“
Our permanent address is tomorrow
”
Marshall McLuhan
The toast you didn’t know you needed
Here’s what 15 years teaches you: The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing. It feels like a conversation worth having, a story worth telling, a brand worth remembering.
We started in magazine media publishing, where every word earns its place and every page has to justify its existence. That discipline never left us. Today it fuels everything from brand strategy and content marketing to AI-powered search optimisation, social media, websites, apps and custom publications.
Our team is small by design. No layers. No account managers relaying messages like a game of broken telephone. The people who think are the people who make. The people you meet are the people who do the work.
We’re not the cheapest agency in town. We’re the one that shows up knowing things. Because we’ve been doing this since before “content is king” became a cliché. And we’ll still be doing it long after the next buzzword fades.
Our motto is Semper in Altum. Always higher. It means we’re never done getting better.
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More good stuff
We write about marketing, media, South Africa, AI, business and whatever else catches our attention on any given Tuesday. No thought leadership fluff. Just honest observations from people who’ve been in the game long enough to have opinions worth reading.
The ebb and flow at the end of a year
On 1 April 2026, Twisted Toast Digital turns 15. It’s hard for me to believe. I’m not sure why but lately both our history and future have been on my mind. We’re lucky to be busy with work from a wide and diverse client roster across many different industries. This made me think about all our various clients with whom we’re sharing our journey, as well as our agency’s ebb and flow.
An ode to a friend
More than a decade ago, we had the privilege of meeting Zahn Hulme, executive trustee of Atterbury Trust and head of brand marketing at Atterbury Group, to discuss how our agency could assist with content marketing. What started out as a business relationship soon evolved into a deep and treasured friendship. And it all revolves around the simple, yet profound sentiment inherent in the Afrikaans word omgee.
What’s in a name?
We often get asked the same question: “So where did the name Twisted Toast come from?” The short answer? Breakfast. But not just any breakfast. This was no Wimpy fry-up or standard hotel buffet. Many moons ago, Louis and I were at a company conference with our team from UCM (UpperCase Media, the joint venture where we published FHM and heat magazine for Media24 and Emap). The venue? A tiny boutique escape in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands called Cleopatra Mountain Farmhouse.
New tricks
Let me be clear about one thing upfront: I never set out to be a pop star. Fantasised about it, yes. Usually somewhere between my tenth beer and the closing credits of The Commitments. But I’ve never had the cheekbones, the hair, or the pelvic thrust for it. I'm an ad copywriter. Have been for 40-odd years. My job has always been to write for others. BMW’s “mouse the steering wheel” commercial, Dell, Breweries, FHM, banks, you get the picture.
Same old, same old doesn’t work
A recent Forbes article by an agency contributor got me thinking again about something we encounter daily at Twisted Toast. The real differentiator for modern brands isn’t better tech, slicker automation or even access to more data. It’s creative energy. Not the abstract kind, but strategic, intentional creativity that connects emotionally and builds long-term brand value.
A decade of growth and evolution
Ten years ago, I walked into Twisted Toast convinced great design was about bold ideas and a strong creative vision. I was wrong, gloriously so. What I’ve learned since is that the true power in design lies in empathy, humility and listening. On 1 September, I mark a decade with this remarkable agency. I started with hope and a fair amount of nervous energy, unaware of just how profoundly my view of design, business and life would shift. These lessons haven’t just shaped my work, they’ve changed me.
What we really do
Fifteen years of doing this means we’ve learned what works, what doesn’t and what clients truly must have versus what they think they need. Here’s the short version.
DIGITAL – Websites, social media management, digital and search advertising, mobile apps, software development
MARKETING – Digital marketing, content marketing, advertising, brand magazines, newsletters
BRANDING – Strategy, brand identity development, brand naming, visual language creation, brand collateral
Websites
Social Media Management
Digital and Search Advertising
Mobile Apps
Software Development
