Being a celeb doesn’t mean you can break the rules

[Marion Scher] If you mention the name Lance Armstrong this week in South Africa, you’ll be met with mixed reactions. Talk shows are talking and twitterers tweeting. It all started when Armstrong arrived in Cape Town with a full passport – a no-no for admittance to any country in the world. You need at least two blank pages for stamping and you’d think Armstrong, being a world traveller, would know that.

Comments [6] [10 Mar 13:20]

[ICOM] What the heck is ICOM and why is it important for SA's digital progress?

[Josh Adler] Well, it’s arrived. I'm sitting in the lounge about to fly off to Portugal for the I-COM summit (International Conference on Online Media Measurement), an event that takes place every two years and seems to attract everyone who's anyone in the world of "Internet audience measurement". A hefty term, and the easiest way to dumb it down is to say that we're here to try and better understand the best ways to measure what on earth goes on with visitor activity to the ever-changing world of web, mobile and social media.

[09 Mar 19:32]

[Design Indaba conf] Overview of day three

[Terry Levin] The last day of the 2010 Design Indaba conference, Friday, 26 February 2010, turned out to be one of highs and lows, which saw standing ovations for three acts, a mass walk out for one and a medical emergency which briefly halted proceedings. The day also saw the tipping the gender scales, with an eclectic lineup of women – well-known Dutch trend forecaster Li Edelkoort, product designer Christien Meindertsma, Chinese fashion designer Han Feng and American entrepreneur Martha Stewart... [view twitterfall]

Comments [1] [01 Mar 12:54]

[Design Indaba conf] Martha Stewart: what went wrong?

[Terry Levin] Sitting in my customary Design Indaba position a few rows from the front, I was not aware of the fact that people were walking out of Martha Stewart’s Design Indaba 2010 presentation on Friday, 26 February 2010. I became aware of people beginning to laugh at inappropriate [ie not meant to be funny] moments, especially the lady sitting next to me, but hoped the minor embarrassment for all concerned would soon be over. [view twitterfall]

Comments [14] [01 Mar 11:39]

[Design Indaba conf] Martha Stewart flamed

[Louise Marsland] The always spectacular Design Indaba will this year be remembered, not only for the fabulous speakers such as Harry Pearce, Bruce Nussbaum, Priyush Pandey, Stefan Bucher, Mokena Makeke, etc, but for the worst presentation it’s ever hosted – by famous ‘homemaker’ Martha Stewart. Who will also now be credited with launching the first local “twitcom”. [view twitterfall]

Comments [41] [26 Feb 15:05]

[Design Indaba conf] Overview of day two

[Terry Levin] “From owning to sharing, from stuff to experience,” was the phrase coined by Bruce Nussbaum, opening speaker of the second day of the 2010 Allstars Design Indaba currently on the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The quest for the new lifestyle models that design thinking can bring continues... [view twitterfall]

[26 Feb 11:38]

Relentless in the face of impossibility

[Abey Mokgwatsane] I want to tell you about an experience I had post our production of the Confederations Cup opening and closing ceremonies last year. Approximately 800 kids from eight Gauteng schools volunteered their time to perform at the ceremonies, and to thank them for being such an important part of our history, we went on a ‘thank you’ road-trip visiting the pupils at each of their schools.

Comments [2] [15 Jan 13:33]

Coming up for air

[Abey Mokgwatsane] I feel like I’ve just come up for air! Maybe that’s just a big city thing – whenever you ask a fellow Joburger how they are, the standard response is: “Fine, thanks, just very busy.” Anyhow, I really mean it.

[05 Nov 11:15]

The conscious brand is the future

[Louise Marsland] We’ve gone from ‘save the whales’ to ‘save our planet’ in a short space of time. We’ve been told most of our household cleaning products and the ingredients in much of our processed food are giving us cancer, and that our rampant consumerism is to blame for everything else. So where does this leave our industry?

Comments [6] [26 Oct 12:01]

Zakitumi, baby!

[Terry Levin] Thought you might want to share a few marketing lessons that I picked up from the Cape Times, when I went online to renew our subscription this week. What is a rather fab stroke of genius is the launch of the Zakumi cartoon exclusively on the web at IOL, by the Madam & Eve outfit – Stephen Francis and Rico. “The Adventures of Zakumi” is just the kind of saleable, added value, engagement thing we need.

Comments [2] [07 Sep 11:53]