Social media has offered unprecedented opportunities for brands to generate ‘free’ marketing opportunities on platforms that allow for incredibly specific targeting. Franchises are a special marketing case, in that the reputational buck stops with the parent brand, while it’s the individual franchisee that’s usually public-facing – and therefore carrying the brand reputation, without carrying an accompanying proportion of the risk. […]
While the franchising system in South Africa continues to perform strongly in the face of a tricky economy with record unemployment levels, there’s also an increasing appetite for local brands to look beyond the country’s borders in the search for additional revenue. According to the Franchise Association of South Africa’s (FASA) 2018 Franchise Market Report, there are 865 franchise systems […]
Ease of access to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) platforms is making it easier than ever for brands to gain an exponentially greater understanding of the needs, wants and behaviours of their customers – giving them unprecedented insight into just what makes the users of their products or services, tick. These technologies are even more useful when optimising […]
It’s very rare to find a space that fundamentally feels healthy – but that’s just the sense that settles on you the second you click your car’s ignition off in the car park at Santé Wellness Retreat & Spa. The Paarl air is crisp, the distant mountains look freshly-laundered and the imposing stack of buildings before you are pristine – […]
Ancient cities weren’t designed for tour buses, so much of the history and magic of the grandest capitals is tucked away in narrow cobblestone warrens. While there’s a lot to be said for hopping on a tour bus and ticking off the list of major monuments with the help of a knowledgeable guide, cycling a city is one of the […]
Treating Mauritius as South Africa’s 10th province does a great disservice to the magnificent island paradise – and Club Med’s revamped La Pointe aux Canonniers property showcases just how magical a place the country is. There’s something endearingly old-school about the evening theatre entertainment at Club Med Villages (resorts, in the language of the brand) – particularly at La Pointe […]
A background in accounting and an aptitude for systems have placed Adrian van der Merwe and his company, North Wind Digital, at forefront of shaping the finance function of the future. As society and industry try to come to grips with the ramifications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), van der Merwe, CTO Grant Hesse and their team have combined […]
While the phrase ‘Artificial Intelligence’ has become a 21st century technological buzz-term, it was first coined by scientists at a conference at Dartmouth in 1956 when they arranged a workshop to bring luminaries in the fields of cybernetics, mathematics, formal reasoning and other related fields of academia together to explore problem solving. Marais Neethling, Head of Artificial Intelligence at leading […]
Glistening gold in the afternoon sunlight, La Cité du Vin on the banks of the Garonne is all swirls and eddies, wine swirling in a glass and knotted root stock – a cathedral to the history, art and culture of wine. The striking structure in the Bassins à Flot district on the outskirts of Bordeaux opened just two years ago, […]
Modimolle-born artist Nelson Makamo has come a long way since he started exhibiting his work at local shows around Limpopo. He joined the Artist Proof Studio in 2003 and via a bursaries from Johnson & Johnson International and Pinpoint One, opened his first solo exhibition at the Obert Contemporary Art Gallery in Johannesburg in 2005. Since then, his work has […]
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