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Latest Updates

Hollywood and big tech are preparing for war
July 6, 2026
Meta wants to steal TV viewers, Amazon and Apple are meddling with content, and traditional media companies are pursuing megadeals to try and survive.
Hollywood Reporter
MO Agency releases SA’s most extensive AI Visibility study of LLM band recommendations by industry
July 6, 2026
The South African AI Visibility Report 2026 analysed 3,240 answers from ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini across 18 industries and 256 brands. No South African brand yet earns the AI's full confidence, and five major categories remain wide open.
Bizcommunity
The wait is over. The SA Social Media Landscape Report 2026 is now live
July 6, 2026
Get a first look at South Africa's most trusted social media benchmark. The Executive Summary offers a preview of the South African Social Media Landscape Report 2026, highlighting the biggest trends, key findings and expert insights shaping social media in South Africa.
Ornicco
Takealot swings to first full-year profit as revenue tops $1bn
July 6, 2026
South Africa's Takealot Group reported its first full-year adjusted operating profit on Monday, 29 June 2026 as strong order growth and gains in its logistics arm helped the country's biggest e-commerce firm deliver $1bn in annual revenue.
Bizcommunity
5 Cannes Lions takeaways as marketers wrestle with an industry in flux
July 6, 2026
Artificial intelligence, creators and a bounce-back in craft were some of the shared themes identified by attendees across the sweltering weeklong confab in France.
Marketing Dive
South Africa’s real unemployment rate is 15%
July 6, 2026
SA’s real unemployment rate is 15%, as many of the individuals who are formally unemployed earn income in the informal sector. This means that they do not feature in formal statistics produced by bodies such as Stats SA, leaving SA with an inflated unemployment rate of 32.7%. Informal economy expert GG Alcock explained this phenomenon on a recent Common Sense podcast, where he discussed the township economy.
Daily Investor
WOO launches Global OOH Audience Measurement Guidelines 2.0
July 6, 2026
The World Out of Home Organization Congress in London formally launched Version 2.0 of its Global OOH Audience Measurement Guidelines — the most substantial update to the medium’s measurement framework since the original WOO guidelines were published at Congress in 2022.
The Media Online
From zero to 1 million in one month
July 6, 2026
Newsday offers South Africans the latest political, financial, and economic news, with a sprinkle of sport and general reporting.
Bizcommunity
Linear TV ad tech is ready for the digital age. Now the humans have to get out of the way
July 6, 2026
Local broadcasting is at a pivotal moment, with broadcasters and ad-tech innovators converging on strategies and solutions that will ultimately result in the modernization of advertising on local linear television.
TV News Check
The ‘Father of the Internet’ is finally retiring
July 6, 2026
Vinton Cerf will step down from his role as Google’s chief internet evangelist next week, marking the conclusion of one of the most influential careers in technology history.
Tech Crunch
How Columbia’s ‘Expedition Impossible’ generated worldwide buzz
July 6, 2026
Instead of relying on paid advertising to do the leg work through conventional product messaging, this campaigning leans into humour and absurdity to capture public attention and drive marketing. One of the platform's most successful campaigns was 'Expedition Impossible', where Flat Earthers were issued a challenge to dust off their boots and prove that the Earth is indeed flat and has an edge. The premise was deliberately provocative: if participants could find the edge of the Earth, the CEO of Columbia, Tim Boyle, promised they would win ownership of the company.
Media Update
Matrix Communications Group launches new consultancy practice
July 6, 2026
"Growth without coherence is just activity. What we are launching is not another advisory firm. It is a fundamentally different way of working, one that connects people, data, human insights, strategy and technology into one cohesive, forward-looking plan. Businesses deserve partners who can see the whole picture and provide effective solutions," says Kgaugelo Maphai, Group CEO of Matrix Group.
Media Update
Youth aren’t just shaping marketing but rewriting it
July 6, 2026
A Youth Month reflection on the generation redefining how brands connect, communicate and grow.
The Media Online
KANTAR SA: Stop optimising. Start showing up. Why OOH is advertising’s ultimate power move
July 6, 2026
If 2026 has taught us anything, it is this. In a world obsessed with optimisation, targeting, and dashboards that refresh faster than your morning coffee, Out-of-Home (OOH) is quietly doing what it has always done best. It is being seen, being remembered, and being trusted.
OOH Central
Audiences still matter more than algorithms
July 6, 2026
Ask most marketers why a social media campaign underperforms and you’ll usually hear the same story. The creative could have been stronger. Or maybe the algorithm gets the blame. Sometimes those things play a part, but they don’t get to the heart of why good campaigns struggle to take off over time.
The Media Online
When YouTube becomes television
July 6, 2026
What Comrades 2026 reveals about the future of live sport.
The Media Online
Vodacom and Amazon launch Prime partnership in SA
July 6, 2026
Vodacom South Africa has partnered with Amazon South Africa to include Amazon Prime benefits across selected mobile and broadband products, expanding bundled digital services in the local telecoms market.
