The Gerety Awards has announced its shortlist for 2020 with FCB, Havas, LifeDesign and VMLY&R from South Africa all making the cut. The Phonetic Can campaign for Coca-Cola by FCB Johannesburg was shortlisted, Havas Johannesburg was shortlisted with Take This Thread, Pride campaign for BOS Ice Tea by VMLY&R was shortlisted and LifeDesign Johannesburg goes into the next round with Wisdom of Life for Cipla Pharmaceuticals.

People are different. We can tell this by just going outside (while staying 2m away from everyone) and having a look around. Some people are, of course, more different than others (for example that guy called Nigel who knits his own underwear) but he’s probably a unique case. But being different means that we, as humans, deal with things differently. And this applies to how we handle everything from success to failure to stress and, of course, lockdowns during global pandemics.

We are very proud to announce that, following a recent pitch process, we have been appointed as Bidvest Bank’s communications partner. Given that their slogan is GET IT DONE, we feel that we share a crucial piece of DNA with them, and

are hugely looking forward to getting things done and changing the face of banking in SA.

Davenport, co-founder of the Ireland/Davenport (ID) advertising agency, has joined the Havas group as chief creative officer.Davenport has worked on some of SA’s biggest accounts, including SA Breweries, BMW, Standard Bank, Investec, Avis, Vodacom, MTN and SA Tourism. Awards include more than 20 Lions from the Cannes international advertising festival.

Our CEO Lynn Madeley was at eNCA this morning talking about the launch of the Havas initiative #TakeThisThread, which aims to empower domestic abuse survivors. The official launch will be at the Doek On Fleek Lifestyle event this Saturday. Buy your tickets and join our movement: https://bit.ly/2IzCZzG

27 January 2018, Johannesburg, South Africa – On 23rd January 2018, the great jazz legend and anti-apartheid struggle icon, Hugh Masekela, passed on. Bra Hugh was a hero to many – through his life as a struggle icon, and his genius as a jazz musician. To celebrate his life, Universal Music Group and Havas Southern Africa pay homage in sound, a language well understood and well mastered by the great man himself. The tribute marks the passing of a legend and celebrates a life well lived; an epitome of freedom both in his contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle and to jazz worldwide.

VIEWPOINT Enough already with Digital Doomsday Prepping! About 2 years ago, I noticed that the majority of the briefs crossing my desk had something in common: a need to compete in the futurist narrative. A synopsis for the category trends in ICT, telecommunications and even some seemingly unrelated verticals was: ‘a future you don’t understand is coming, and without us, you won’t be able to deal with it.’ It hasn’t let up. If anything, it has accelerated into a wall of parity messages insisting that either the future is scary or it’s great, but without Brand X, you won’t be able to keep up. Insert consequences here, both personal and business. It’s easy to judge these brand messages as unimaginative, or manipulative in the predictable way advertisers are perceived by the public, but this narrative wasn’t born in isolation.

Talent management in an industry that is still grappling with transformation can be tricky. It’s an ongoing negotiation. From looking for the right talent at the right level, to developing future-fit talent that meets the needs of the business both today and tomorrow – business leaders have a responsibility to build and maintain diverse teams that create interesting work that will positively impact client businesses.