"Digify attempts to address diversity, digital-skills gaps in adland" - MarkLives - POLITICS

Digify attempts to address diversity, digital-skills gaps in adland

by Herman Manson. Digify, a new project launched by Livity Africa in association with Google and the IAB, is helping to address both the digital-skills gap and lack of diversity in the supply of digital-savvy youngsters joining ad agencies and marketing departments.

Thinking TV: Top 10 most-expensive programmes on South African TV

by Inge Hansen. If we look at the top 10 most-expensive programmes on South African TV, we see a demand for local programming which is viewed primarily on free-to-air channels, and it is no surprise that the top spot was held by Generations. The exception to this is sport, which brings with it real-time viewing to a specific consumer segment, for special-occasion viewing.

Brand Politics: Everything's political

by Alistair Mackay. It seems to me that South African brands are much less inclined to venture into cultural and political debate. It's not surprising, given our cultural diversity and fears of offending people, and our track record of angrily shutting down debate. But it's not great for building meaningful brands, either.

Tech Law: Marketers should reconsider targeted online ads

by Paul Jacobson. Conventional wisdom in the marketing industry seems to be that better targeted ads are more effective. The problem with a strict opt-in model is that it reinforces your existing preferences without exposing you to alternatives.

Beyond Borders: Measurability on the African continent

by Craig Page-Lee. Who will be first out of the starting blocks in the race to mine the new "gold" of raw data on the continent? The media owners? The media agencies? The telecommunications companies? Or possibly a combination of all - something that I believe will be best for the industry?

Regular reads:

• Ad of the Week with Oresti Patricios: Fighting apathy with empathy

• Shelf Life with Louise Marsland: Low and behold! How clever of Woolies

• MagLove with MediaSlut: It's all about the taste

• Heroes & Zeros with Andy Rice: Garmin & FNB's Un-Steve - best & worst brands strategies of the week

• #Top40TVratings with SAARF & MarkLives: 20-26 October 2014

• Smart Africa TV with Russell Southwood: Alt Tab Mobile & running a global apps creation company from Joburg

Appointments

• Melissa Attree joins Ogilvy CT as content strategy director

• Warren van Rensburg new Hero creative director

On the radar:

• Launch of Creative Data Lions, Lions Innovation Festival