By Herman Manson   M&C Saatchi Group and Avatar South Africa have officially “parted ways”, a joint statement by the two groups has confirmed. “Zibusiso Mkhwanazi (Founder M&N Brands, the holding company for Avatar) and Jerry Mpufane, Chairman of M&C SAATCHI Group (Johannesburg) have confirmed that the two companies will amicably part and go their separate ways,” the statement reads. “M&N Brands has embarked on a path to build a Pan-African network, thus realizing a long-held dream.  M&C SAATCHI Group already operates a very successful African network of its own, servicing clients in more than 20 markets on the continent. “Both companies emphasise that they...

By James De Villiers A scene from the advertisement Wimpy allegedly copied from McDonald's (Screenshot, YouTube) After McDonald's accused Wimpy South Africa of plagiarism, Wimpy fired its advertising agency The Odd Number.  Three people who previously worked on the McDonald's advertising account, joined The Odd Number earlier this year. They are accused of reproducing a McDonald's advert for Wimpy. The advert, The National Breakfast, aired across South Africa in July. McDonald's withdrew its version of the advert before it aired.    Wimpy South Africa is “terminating its relationship” with advertising agency The Odd Number over allegations of plagiarism, advertising publication Marklives reported on Friday. This after McDonald’s South...

Issued By Primedia Outdoor In continuous efforts to expand innovative product offerings in sub-Saharan Africa, Primedia Outdoor has announced Radio-to-Road initiative in Zambia, an integrated multi-channel solution that enables audio and visual channel synchronicity allowing clients to create high-impact campaigns. To build memorable content that is appealing and engaging, Primedia Outdoor has partnered with the local Zambian commercial radio station, Hot FM, to bring ad campaigns to life. The number-one news and entertainment broadcaster has an average listenership of three million people who tune in every day covering mainly the centre of commerce, Lusaka and the Copperbelt province. Coupled with Primedia Outdoor’s digital...

By Leigh Andrews The Cannes Film Festival is usually filled with chatter about the winning work and those impressive evening gowns the celebs wear. Comments following the 2018 version are proving more substantial than usual, as diversity was front and foremost at the 71st Cannes Film Festival. Having taken place from 8 to 19 May 2018, there have been accolades aplenty for Africa at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, with the following five SA films selected to take part in this year’s Festival: The following five South African films will be included in the official programme: Rafiki; The Harvesters/Die Stropers; Miles from Nowhere; The Colour of...

Issued by Ads24 Ads24 is pleased to announce the winners of its #Ads24Diski18 online tournament, which was live on its website from July to 3 August. Nikki Lewin (Alphabet Soup), Wilise Laurent (Dentsu Aegis), Marizanne Scholtz (HAVAS), Keeva Arnold (TBWA Hunt Lascaris), Ilse Hayes (CARAT), Ricardo Lopes (OMD) each walk away with a PS4 console and official 2018 FIFA game. The Ads24Diski18! campaign aims to create awareness among national media agencies around the enormous reach and potential of Ads24’s mass market titles: Soccer Laduma, Kick Off, Daily Sun and Die Son. “This year the Diski activation coincided with the FIFA World Cup, so...

BY: JUANITA PIENAAR Sum of 21 Academy is a creative agency that offers a 12-month training platform to young, previously disadvantaged creatives and communicators who already have a tertiary qualification and want to enter the creative industry. Due to a significant increase in the uptake of young creatives, a steady client growth and an expanding footprint, the agency has been positioned as a creative force to be reckoned with. “The fact that Sum of 21 functions as a fully-fledged creative entity and agency sets it apart from other internship and learnership programmes. It generates real-life marketing projects for young creatives and young communicators to...

By Jessica Tennant In the run-up to the 21st Prism Awards taking place on Sunday, 22 April, we chatted to this year's cohort of young judges about their fresh approach to the judging process. In this series of interviews, we find out what they’ve learnt working alongside the cluster judges and what their young minds bring to the table. “What has made judging even more exciting this year is for the second time, we invited young communication enthusiasts from across the country to participate in the judging process, and selected 11 of the coolest, brightest minds who brought some really fresh insight to...

The annual Apex events were held at the Sandton Convention Centre today, 16 July, where the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) hosted its 'NeXt Level of Thinking Masterclass' in the morning followed by the Apex Awards gala event in the evening. The masterclass was hosted by Provantage Media Group. This year’s captains of industry who took to stage delivered presentations on the latest thought leadership topics affecting the business of marketing and communications. The theme for the morning was ‘Effectively navigating communications campaigns in a dynamic environment’. Five highly respected industry leaders – Musa Kalenga (House of Brave), Sharon Keith, Zibusiso...

By Leigh Andrew Tseliso Rangaka, executive creative director at Ogilvy Cape Town, has just been announced as the new chairperson of the Loeries. I caught up with him for an exclusive chat on what he'll bring to the table. Tseliso Rangaka, ECD of Ogilvy Cape Town is new chairperson of the Loeries. Every two years, a highlight of Loeries Creative Week is finding out who has been elected as new chairperson for the next two-year stint. Rangaka, four years older than the awards now in their fourth decade, shares what he’ll keep from outgoing ‘chair-aunty’ Suhana Gordhan’s time in the chair, as well as...

  It's an open secret that advertising people hate timesheets, though it remains the preferred pricing model with no sign of an alternative. Our daily job is to find creative solutions for our clients, but we have done little to find a solution to our ancient pricing model that we despise so much even though our industry keeps changing.   Hourly rate is one of the simplest pricing models, almost like a copout for people who don’t know how to price their services. What can one do in an hour? Plenty. Are all hours worth the same? No, they are not. Each advertising...