Less noise, more nerve [part 1]

South African marketers are shifting from high-volume output to smarter, more intentional investment focused on effectiveness rather than noise.
Budget pressure is driving brands to prioritise agility, sharper strategic thinking, and braver creative decisions over blanket media spend.
“Less noise, more nerve” reflects a growing industry focus on distinctive, emotionally resonant campaigns that cut through saturated digital environments.
Marketers are increasingly valuing creative courage and clarity of message as key differentiators in a fragmented attention economy.
The evolution of South African marketing is being shaped by smarter allocation of resources, with brands seeking measurable impact while maintaining bold creative relevance.

There was a noticeable shift in tone at the latest masterclass hosted by the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS).

Led by IAS CEO Johanna McDowell, the session brought together three marketers at the coalface of local business: Melanie Forbes, CMO at Cell C; Buli Ndlovu, executive head of marketing for Personal and Private Banking at Nedbank; and Lance Coertzen, head of marketing at Twizza — a challenger soft drink brand that, as Coertzen noted, had been acquired by a major competitor just a week earlier.

Across telecoms, banking and FMCG, their realities differ. But the pressures felt strikingly similar: more channels, more data, more expectation and less room for waste.

A rethink on spending: Less spread, more intent

Budgets may have grown in some quarters, but the proliferation of channels has ensured they’re harder than ever to manage. The temptation to be everywhere has stretched resources thin, often without impact.

One marketer named the dynamic plainly: “You move from a state of panic and fear. If I’m not there, is my competitor there? Why aren’t we shouting loud enough? So you shout about everything, at small volume.”

The response is restraint, and a harder look at what earns its place in the plan. “If it doesn’t differentiate us, it doesn’t get funded.” A fellow marketer described a similar discipline: “Less is more. Pick your lane and do it properly.”

When the numbers stop telling the truth

Digital campaigns generate reams of data. Whether any of it is useful is another matter.

One of the panellists offered a concrete example: a video campaign reported 300% above benchmark on view-through rate. “You go one level down in the detail, and the average view time was 5.8 seconds. Our brand didn’t appear until 15 seconds in. Nobody saw it. The metric was nonsense.”

The problem isn’t the metrics — it’s stopping there. They need to ladder up to something real. What’s replacing the noise is more deliberate: brand tracking, customer experience data, preference as an early signal of growth.

Which brings it back to the boardroom. “The board doesn’t fund creativity — they fund growth.”

The bar for creativity has moved

None of this signals a retreat from creativity. If anything, the bar has shifted upward.

The challenge is no longer just to be seen, but to be remembered. One panellist described the pressure candidly: “How do you create something thumb-stopping? Because far too often, it’s just vanilla.”

That requires trusting work that doesn’t feel comfortable. “I’ve had to trust work I wouldn’t have approved before. It performed exceptionally well. My brand only appeared in the last 18 seconds.”

For agencies, the implication is clear: safe, category-driven work isn’t enough.

Spending smarter and creating braver work are necessary. But neither counts for much if marketing can’t hold its ground where decisions get made. That’s where Part 2 begins.