The Business of Influence

Style ID Africa
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Welcome to the ultimate podcast for all things influencer marketing. Join our hosts, Style ID Africa Director Tami Ruschin and award winning influencer Leroy Marc, as they delve into the dynamic influencer landscape. Every week, we bring you engaging conversations with a diverse range of guests, including brand managers, influencers, content creators, PR and media experts, and entrepreneurs. With a finger on the pulse of the industry, we explore topics that matter, from social and digital media to online trends, monetisation strategies, new technologies, and the ever changing landscape.

  1. 2h ago

    IMC EP 03| Gugu Mthembu: Why Marketers Must Be Translators #businessofinfluence

    THE JOB OF A MODERN MARKETER IS NOT TO SELL. IT IS TO TRANSLATE.In this episode of the Business of Influence IMC Series, hosted by Leroy Marc, Gugu Mthembu, Chief Marketing Officer of Telkom, sits down at IMC 2026 for a conversation about what it actually means to lead marketing at one of South Africa's most recognisable telecommunications brands in an era where technology, content and human connection are converging faster than most organisations can keep up with.The career story that opens this episode is one worth paying attention to. A background in IT that found its purpose in marketing, not because the two are unrelated but because the intersection is exactly where the most important work happens. Technology humanises connections. It breaks down geographical and socioeconomic barriers. And the marketers who understand that are the ones building campaigns that actually mean something to the people on the other side of the screen.The meaning conversation is the intellectual core of this episode. Relevance is not a creative choice. It is a strategic imperative, and the organisations that stay relevant are the ones using behavioural data, customer feedback and a rigorous analysis of the experience gap, the distance between what a brand promises and what it actually delivers, to close the disconnect before it becomes a crisis. Gugu's definition of a modern marketer as a translator, someone who bridges business drivers like financial goals and customer perceptions of value, is one of the clearest and most useful reframes of the marketing role this show has ever heard.The content creator conversation closes the episode with an argument that every brand still treating creators as a bolt-on channel needs to hear. Creators are not entertainment. They are not influencers in the traditional sense. They are essential commercial partners who distil complex information for their communities, carry lived experiences that traditional research consistently misses and have evolved into one of the most powerful sales and commerce channels available to brands trying to reach younger demographics sustainably.If you work in marketing, brand strategy, telecommunications or the creator economy, this episode will sharpen how you think about the space between what a brand says and what a consumer actually feels.Business of Influence is brought to you by Style ID Africa.—Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #BusinessOfInfluence #IMCSeriesListen and Follow UsApple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaBSpotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYiInstagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqITikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0Follow Our Host and GuestLeroy:  / leroymarcn   Gugu Mthembu:  / geeu_lindy   Email: info@styleid.africa Music Produced by Emcee:   / emceeiii  #TelkomSA #IMCSeries #MarketingLeadership #HumanConnection #ConsumerIntelligence

    IMC EP 03| Gugu Mthembu: Why Marketers Must Be Translators #businessofinfluence

  2. 1d ago

    IMC EP 02 | Pat Mahlangu: Why the Future of Marketing Is Deeply Human #businessofinfluence

    THE NEXT BIG SHIFT IN MARKETING IS NOT DIGITAL. IT IS HUMAN.In this episode of the Business of Influence IMC Series, hosted by Leroy Marc, two industry colleagues sit down at one of South Africa's most important marketing conferences for a conversation that captures exactly where the industry is headed and what it needs to leave behind to get there.The conversation opens with a story of entrepreneurial perseverance that reframes what success in this industry actually looks like. The Youth Owned Brand Awards, the YOBAs, represent over 10 million rand invested and five years of significant financial strain, and the person behind them will tell you without hesitation that every cent was worth it. Not because of the returns but because of the impact. Young entrepreneurs finding legitimacy, gaining business growth and receiving validation from high-calibre judges who authenticate their work in a way that no cash prize ever could. That is the kind of platform the industry needs more of and invests in far too rarely.The agency model conversation is where this episode gets most provocative. The traditional pitch process is broken, costly, time-consuming, and increasingly designed to favour the agencies that can absorb the losses rather than the ones with the best ideas. The speakers make the case that emerging and independent agencies need to stop competing on that playing field entirely and start building their own, creating platforms, properties and relationships that attract clients organically rather than chasing briefs in a system that was never built for them to win.The future of marketing insight that closes this episode is the one that will stay with you longest. As digital content becomes commoditised and AI-generated work floods every channel, the thing that becomes most scarce and therefore most valuable is human connection. The next big shift is not a new platform or a new format. It is analogue. It is in person. It is the kind of genuine encounter that no algorithm can replicate and no brief can manufacture.The fact that this conversation happened at a live industry event is not incidental. That is the point.Business of Influence is brought to you by Style ID Africa.—Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #BusinessOfInfluence #IMCSeriesListen and Follow UsApple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaBSpotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYiInstagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqITikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0Follow Our Host and GuestsLeroy:   / leroymarcn   Pat Mahlangu:   / pat_mahlangu   Pat On Brands:   / patonbrands   Email: info@styleid.africaMusic Produced by Emcee:   / emceeiii  #YOBAs #FutureOfMarketing #HumanConnection #YouthBrands #CreatorEconomy

