The Lead Creative

What separates effective marketing from short-term noise? Recorded at the Effie Awards South Africa, this conversation with Thami Majola, Executive Head of Brands and Communications at Vodacom, unpacks advertising effectiveness through a brand and business lens. Thami shares insights on data-driven marketing, customer understanding, AI and the discipline required to build trusted, loved brands. Produced in collaboration with our partners, Soweto Media.___________________________Buy us coffee here to help us grow.___________________________The Lead Creative Podcast is available on:AppleSpotifyYouTubeFollow us on:LinkedInFacebookXInstagramSend us mail!Support the show___________________________Follow us for more on:YouTubeLinkedInInstagramSend us mail! Support the showBuy us coffee here to help us grow. Follow us for more on: YouTube LinkedIn Instagram

Simple work is often the hardest to make. In this episode, Kenosi Matsebatlela, Head of Marketing for Vaseline, and Tumi Moutlana, Creative Director at VML, share how trust shaped the Mntana Ka Gogo piece. We explore why the idea resonated, how cultural memory works in advertising and why clarity outperforms complexity. They share how instinct, chemistry and timing help teams create work that feels familiar and honest. ___________________________Buy us coffee here to keep us fuelled.___________________________The Lead Creative Podcast is available on:AppleSpotifyYouTubeFollow us on:LinkedInFacebookXInstagramSend us mail!Support the show___________________________Follow us for more on:YouTubeLinkedInInstagramSend us mail! Make a donation to Threads for Ikasi, a foundation that provides school uniforms, dignity packs and other essentials to children in townships, rural areas and under-resourced communities. To support them, go to: https://threadsforikasi.org Support the showBuy us coffee here to help us grow. Follow us for more on: YouTube LinkedIn Instagram

Advertising faces a growing challenge: too much work is created to avoid failure rather than pursue meaningful success. In this episode, creative consultant and Number 10 founder Ahmed Tilly breaks down why this mindset persists and how brands can move beyond it.Ahmed’s work includes Nando’s campaigns across 14 countries and the launches of Virgin Money, 1LifeDirect and Mazda. As Effie Awards South Africa Co-Chair (2024 & 2025) and Loeries Jury President, he offers clear insight into what makes work effective.Midway through our conversation, he recalled an insight he shared two years ago: trends are diluting creativity. “Trends are the opposite of creativity. If you’re not different, you’re dead.”Conversation highlightsTrue creativity requires resisting trends, not chasing themDistinctiveness drives real effectivenessTrend-chasing weakens creativityEffies work requires rigour and originalityMany marketing issues are rooted in strategyThank you to the Effie Awards South Africa team and Soweto Media.___________________________Buy us coffee here to help us grow.___________________________The Lead Creative Podcast is available on:AppleSpotifyYouTubeFollow us on:LinkedInFacebookXInstagramSend us mail!Support the show___________________________Follow us for more on:YouTubeLinkedInInstagramSend us mail! Make a donation to Threads for Ikasi, a foundation that provides school uniforms, dignity packs and other essentials to children in townships, rural areas and under-resourced communities. To support them, go to: https://threadsforikasi.org Support the showBuy us coffee here to help us grow. Follow us for more on: YouTube LinkedIn Instagram

How do heritage brands stay relevant in a world full of choice? At the Effie Awards South Africa, we sat down with Arpan Sur, CMO of the Sub-Saharan Africa Business Unit at Mondelez, to discuss marketing effectiveness, cultural leadership, and what makes brands like Chappies and Cadbury endure.Arpan shares why “marketing should lead culture”, how brands build rituals, and why effective work must deliver his “trifecta” of consumer impact, business outcomes, and fame. As an Effie Awards South Africa juror, he explains the rigorous judging process and what trends stood out this year.Highlights: Why Chappies became a cultural category cue.The rise of “value as effectiveness” in inflationary markets.Why clear, focused briefs deliver stronger work.Thank you to the Effies for the platform.Produced in collaboration with our partners, Soweto Media.___________________________Buy us coffee here to help us grow.___________________________The Lead Creative Podcast is available on:AppleSpotifyYouTubeFollow us on:LinkedInFacebookXInstagramSend us mail!Support the show___________________________Follow us for more on:YouTubeLinkedInInstagramSend us mail! Support the showBuy us coffee here to help us grow. Follow us for more on: YouTube LinkedIn Instagram

The challenge for many leading brands is staying relevant in categories where functional claims and pricing pressure can erode brand value. As part of our Effie Awards South Africa series, which explores marketing and advertising effectiveness with leading marketers and advertising trailblazers, I spoke to Elizabeth Mokwena, Executive Marketing Director at Unilever, about why emotion still matters.Conversation HighlightsEmotion as a driver of marketing effectivenessHow Vaseline’s “Mntana ka Gogo” refreshed a heritage brandParallels with Pete Case and Ogilvy’s international Vaseline collaborationFinding universal human truths leads to universally compelling big ideasProduced in collaboration with our partners, Soweto Media.___________________________Buy us coffee here to help us grow.___________________________The Lead Creative Podcast is available on:AppleSpotifyYouTubeFollow us on:LinkedInFacebookXInstagramSend us mail!Support the show___________________________Follow us for more on:YouTubeLinkedInInstagramSend us mail! Support the showBuy us coffee here to help us grow. Follow us for more on: YouTube LinkedIn Instagram