“What we want to do is use technology in a way that actually does bring people together,” Heineken’s CMO told us. It’s always been hard to break the ice with a stranger. It’s a little easier when there’s common ground—like a shared hobby, interest, or cultural taste. That’s the thinking powering The Clinker, a smart band that wraps around Heineken beer cans and bottles.
The Marketing + Media Alliance (MMA) South Africa’s Next! Conference 2026 will focus on what is working in practice, bringing together the broader marketing industry to explore what drives growth in today’s fragmented and fast-evolving landscape
France’s Canal+ has signed a new multi-year renewal deal with SA Rugby to keep all of the South African Rugby Union’s (Saru) domestic competitions, Springbok women and junior age-group matches on MultiChoice’s SuperSport in sub-Saharan Africa. It is the first sports content contract Canal+ has signed with a South African sports federation body since it took over MultiChoice in September 2025.
Meta is reportedly working on two new agentic artificial intelligence tools, which would enable users to let its Artificial Intelligence systems conduct tasks on their behalf, including shopping, with minimal human guidance.
South African TV evolved from apartheid propaganda into a platform for democracy and cultural expression.
Netflix is stepping deeper into mobile-first behaviour with the launch of Clips, a new vertical video feed designed to make content discovery faster, more intuitive and more aligned with how users already consume media on their phones.
The key findings show that seven in 10 shoppers are likely to trust personalised ads, compared to generic advertising, which is trusted by just a quarter. It also finds that 91% are comfortable sharing transactional data if it leads to more relevant advertising.
Retail media struggles with fragmented, self-reported measurement that is difficult to compare across platforms. It needs to change, as advertiser expectations are more sophisticated, says IAB Europe’s Marie-Clare Puffett.
Heineken has appointed a new roster of Creative, Production, and Media partners to accelerate the next phase of growth for its Global and Power Brands portfolio.
Warc has released The Future of Measurement 2026 report, exploring the latest emerging trends in media and creative measurement. It focuses on three key areas: the shift to outcomes measurement; how AI is moving measurement upstream; and the rise of creative intelligence.