    IMC EP 02 | Pat Mahlangu: Why the Future of Marketing Is Deeply Human #businessofinfluence

  3. Sep 30

    IMC EP 01 | Thebe Ikalafeng: Who Gets to Tell Africa's Story? #businessofinfluence

    In this landmark first episode of the Business of Influence IMC Series, hosted by Leroy Marc, we welcome one of the most important voices in African branding to open a conversation that the continent has needed to have at the highest level for a very long time. Thebe Ikalafeng, brand strategist, author and founder of Brand Leadership, does not arrive with comfortable answers. He arrives with the questions that matter most.The conversation starts with a moment of reckoning that shaped everything that followed in Thebe's career. During the preparations for the World Cup, he looked at what Africa was consuming and realised that the continent was largely buying foreign goods, telling foreign stories and measuring itself against foreign standards, while its own brands, its own narratives and its own creative economy remained underinvested and underrepresented on the global stage. That observation did not just change his career. It changed the lens through which he sees the entire discipline of marketing.The responsibility conversation in this episode is directed squarely at the marketing industry itself. Marketers have not been passive bystanders in the reinforcement of negative African narratives. They have been active participants, and Thebe is honest about the role the discipline has played in shaping how the continent sees itself. The shift he calls for is not cosmetic. It is structural, a commitment to telling African stories through an African lens rather than packaging the continent for external consumption.The concept of double consciousness that anchors the middle of this episode is one of the most intellectually rich frameworks this show has explored. The tension between Western influences and indigenous heritage is not a problem to be solved. It is a duality to be navigated with intention, and the brands, the marketers and the leaders who find that balance are the ones building something that will last beyond the current moment.The economic argument is equally compelling. Authentic African branding is not just a cultural imperative. It is an economic one. Manufacturing locally, designing from local roots and circulating value within the continent rather than exporting it are not idealistic positions. They are the foundations of a self-sufficient creative and commercial economy that the continent is more than capable of building.The episode closes with something quietly profound. A reflection on the power of African names. Names that carry meaning, expectation and identity across generations, and the simple but radical act of learning to honour them as part of reclaiming a narrative that was never lost, only suppressed.This is Episode 1 of the IMC Series and it sets the standard for every conversation that follows.Business of Influence is brought to you by Style ID Africa.—Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #BusinessOfInfluence #IMCSeriesListen and Follow UsApple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaBSpotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYiInstagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqITikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0Follow Our Host and GuestLeroy:   / leroymarcn   Thebe Ikalafeng:   / thebeikalafeng   Email: info@styleid.africaMusic Produced by Emcee:   / emceeiii  #AfricanBranding #BrandLeadership #ThebeIkalafeng #IMCSeries #BusinessOfInfluence #AfricanIdentity

    IMC EP 01 | Thebe Ikalafeng: Who Gets to Tell Africa's Story? #businessofinfluence

