Cheap, AI-generated microdramas are taking South Africa by storm and vying for an audience that once belonged exclusively to DStv, E-tv, and the SABC. Even though microdramas are delivered in vertical video format, they scratch the same itch as traditional soaps or telenovelas and, in the modern attention economy, compete for a similar audience.

South Africa’s e-commerce opportunity may depend less on getting consumers online than on giving them the confidence to spend once they get there. According to the World Wide Worx's Online Retail in South Africa 2026 study, 79.1% of South African adults regularly browse the web, but only 34.2% buy goods online.

Carat, dentsu's global media agency, has launched Difference Engineered, a new global positioning and brand identity that sets out its ambition to create greater differentiation and measurable advantage for clients.

Digital out-of-home (DOOH) has evolved well beyond simply choosing a screen and booking space on it. Advertisers can now secure an ongoing share of voice (SOV) across priority locations, while also using programmatic buying to increase their presence at specific times or in particular places based on audience and location data.

According to new research from The UCT Liberty Institute of Strategic Marketing and You’ve Earned It, they feel invisible. The numbers are impossible to ignore. 81% of older South Africans believe brands focus mostly on younger people. 62% say they feel overlooked by marketers. 41% say advertising still leans on negative stereotypes about ageing.

SAB and the Loeries have announced that Vaughan Croeser, Vice President of Marketing at SAB, has been named Loeries Marketer of the Year, recognising his outstanding leadership in marketing strategy, creativity, brand building and commercial execution.

On the Dot conducted primary field research in July 2026 among 51 spaza shop owners across Western Cape townships. The most striking finding is the dominance of self-collection. Nearly half of all shop owners 49%, collect all their stock themselves. At supplier-relationship level the picture is even more pronounced: 78% of named supplier relationships are collection-led, with only 18% involving any form of delivery. This is not preference, it is default.

The recently launched consultancy, aimed at bringing an impactful hub for solving key business challenges facing clients that seek to grow.

Taken together, the findings suggest that SA’s consumers are not simply cutting back. They are re-engineering how they shop and eat. For retailers and manufacturers, that means understanding the combination of price, convenience, effort, taste and occasion behind each purchase.

What is talent really worth in today’s market? There was a time when a marketing manager was a marketing manager. A creative director was a creative director. And a media planner... well, planned media. But things have changed.