As agency goes bust, Shoprite asks Ninety9Cents to curate account

by Herman Manson. Shoprite's ad agency has gone into liquidation, the retailer has confirmed. Shoprite Checkers marketing director, Neil Schreuder, says that the liquidation of Shoprite's advertising agency, Salient, has had no impact upon the business operations of the company.

Bester Burke Slingers calls it a day

by Herman Manson. Cape Town-based Bester Burke Slingers is closing its doors at the end of July 2014. Bryan Slingers, chairman of The Bester Burke Slingers Group, has confirmed that the partners in the business will close the company, rather than try and sell it.

Thinking TV: Earth Hour a miss as TV viewers keep watching

Introducing a monthly analysis of TV viewership figures by Inge Hansen. With millions around the globe pledging their participation in Earth Hour 2014 (29 March), would a look at TV consumption habits reveal the drive to switch off for 60 minutes?

The Dissident Spin Doctor: Business mistakes that hold us back from being great.

by Emma King. One of the key things Jim Collin discovered is that "...great companies did not focus principally on what to do to become great; they focused equally on what not to do and what to stop doing". So what are we, as PR and communications agencies, doing that perhaps we shouldn't?

Indy Ad Exec: The next generation is "un-advertising"

by Tom Fels. In the spirit of ‘un-advertising', your next piece of communication could be (or should be) a game, stunt, product placement, TV series or endorsement, rather than a print ad or standard TV execution. Old ways of thinking evoke old responses.

Regular reads:

• Ad of the Week with Oresti Patricios: Meet your match - a matter of taste

• Heroes & Zeros with Andy Rice: Coca-Cola and Tall Horse - best and worst ads of the week

• Shelf Life with Louise Marsland: The straw of life - portable water filter a potential lifesaver

• Design Annotator with Uno de Waal: Cloudy with a chance of pixels

• MagLove with MediaSlut: We love this cover spoof of TIME magazine

• #Top40TVratings with SAARF & MarkLives: The Zaziwa bounce

On the radar:

• Account wins: Irvine Bartlett wins Via Afrika PR account

• Melody Maker and Katherine McChesney launch Anthropology

• TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris Johannesburg appoints chief creative officer

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