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.

What happens when your hobby is using machine learning and publicly available videos to face-swap celebrity faces onto pornstars’ bodies? You create an entirely new industry, and that is exactly what Redditor, deepfakes, has done, spawning a new genre of porn called Deepfake. Pornography has always been on the bleeding edge of mass communication, always finding new ways to reach and entice new markets. Although we know that pornography is scripted, at least we know that the performers are who they say they are. Mostly. Since deepfakes’ work hit the virtual shelves, many fake celebrity porn videos have surfaced, making their way onto exposé sites claiming them to be real footage, seriously damaging the reputations of mostly women actors, across the globe.

It’s 1492 and the printing press is starting to gain traction. This bothers a very select group of people very much. Monks, who had for hundreds of years been painstakingly copying out the scriptures word for word, are about to be replaced. A monk named Johannes Trithemius goes as far as writing an essay espousing the moral superiority of handwriting, claiming that handwritten books would last far longer than their printed counterparts. But nothing can stop the march of progress, and the printing press goes on to revolutionise the way we share information. Today, books are a cultural cornerstone, and monks are enjoying a lot more free time. It all worked out in the end.

Most women are switched off by AI while a quarter of the men worldwide would choose to be a cyborg if given the option.

iLife – a prosumer report by global communication group Havas and Market Probe International – has uncovered a clear gender divide when it comes to the future of AI.Its survey of more than 12,000 men and women in 32 countries found that 44% of women are optimistic about the future of AI compared with 60% of men. “While women are more apt to think that these new technologies will take away jobs, leaving millions of people unemployed, prosumers – today’s leading influencers and market drivers – and men said the two most likely scenarios are that intelligent machines will help humanity progress and solve society’s most pressing problems,” the research found.

When we look back, 2017 will be remembered as a watershed year for corporate governance. The perennial focus on technological disruption, was itself disrupted when complex sociocultural issues came to the fore. So what are the “new rules of business” to which companies will be forced to adhere, whether they like it or not? Back in 2013, a Havas Global “Prosumer” Report Communities and Citizenship revealed that 68% of its global respondents believed that businesses bore as much responsibility as governments for driving positive social change. The same survey also revealed that 55% of respondents thought corporations were better positioned than governments to combat climate change, while 61% wanted their favourite brands to play a bigger role in their local communities. The survey involved over 10 000 respondents across 31 countries, which illustrated a fastshifting mood in the global consumer mindset and yes, South Africa was part of the survey.

FANS of Apple’s iPhone know that the tech on these highend devices is built to last but no matter how well you care for your baby, two features never seem to stand the wear and tear of constant use: the battery and the screen. At the end of last year Apple was in hot water when it emerged it was “slowing down” certain older devices with software updates, apparently to preserve battery life. The company insisted this was purely to protect older models not to nudge users to buy the latest phone but publicly apologised and lowered the cost of battery replacements. The offer is now available in SA too whether your phone is slow or not, no diagnostic test is required. The offer applies only to iPhone SE, 6,6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7 and 7 Plus*. Battery replacements cost R429,78. Book online at myistore.co.za and you’ll get your phone back within five working days. Another cool new offer is the screen replacement service. Previously, battered iPhones had to be replaced by thirdparty companies, which voided the warranty.

Havas is proud to announce that it has been appointed as the lead creative agency for Parmalat’s international portfolio of brands in South Africa. Parmalat left its previous agency on 31 December 2017, and kicked off with Havas from 1 January 2018.

‘We are honoured and excited to introduce Parmalat to the Havas stable of partners. Havas is primed to handle FMCG giants such as Parmalat and we are looking forward to a great partnership where we will challenge and push each other to achieve business success across the brand portfolio,’ said Lynn Madelely, CEO of Havas Southern Africa.