines to find the service they’re looking for, just having a website is no longer enough. With more leads than ever being generated online, your business needs to act smarter and faster to pick them up. According to a HubSpot study, 75 percent of internet users never scroll past the first page of the Search Engine Results Page (SERPs). Other than first page ranking, how...
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Twitter makes life on social real hard for fake news
March 19, 2018
Twitter is one of the most popular social networks, hitting 8 million users in South Africa at the end of 2017. In the past couple of years, governments, political figures, celebrities and brands have all tapped into the power of this social network, by using it as a communication channel. The influence that the micro-blogging service wields cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, this influence has also attracted some of the more nefarious parts of society, those...
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Five key social media policy elements to consider in 2018
February 19, 2018
Twenty-seventeen was an unforgiving year for many companies on social media. A PWC survey conducted in 2016/2017 found that 92% of South African CEOs were wary of social media and the possible risks involved with having a social media presence. MoneyWeb recently reported that social media crises cost South African businesses a minimum of R750 million since January 2016. In the article they highlighted that one of the causes of these crises was the underutilisation...
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Reputation is the be-all and end-all
February 5, 2018
Corporates in SA have come under fire in recent months, and we’ve seen the pressure of public opinion end careers and bring business to its knees. Considering the current state of affairs we’ve taken a look at the top five risks that could impact reputation and believe should be top priority for corporate South Africa: Guilty by association: The public at large are sick of corruption, from both the public and private sectors, and are...
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Reputation capital: the next hot commodity
January 30, 2018
With a business environment that is becoming ever more competitive and characterised by constant change and often unforeseen threats, corporate executives are increasingly recognising the intrinsic value of reputation capital. Understanding reputation capital and investing in it has become an absolutely critical commodity to any business. Reputation has become aligned with the bottom line and business leaders are taking an uncompromising view on who they are, what they stand for and ultimately how they impact...
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How can PR professionals remain relevant in a changing landscape?
October 27, 2017
As many of you know, the communications landscape is changing rapidly. So rapidly in fact, that qualified professionals sometimes find it hard to stay sharp and keep their skills and information references up-to-date with the latest trends. In a blog from earlier this year our Managing Director Sharon Piehl wrote: “PR is dead – but what is exciting is how the communications sector is evolving and how the industry is embracing that change by bringing...
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Call It Magic, Call It True
October 20, 2017
One of the best parts of my job is being able to share an insight with a colleague or client. Seeing their reaction and excitement is magical. There have been many occasions where someone asks, “What are the insights?” and the reply was, “Engagements are up 10%.” A great data point, but hardly an insight that will lead to actionable change in any organisation. What are insights? Put simply, they are gained by analysing data...