Afterburn Marketing

04/05/2024

We endorse Africa’s biggest marketing conference, The Nedbank IMC taking place in person (Jhb) or online on the 19th Sep. We are offering ten virtual tickets (worth R1500 each) to the first ten Afterburn followers who DM the message ‘Marketing. Challenge yourself’. Only the first ten will be responded to. For more on this event please visit

AFRICA’S BIGGEST MARKETING CONFERENCE. 19th September 2024 IN-PERSON (JHB) OR ONLINEONE DAY. ONE STREAM. 20+ THOUGHT LEADERSFOCUS ROOMS, MODDERFONTEIN, SANDTON Donovan Goliath Back by popular demand!Your host for the day, Donovan Goliath Workshop Sponsor HIGHLIGHTS 2023 ONLY 400 OF 800 IN-PERSON T...

20/09/2018

We’re disrobing technology to see the humans beneath it... One of Gartner’s top five technologies to watch is Transparently Immersive Experiences which, when you look beneath the suit, is tech that will continue to become more human-centric to the point where it will introduce transparency between people, businesses and things. According to IT-Online, these technologies extend and enable smarter living, work, and other spaces we encounter and the trend is enabled by technologies like 4D Printing, Connected Home, Edge AI, Self-Healing System Technology, Silicon Anode Batteries, Smart Dust, Smart Workspace and Volumetric Displays. Stripped bare, technology was always going to be about people, wasn’t it?

17/09/2018

12/09/2018

07/09/2018

Prof. David Uribe is a Colombian professional and author currently working as Regional Data Director at TBWA for the markets of Africa, Middle East and some European markets. He is also the Head of Digital at TBWA/Hunt/Lascaris in South Africa. Prof. Uribe will be speaking at , you do not want to miss this!

06/09/2018

We have decided to go blah-less. Less talk. More bottom line. Book youth tickets now to benefit from the early bird special.

31/08/2018

Look under the cover of the drone industry and see how one start-up is droning for good in Africa. Engineers from SpaceX, Boeing, Google and Willow Garage set up Zipline in 2011 to create and use drones for social good – and then beat Amazon and FedEx to the punch with medical deliveries by drone in October 2016, shipping medication and blood to remote medical areas in Rwanda. Zipline has now developed what it claims is the world's fastest commercial delivery drone, with a top speed of 128kms an hour. They’ve clocked up 300 000kms in around 4 000 flights since service began. Now the company has launched a similar operation in Tanzania, proving business for good is good business

IMC Conference

30/08/2018

Are you getting too much? Psychology Today says a fundamental consequence of too many hours of screen time (computers, tablets, smartphones) for adults is a restructuring of the matter that makes up your brain, seen mainly in what is termed “screen addiction”. The journal says even some who aren't addicts but use devices heavily may experience a version of the same restructuring. “Too much screen usage seems to result in grey matter shrinkage, problems with white matter's ability to communicate, a lot more cravings, and poorer cognitive performance.” But, Jessica Wong, a technology and addiction expert at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation notes: “We call it addiction when it starts to impact day-to-day function, relationships with children, spouses and friends.” A little less a day will keep the doctor away?

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27/08/2018

The tale of retail and e-tail: Omni-channel is the answer, says leading data and analytics company GlobalData. Digital Retail Analyst Andreas Olah believes AI enables retailers to automate a variety of manual processes and reduce human error, and “interactive self-service kiosks and customer service robots can improve the customer experience but technology does not fully replace the human element, which remains important for creating a pleasant shopping experience”. Noting that fashion retailers promote personal styles and brand identity and generalist retailers, such as grocery stores, require less personal interaction, how does today’s retailer combine the efficiency of automation with the personal touch only humans can offer?

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23/08/2018

You may disrupt. You may innovate. But are you a disruptive innovator? Here’s the naked truth... In The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators, authors Jeffrey Dyer, Hal Gregersen and Clayton Christensen uncover the origins of “innovative-and often disruptive-business ideas”. Turns out, innovators “think different”, but to do so they know they have to “act different”. The authors say that when engaged in consistently, these actions - questioning, observing, networking and experimenting - trigger associational thinking to deliver new businesses, products, services and/or processes. Are we ready to question ourselves and our ideas, though? Because, as research shows, “innovators ask a ton of questions. In fact, they treat the world as a question”.

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21/08/2018

Are you early or innovative? An early adopter is a person who embraces new technology before most other people do. They are likely to buy or try out new technology far sooner than most of their peers. According to a theory by Everett Rogers called Diffusion of Innovations (DoI) - which seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread - early adopters make up 13.5 percent of the population. Then at the opposite end of the spectrum, we have laggards and Luddites. The former are slow or reluctant to embrace new technology and Luddites actively fear or loathe new technology, especially that which they believe threaten existing jobs. Is there any way to change the laggards and luddites? And should we even try?