Episodes

The advertising and media industries have always fascinated us. As far back as 1961, Rock Hudson, Doris Day and Tony Randall teamed up in a comedy called Lover Come Back. It was about a cocky advertising exec who inadvertently pitches a campaign for a product that doesn’t exist. This movie gave us some surprising insights into the creativity that goes into advertising campaigns, and the behaviors they drive. But the advertising and media industry has changed since 1961, and so have the consumers...

Technology start-ups are like mushrooms in the forest, and unfortunately, 90 percentage of them fail but from the ones that succeed we can learn valuable business lessons. And the lessons that can be learned are not only for other technology companies but also for small and medium businesses. There are 125 million formal micro, small and midsize businesses in the world, including 89 million in emerging markets and they are just as important to the economy as technology start-ups. When you take a...

Gone are the days when executives are just executives and managers are only managers. Leaders are encouraged, even expected, to develop themselves and to more effectively manage their teams and companies. Workers today put in 50 or more hours per week in their job. Managers and executives tend to make about 400 million business trips in a year resulting in the fact that our lives are consumed by our jobs. In todays fiercely competitive business world we are working longer hours, more than many y...

The numerous articles and blogs we read about data and technological inductions show that we are still in a transition and adjustment phase when it comes to the tools we use to search, and one of those tools that is rapidly emerging is voice search. So, are we ready for this? As users we are slowly migrating to voice search while most small and medium businesses are still struggling to optimize their online presence and not even thinking about voice search. Studies show that enterprise companies...

Fashion has always been an important part of how people define themselves and others. It's a powerful tool of influence. First impressions are very often formed because of fashion and we are more likely to trust and even obey orders from people dressed in styles which dictate control, such as uniforms or the power suit. It has to be one of the most influential industries with secure business practices that make us follow trends, follow people, and drive us to confident choices that then define w...

Data is one of the greatest assets of a company, and when information is lost, it can result in substantial costs. Data can be lost several ways, the most common ways are through technology and process errors or external exposure. Firms such as Amazon and Walmart have had customer passwords leaked online, and these are only the significant breaches that we hear about, but there are many more. It also costs time and money to fix a breach. In a 2018 PwC UK report on the state of global information...

In the digital age, it is essential for all businesses to have an online presence. It does not matter if it’s a website, an e-commerce platform, a social media page, or a combination of all three; you need to be online regardless if you conduct business online or not. However, what constitutes an excellent online presence, and what ensures a business can be found online? The answer is content. Have you ever heard the phrase, “content is king”? Well, it's true. Content marketing used to be a way ...

The tech industry takes pride in changing the world of work, but it is further away from achieving gender equality than other industries. Looking at top companies, the leadership positions that women hold waver around 25 %. In school, girls get better grades than boys. So why do women not pursue technology at the university level, where technology has one of the highest gender disparities in course subjects? Is it because there is a lack of role models for women in the technology sector? As part...

Coaching has developed over the years when it used to be considered a from of “punishment” it is now considered a necessary “performance enhancer”. Top CEO’s are proud to say they have coaches, just like top athletes always have. Businesses also need coaches. In today’s global and competitive economy, having someone help you lift either your individual performance or your company results are a must. But there are all kinds of coaching models and finding the right recipe is sometimes hard. In thi...

There is increase worldwide in High Conflict Personalities (HPC). Is it the media, the extreme competition, the global economy, video games and movies or a combination of all of the above? It sometimes seems that HPC, narcissistic and sociopathic behaviours are dominating our boardrooms and the political arena, but we are the ones putting them there. The traits that accompany these personalities have been widely studied, and there is some evidence that these people are more likely to succeed in ...

Hyperconnected and digitally charged organizations have become the norm today, and this has brought with it new challenges. The rules for conducting business have changed and managing constant change is a necessity in our already a volatile and ambiguous world. From dealing with a global economy to changing consumer behaviours, leaders need to be agile in order to hold the competitive advantage, but they also need courage. But how do leaders find courage and what skills do leaders need to lead i...

Body language is something we notice but do not think about,but body language is the unspoken element of communication that we use to reveal our true feelings and emotions. Our gestures, facial expressions and posture, for instance tell people what we are thinking. Body language can heavily influence how anyone feels about interacting with us, it plays an important role in your career, and affects whether you have a positive or negative impression of you after an interaction. And when we are abl...

