Venelize de Lange from media update talks to Vanessa Baard about building credible corporate communication, preparing effective executive spokespeople and how to navigate a reputational crisis, especially when the path forward is unclear.

Publicis Groupe Africa has landed 21 finalist nominations at this year's Bookmark Awards, South Africa's leading digital marketing awards, with agencies Machine, LePub and StudioOne all recognised for work spanning nearly every stage of the digital ecosystem, from audience engagement and content creation to AI, experience design and technology.

Claude now leaves an invisible mark on AI-generated text. media update's Venelize de Lange  considers the limitations of this latest function and the complicated question of AI authorship this conversation presents.

Toyota South Africa Motors has launched a new advertising campaign for the new RAV4, developed in partnership with Publicis Groupe Africa's Studio One.

PR and reputation teams spend enormous energy managing the moments a brand can control: the campaign launch, the media interview, the sponsored activation. Almost none of that energy reaches the one encounter every employee, candidate, journalist and client has without fail, and it happens behind the one door nobody briefs a spokesperson for, says Charl Broodryk, Nuwkem.

Held annually on 1 August and now officially endorsed as a United Nations Ocean Decade Activity, the celebration of Marine Protected Areas (nature reserves of the sea) plays a vital role in protecting the ocean — and ultimately the planet.

media update's Venelize de Lange talks to Leigh Papadopulos about what it takes to market a global airline.

We see it time and time again, media companies pouring everything they've got into customer acquisition. It's the be-all and end-all, driving every KPI. And it works; they catch their customers, they make the sale — but then waste all of that effort by letting them slip away. It's pointless, says Satish Thiagarajan, Founder of Brysa.

Most business strategies do not fail because they are poorly designed. They fail because people never fully understand them, says Viviana Koshiaris, Head of Communication at CFAO South Africa.

Massmart has appointed Charmagne Mazhindu as its new Vice President of Marketing, aimed at strengthening the retailer's executive leadership team as it continues to accelerate its customer-centric growth strategy.