Bizcommunity
How brands can improve chances of showing up in AI search overviews
July 6, 2026
Forty-two percent of brand citations in organic search results do not show up in AI overviews for the same query, per an LQ Digital report.
Marketing Dive
AI adoption accelerating while performance stalls
July 6, 2026
As many organizations struggle to see significant ROI from basic generative AI applications, martech leaders hope AI agents and agentic tech will deliver key operational efficiencies, Gartner says.
MediaPost
TikTok launches agentic marketplace for ad partners
July 6, 2026
TikTok, which has opened its ad platform to third-party AI agents, is integrating a designated marketplace of agentic marketing features. According to the announcement, TikTok's AI agents are trained to analyze a wide array of data and synthesize insights into actionable recommendations that advertisers can use to make smarter decisions when creating promotions and strategizing future campaigns.
MediaPost
When AI needs a kill switch
July 6, 2026
Major companies are rewiring for artificial intelligence (AI) as part of a larger shift from chatbots toward more capable AI agentic tools that can complete complex, multi-step tasks across apps, files and work environments. The move raises concerns about how much access and authority these agents should have inside corporate and media-planning environments.
MediaPost
Vodacom South Africa has partnered with Amazon South Africa to include Amazon Prime benefits across selected mobile and broadband products, expanding bundled digital services in the local telecoms market.
July 6, 2026
Media industry consolidation is accelerating pressure on costs, efficiency and measurable outcomes, says Mediaheads360 managing director, Zodwa Vundla. Complexity is losing value as agencies and brands prioritise simplicity and integration. She believes future success depends on connecting brand, performance, media and creative thinking.
The Media Online
Samsung ads announces first shoppable CTV partners
July 6, 2026
The announcement marks a major step forward for Samsung shoppable CTV, extending interactive, remote-enabled ad experiences to Samsung TV Plus, the global FAST service of Samsung Electronics. Samsung TV Plus surpassed 100 million monthly active users (MAUs) worldwide this year, underscoring the growing strength of FAST as a premium advertising environment.
TV Technology
Pick n Pay rolls out Gemini-powered grocery assistant Penny
July 6, 2026
As South Africa's grocery delivery market becomes increasingly competitive, Pick n Pay is betting that the future of online shopping will be driven by conversation rather than search.
Bizcommunity
Vinton Cerf will step down from his role as Google’s chief internet evangelist next week, marking the conclusion of one of the most influential careers in technology history.
July 6, 2026
Australian media owners face a growing threat beyond shrinking advertising budgets: agencies are increasingly winning pitches with media rates publishers never agreed to honour, setting off a race to the bottom that risks undermining premium journalism and advertising effectiveness.
Mi3
Postcards from Cannes 2026 – The Media Leader Live from Cannes
June 29, 2026
The Media Leader’s live blog is powered by Tickaroo and delivered in partnership with Channel 4.
The Media Leader
AI search protections risk being shredded as German court says answers are Google’s own content
June 29, 2026
Google is discovering that the legal protections built for search engines may not extend to AI-generated answers, as European courts and regulators move to hold platforms accountable for the information their systems create and present. A German court has ruled Google can be held directly liable for false or defamatory claims generated by its AI Overview feature.
Mi3
It’s not TV. It’s Instagram: App is testing longform, episodic storytelling on TV
June 29, 2026
Instagram is ramping up its efforts to attract more viewers on television in a way that may look very, well, old-school.
Hollywood Reporter
Hollywood and big tech are preparing for war
July 6, 2026
Meta wants to steal TV viewers, Amazon and Apple are meddling with content, and traditional media companies are pursuing megadeals to try and survive.
Hollywood Reporter
MO Agency releases SA’s most extensive AI Visibility study of LLM band recommendations by industry
July 6, 2026
The South African AI Visibility Report 2026 analysed 3,240 answers from ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini across 18 industries and 256 brands. No South African brand yet earns the AI's full confidence, and five major categories remain wide open.
Bizcommunity
The wait is over. The SA Social Media Landscape Report 2026 is now live
July 6, 2026
Get a first look at South Africa's most trusted social media benchmark. The Executive Summary offers a preview of the South African Social Media Landscape Report 2026, highlighting the biggest trends, key findings and expert insights shaping social media in South Africa.
Ornicco
Takealot swings to first full-year profit as revenue tops $1bn
July 6, 2026
South Africa's Takealot Group reported its first full-year adjusted operating profit on Monday, 29 June 2026 as strong order growth and gains in its logistics arm helped the country's biggest e-commerce firm deliver $1bn in annual revenue.
Bizcommunity
5 Cannes Lions takeaways as marketers wrestle with an industry in flux
July 6, 2026
Artificial intelligence, creators and a bounce-back in craft were some of the shared themes identified by attendees across the sweltering weeklong confab in France.
Marketing Dive

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