Consumer insight is one of the most powerful tools marketers and publishers can hold. Discovering where your audiences are, and their interests and habits can not only allow you to talk to them in the right manner, with the right message, you can engagement them and grow your business. While mobile usage is on the raise, and people engage more and more with their mobile phones, there is one channel that leads the way in getting consumers engaged and that is the APP. Most businesses would love to...

The ‘digital Sector’ is an umbrella term that covers a wide variety of industries – all having a big impact on the way that we live, work and play. Companies that create digital products or are involved in digital advertising must serve a wide and diverse customer base and they need a talent pool that understands this customer base. Their products and messages must be free of ideology, bias or prejudice. That’s why having more diverse teams at every level of development in a digital company mean...

As part of our series on the Middle East and Africa, this episode explores the digital opportunities in East and West Africa. Africa is on the verge of massive digital disruptions with the explosion of mobile, the increase of cross-border data and the constant focus on development that is skipping a lot of the earlier digital technologies. But even while all this is going on only about 15% of SME’s in East Africa have a website. When you compare this to South Africa with 30%, select ME countries...

We still do not have enough equality in the C-suite. It does not matter how we cut the numbers they are just not there, and the question is why? One of the answers could be that we are all still living with unconscious biases, which can close the door to equality in the workplace. Many companies have diversity, equal opportunity and discrimination policies but they are not always “living missions and values”. But unconscious bias can also be within ourselves, and very often we women stand in our...

When are artificial intelligence and big data going to achieve traction within Fortune 1000 corporations? We think It actually already has. In 2018 NewVantage partners’, conducted an annual executive survey on AI and Big Data. The study was conducted on 60 Fortune 1000 or industry-leading companies, with 93.1% of respondents as C-level executive decision-makers. The main findings of the survey revealed that an overwhelming 97.2% of executives reported that their companies are investing in buildi...

Globalization is very often thought of as a new phenomenon, but it isn't. It is simply the contact between diverse individuals and it actually began when prehistoric wandering tribes settled and integrated themselves into more stable tribal environments. Digitalization- what is that? It will be a tremendous opportunity for society: over the years to come, it will be one of the strongest drivers for growth, jobs, and well-being. But it is a little scary. You toss in the span of generations workin...

We’re used to thinking of start-ups as primarily high-tech innovation companies and geographically located in Silicon Valley, but that has changed. First, start-ups have gone global with Hubs popping up from Tel Aviv to Toronto and from Berlin to Shanghai. Also, start-ups are not just about tech, but about local businesses. Harvard research has shown that there are four shifts taking place with start-ups and VC: Expansion, Globalization, Urbanization, and a Winner-Take-All Pattern trend. But the...

In ancient times the ability to memorize was a considered a magical skill --sometimes even thought of as mystical and it was essential to the passing down of stories, legends, history, and taboos and laws. It was used as a basis for social and economic development. Today, the Internet seems to be making memorization irrelevant. What we don’t remember, we look up. Many schools have also generally abandoned requiring students to memorize poems, famous speeches, math tables, and all sorts of academ...

With the lifting restrictions on cannabis, many say that the current “green rush” will actually have even more impact on the economy than the reintroduction of alcohol in the 30’s. But it is not that easy to grasp the entrepreneurial reins that are needed to make it in this industry. Restricted licenses, regulations and new technologies in an industry that is really in its infancy, makes it exciting but also very demanding and great leadership plays an important role. But it is not only about gr...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing everything. It is merging our personal lives with our business lives as devices learn more about us and location-based intelligence always knows where we are and what we are doing. We see AI used in internet searches, customer targeting applications, performance evaluations and it is rapidly changing many industries and the future of work. But AI is not new. In 1956, the term artificial intelligence was used at a conference at Dartmouth College, but not u...

Digitalization is happening at all levels of the economy and it is impacting small and medium size businesses (SMB’s) as much it impacts enterprise companies. The challenge is that SMB’s do not always have the same digital resources or knowledge that large enterprises have. For this reason, it is hard for SMB’s to keep up with the various types of digital media available resulting in a lack of web presence that may hinder being found when customers are ready to buy. SIINDA, The Search and Inform...

There is no place in the world where digital marketing is changing and advancing so fast as in the Middle East and African (MEA). In preparation for our LOCALCOMM SIINDA event, to be held at Google Headquarters, March 6 & 7 in Dubai, we are talking today with a MEA digital expert. . According to the latest telecom Intelligence reports, Mobile phone usage is skyrocketing in the MEA and the region is expected to account for the second-largest mobile phone population of any region in the world, wit...