Best news in three years for South Africans
Financial confidence among South Africans has reached a three-year high, with consumers finally crawling out of “survival modeâ€â€”but more still needs to be done to address long-term struggles.
TikTok launches exclusive TikTok Insiders programme to accelerate agency growth in South Africa
TikTok has launched TikTok Insiders, an exclusive, application-only programme designed to help South African advertising, digital, and media agencies scale their presence on TikTok with unprecedented speed and clarity.
All the South African Social Media Award winners
Each year, the South African Social Media Awards highlight how influencers, brands, and agencies are using digital platforms in new and interesting ways. With a focus squarely on social media work, the awards offer a snapshot of the industry’s direction. These are the 2025 winners.
Ogilvy dominates Financial Mail AdFocus Awards 2025
Ogilvy SA is the Financial Mail AdFocus Awards 2025 Agency of the year.
Total TV blackout warning for millions of South Africans
The SABC could have its signals cut off in just over a month due to the debt it owes state signal distributor Sentech. Sentech itself is in a difficult financial situation. The SABC is its biggest client, and due to its inability to pay, the signal distributor says it can’t continue operating past the end of December in its current state.
TV is the battery that charges other media
This month’s Chart of the Month comes from our study Staying Power: the longevity of advertising, which shows that advertising continues to drive impact long after campaigns end. Campaigns using four or more media channels are twice as likely to drive definite purchase consideration as single-channel campaigns (40% vs 20%). TV is a key driver, boosting the impact of other media on definite purchase intent by an average of 26%.
Google Ads quietly rolls out a new conversion metric
Google’s new “Original Conversion Value†metric gives advertisers long-needed clarity by revealing the true, unadjusted revenue their campaigns generate.
Will bots end social listening as we know it?
AI-driven bot networks are growing and weighing in on everything from Cracker Barrel to Tylenol, forcing marketers to parse real consumer insights from fake.
Global
Brand-building wins over performance for UK marketers
UK marketers are moving toward brand-building in 2026, with 37% planning to increase branding spend and just 14% increasing performance spend, according to ISBA, Ebiquity and the WFA. Globally, 32% plan to lift brand spend and 28% plan to boost performance budgets.