Finally, a trend-spotting report for South Africa, by South Africans

Remon Geyser

When looking at trend reports on South Africa, however, one finds that this diversity seems to get lost. Don't get me wrong, there are amazing trend reports out there that are extremely valuable. But when I read a trend report on "South Africa" and the authors talk on topics like: "Information becomes jollification", "Intra-continental travel explodes" or "The recession", I get the sense that topics discussed are either more a generalist "African" perspective or even a general human truth. Not to mention that you either get a trend forecast for the whole of 2015 in Jan, or an overview of 2015 in December. Do all trends last a year and can a person accurately predict what will happen 6 to 12 months down the line? Let's be honest, what do French or Italian companies know about South Africa anyway?...

Curated panels of professional creatives

Clients started coming to us regarding this issue and tasked us to find a solution by using our crowd-sourcing model. By having access to over 12,000+ South African agency class creatives, the world (or South Africa in this case) was our oyster. By reaching out to art directors in Durban, copywriters in Johannesburg and fashionistas in Cape Town, this solution soon became a bigger dream.

The dream was to release a monthly syndicated trend report on South Africa with a regional focus on JHB, DBN and CPT, talking from a creative professional perspective. This would be managed and achieved through our research department we call "Creative Insights". Who else knows more about trends than people who work on brands and communication everyday, even influencing what is cool and not? We didn't want to have generalised trends (although these are inevitable), but have regional trends on relevant topics from these influencers...

1) Brand activity - Not your usual Nielsen type of activity that reports on schedule and spend, but rather activity that is impactful in some way. Why was it impactful? What was the good and the bad? Who is the target market?

2) Events - Once again, not just mentioning events (although this is also important), but talking about their impacts and identifying trends from these events.

3) Imagery - A little more appealing to the emotional side and for people that like pictures. We are all influenced by imagery in some way. This is to showcase some imagery from the three regions and can hopefully inspire content ideas.

4) Media influences - There are so many influences on media these days. It's great to follow Kim Kardashian and "save the data", or follow the blizzard in New York. But what about OUR Kim Kardashians or load shedding topics? This section aims to cover that. Which blogs in the regions are making an impact, as well us up and coming accounts?

5) Ad industry news - Lastly, this is an informative section on what is happening in the industry at large, as well as some local ad industry insights. A place for our creatives to voice their opinion.

Today is a very special day for us, as we officially announce the release of our dream: the January edition. As a monthly, low cost solution to stay up to date with what is happening in JHB, DBN and CPT, we could not be more proud.

A "Project", not a "Product"

We humbly acknowledge that we are embarking on this mission a bit foolhardily, but are convinced that South Africa needs a report more introspective and actionable than anything currently available to creative professions. We will be taking feedback form all our subscribers very seriously, and will be growing the report every month based on what they need to do their job more creatively and more effectively. Also, to reward those early subscribing members putting their faith in the project, we will lock in pricing and add additional South African regions every month at no additional costs.

To subscribe, or learn more about Springleap's monthly trend report, email Trends@Springleap.com