Articles
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Nobody reads advertising. People read what interests them. Sometimes it’s an ad.
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Howard Luck Gossage, also known as “The Socrates of San Francisco“. Just like some of us, he was a paddler too who once joined a friend to paddle a canoe for 1 500 miles along the Mississippi river. And he discovered the media theorist Marshall McLuhan.
We write about marketing, media, South Africa, AI, the creative life and whatever else happens to keep us up at night. These aren’t “thought leadership” pieces written to game an algorithm. They’re honest observations from people who’ve spent decades in publishing, branding and digital marketing and who still find the industry fascinating enough to have opinions worth sharing.
RECENT ARTCLES
The Toast’s own perspectives on brand development, communication, media trends and life in general.
Brand personality goes a long way
Opinionated positioning In the vibrant world of marketing, brands stand as more than mere logos or names; they embody personas that resonate with their audience, akin to individuals in society. Establishing a brand personality is not just about crafting a unique identity; it’s about articulating opinions that speak volumes, positioning brands as relatable entities with which consumers can form meaningful connections. This professional discourse delves into the pivotal role of brand opinions in distinguishing brands in a market rife with uniformity, underscoring the strategic imperative of aligning these opinions with core brand values.
Four years later
A journey of gratitude and growth As we step into the festive season, marking the end of another year and the dawn of a new one, it’s a time for reflection and anticipation. This moment is particularly poignant at Twisted Toast Digital, as we look back on the world adapted to a new normal post-COVID-19.
The quest for artificial general intelligence
Navigating towards a next frontier The recent disruptive, management, board and shareholder upheavals at leading generative artificial intelligence firm OpenAI has focused the technology world’s attention firmly on its next frontier, the search for systems with artificial general intelligence (AGI). According to an analysis created by The Economist, this has divided the AI cognoscenti into two basic camps. Doomers “believe that, left unchecked, AI poses an existential risk to humanity and hence advocate stricter regulation”, while boomers “play down fears of an AI apocalypse and stress its potential to turbocharge progress”.
Global acclaim as Poultry Bulletin wins International Content Marketing Award
Poultry Bulletin magazine, the official mouthpiece of the South African Poultry Association (SAPA), has won silver in the prestigious International Content Marketing Awards 2023, which were announced in London on Thursday. Editor Melinda Shaw of Shaw Media expressed the significance of winning an award in such a competitive field, in which Poultry Bulletin fought off fierce competition from over 30 countries, to stand alongside international brands such as Qantas Think Event Series (gold winner), Porche Post Magazine (bronze) and Barclays Avios Rewards - A connected journey for Barclays and British Airways (shortlisted) in the category Best Use of Monetised Content.
Fight, Love, Persevere
The power of unity One of my favourite poems of all time is Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas’ “Do not go gentle into that good night.” While the poem is commonly interpreted as a son’s appeal to his ailing father to sustain his will to live, it has always resonated more profoundly with me, encapsulating the prevailing spirit of South Africans today. We’re a tenacious bunch and it is probably not too surprising that our desire to survive and thrive, no matter the adversity we face, is tattooed on our nation’s psyche. Which brings me to sport and more specifically rugby and our heroic Boks.
Gratitude in waves: My personal account of being rescued by the NSRI
Safety on the ocean: Lessons learnt As I finished final preparations for my intended Reverse Miller’s Run downwind surfski paddle on the beach in front of my local club, Fish Hoek Beach Sports Club (FHBSC) at just before 16:00 on Thursday afternoon, 21 September 2023, I activated the South African National Sea Rescue Institute’s NSRI SafeTRX app. I selected its continuous tracking setting, sealed my smartphone in its special waterproof bag and made sure its lanyard was securely fastened to my personal floatation device (PFD). This is the best thing I could have done before heading out, as soon enough, I needed to be rescued.