blog
Here you will find the genius, insightful, sometimes random musings of the Cerebra crew. Everyone who works here blogs so the topics are often varied but they’re always worth reading. We also take requests so send in your topics or share your thoughts in the comments.
The real problem with social media strategies? Traditional agencies
Submitted by John Beale on Mon, 2012-10-08 14:03
Media strategists are slowly starting to understand digital as both the client and the agency demand a more holistic approach, but what about social media?
For many, the environment is daunting as it goes against what most media strategists are trained to investigate (such as reach, frequency and Gross Rating Points). Social media means consumers have the voice to talk back, but for many, it doesn’t even feature as a blip on the radar as a channel because it’s foreign to traditional media strategy which is all about broadcast.
To me, social media fits in the media mix just as much as TV, radio or print. However, the current agency briefing model doesn’t lend itself to this type of thinking. A few different approaches I’ve seen are:
Timesheets in a Digital Agency
Submitted by Kellen Rodney on Wed, 2012-10-03 14:45
The question of whether or not to use timesheets is one that every agency has faced, and one that needs to challenged on many levels. Teams who have never logged time shudder in fear at the prospect but it doesn’t need to a scary experience. This got me thinking of how we could adapt an essential practice into a dynamic agency that prides itself on being agile and innovative.
You’re asking people to tick off hours into a prescribed big brother model – confining them in a box and setting boundaries for their interaction with the work they’re engaged in.
An Infographic a day keeps the headache at bay!
Submitted by Deshnie Govender on Wed, 2012-09-26 20:01
Infographics have been floating on the scene for some time now, and although they are on the brink of over-kill I thought I would enlighten those of you who have yet to experience the “Infographic-magic”.
I remember discovering my first one. I was hooked from the very first picture. Amidst the jargon of text and pop up ads that bombard my daily browsing was this brilliant infographic on the American electoral debate, of all things! To put it simply, an infographic is a visual representation of an idea, statistic, report or data. Topics can vary from politics and science to pop music and baking. Infographics are eye-catching and make lengthy reports and analysis easy to read and digest.
About New Myspace
Submitted by Alex de Coning on Wed, 2012-09-26 19:16
Preamble:
No doubt that you’ve heard of Myspace, even if it was something like, “Hey, remember that thing before Facebook? What was it called? Oh yeah, Myspace!”
I actually still have a Myspace account. Admittedly, I haven’t logged in, in about four years, but it’s still there, with my rubbish photos and ridiculous wall posts. The nice thing about Myspace, at least in the days of yore, was that your profile was completely customisable, from background, to the fonts, the box shapes and sizes, their placement, content and other plugins. I hosted videos and games on my profile, come for the laughs, stay for the games.
Will the relaunch of MySpace bring sexy back?
Submitted by Melissa Attree on Tue, 2012-09-25 17:10
I'm writing this post as most of my colleagues are too young to even know what is, and why the is a potentially important digital development. One of my first small jobs back in the 00s was to create a MySpace profile for a client, back then, Facebook and Twitter were non-existent in SA. MySpace was all we had, yes it was ugly, and the user experience was clunky, but you could upload videos, photos, text and audio files on one page.
Fast forward a couple of years and MySpace is the old shoe from several seasons back that gets lost in the back of your cupboard. Until today.
Knowing your brand
Submitted by Dolly Matsubukanye on Tue, 2012-09-25 11:27
I’m not married and I don’t have kids. The closest I have ever come to being a mom is looking after my two ageing cats. Yet this information became completely irrelevant when I started working at Cerebra, and one of my clients was an FMCG product that was targeted at mothers trying to make better choices for their families. I had to make sure that the brand voice was that of a mother, speaking to other mothers.
The Social Media Orchestra
Submitted by Heike Meyburgh on Thu, 2012-09-20 11:12
Recently (a fellow Cerebran) and myself visited the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra as a team building exercise. While listening to the music I started thinking how Cerebra is like an orchestra.
It all starts with the composer
What do Beethoven, Mozart, Strauss and have in common? A bunch of composers and then John, Cerebra’s strategist … I promise it isn’t a riddle.
Our Identity Part 3: A strategic framework for engagement
Submitted by Mike Stopforth on Mon, 2012-09-17 09:30
By now you would have read our posts Our Identity Part 1: The Cerebra Mission Statement and Manifesto and Our Identity Part 2: The Community Lifecycle about who we are and what we do, but in case you need a quick refresher; Cerebra helps companies build, engage and activate communities through strategic communication across a variety of digital and traditional channels. We are a strategy led agency and our clients’ brand objectives underpin every activity and campaign we initiate.
The ‘Digital Natives’
Submitted by Cerebra on Mon, 2012-09-10 14:18
Written by Rachel Calteaux
‘Generation Z’ otherwise known as the ‘Digital Natives’ might have more influence on the current social media landscape than we think.
This digital-savvy generation comprises of those born in the mid 1990’s to the early 2000’s, meaning the majority of them have grown up with the Internet and caught onto social media before anyone else. This generation has been weaned on smart phones and laptops and they have, if not will, become comfortable and even dependent on digital technology. “Gen Z” is one of International Agency JWT’s for 2012.
Creative Director - No Vacancy
Submitted by IanRodney on Thu, 2012-09-06 09:13
Many agencies within a similar space to Cerebra make use of a creative director. This person is responsible for the company’s creative output, including ideation and oversight of all creative processes. And while bucket loads of creativity is required at any agency to successfully deliver client objectives and campaigns, this is not a position that currently falls within Cerebra’s organogram.
At this stage we have chosen to instead employ a creative ‘directive’ at Cerebra. This is not a single role for a lone ranger, but rather a responsibility that we instill, develop and foster within every one of our staff members.