  4. Sep 23

    Ep.19 The Partnership Economy | Melenial Media #businessofinfluence

    THE BRANDS THAT WIN IN CULTURE ARE NOT THE ONES BORROWING FROM IT. THEY ARE THE ONES LIVING IN IT.In this episode of the Business of Influence Podcast, hosted by Leroy Marc, Richmond Sajini and Zintle Tolom from Melenial Media sit down for a conversation about what independent agencies are getting right that the legacy players are still struggling to figure out, and why the future of influencer marketing belongs to the agencies that are already inside the culture they are being paid to reach.The conversation opens with a shift that every brand strategist needs to reckon with. Traditional advertising is losing its grip because consumers have walked away from appointment media, and the brands still pouring budget into channels that nobody is watching are funding their own irrelevance. Influencer content is not a trend. It is the channel, and the agencies that understand how to navigate it authentically are the ones delivering results that legacy structures cannot replicate.The small versus large agency conversation is where this episode gets most honest. Large legacy agencies have a habit of treating creators as billboards, human placements for brand messages rather than custodians of communities that took years to build. Richmond and Zintle argue that independent agencies aren't just a smaller version of the same thing. They are a fundamentally different operating model, one that sits inside culture rather than observing it from the outside, and that distinction produces a quality of collaboration that no amount of process or scale can manufacture.The trust conversation is one of the most important in this episode. Brands hire influencers for their authenticity and then hand them briefs so restrictive that the authenticity they paid for has no room to breathe. Richmond and Zintle are direct about what that costs and how the agencies willing to advocate for creative freedom on behalf of their creators are the ones producing content that audiences actually believe.The culture conversation anchors everything. Culture is not a mood board or a demographic. It is the context in which something exists, and the agencies that immerse themselves in that context across multiple avenues rather than executing one-off activations are the ones that add value that lasts beyond the campaign window.The episode closes with a forward-looking initiative worth paying attention to. Melenial Media is moving toward partnering with creators to build standalone media properties, podcasts and beyond, that bridge the gap between brands and content creators in a way that transactional influencer marketing never could.This is what the next era of influencer marketing looks like.If you work in brand strategy, influencer marketing, content creation or the creator economy, this episode will challenge how you think about the agencies building the future of this industry.Business of Influence is brought to you by Style ID Africa.—Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #BusinessOfInfluenceListen and Follow UsApple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaBSpotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYiInstagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqITikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0Follow Our Host and GuestsLeroy: [Insert Leroy's handle or link here]Richmond Sajini: https://www.instagram.com/richmondsajini/Zintle Tolom: https://www.instagram.com/zintle_tolom/Melenial Media: https://www.instagram.com/melenialmedia/Email: info@styleid.africaMusic Produced by Emcee: https://www.instagram.com/emceeiii/#IndependentAgency #MelenialMedia #CulturalMarketing #AgencyLife

    Ep.19 The Partnership Economy | Melenial Media #businessofinfluence

  5. Sep 8

    Ep. 14 Virality by Design #foundersdesk

    VIRALITY IS NOT LUCK, IT IS ENGINEERING AND MIKE SHARMAN HAS THE CASE STUDIES TO PROVE IT.In this episode of Founder's Desk, hosted by Tami Ruschin, Mike Sharman, founder of Retroviral, sits down for one of the most entertaining and strategically dense conversations this show has hosted. From Hollywood acting classes and catering for wealthy London households to building one of South Africa's most culturally influential creative agencies, this is a founder story that defies the conventional path and is better for it.The career conversation that opens this episode is worth the watch on its own. Mike's early experience in telephone marketing built the thick skin that every founder eventually needs. His time studying acting and comedy in Hollywood gave him something far more valuable to a marketer than a reel. It gave him a framework for understanding why things resonate. Marketing and stand-up comedy, he argues, are cousins. Both rely on identifying a shared truth, a premise that an audience already feels but has not yet heard articulated, and then delivering it in a way that creates a reaction. That insight runs through everything Retroviral has ever made.The virality conversation is the centrepiece of this episode and it dismantles one of the most persistent myths in the marketing industry. Virality is not a happy accident. It is a deliberate outcome built on remarkable content that captures a real human insight, seeded to the right people at the right moment to spark network effects that the algorithm then amplifies. Mike has done this consistently enough to call it a system, and this episode is the clearest articulation of that system he has ever put on record.The Nando's campaigns that defined an era of South African social media, the Mugabe lookalike activation that generated international recognition by engineering FOMO through controlled access, these are not just great creative stories. They are case studies in how cultural intelligence, strategic distribution and a willingness to take calculated risks combine to produce work that the industry talks about for years.The agency culture conversation is equally sharp. Retroviral's emphasis on diverse perspectives is not a values statement. It is a creative necessity in a market as culturally complex as South Africa, where tone deafness is not just a reputational risk but a commercial one. Mike is direct about the importance of asking the right questions upfront, setting clear parameters early and approaching collaboration with no ego, because the best work comes from teams that compete in execution and align in purpose.The episode closes with a commercial reminder that grounds everything that came before it. No amount of creative virality can save a broken product. The goal was always sales, acquisition and business impact, and creativity is the most efficient path to get there, not the destination itself.His advice to young entrepreneurs is the most honest thing anyone in his position could say. Chase your dreams while you are young and the weight of life's commitments has not yet made risk feel impossible. The current era, with AI reshaping what is creatable and distributable, is the best time in history to start something worth talking about.If you work in marketing, advertising, brand strategy or the creator economy, this episode is essential viewing.Founder's Desk is brought to you by Style ID Africa.----Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #FoundersDesk Listen and Follow UsApple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaBSpotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYiInstagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqITikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0Follow Our Host and GuestTami: https://www.instagram.com/tami_blend_ruschin/Mike Sharman: https://www.instagram.com/mikesharman/?hl=en Email: info@styleid.africaMusic Produced by Emcee: https://www.instagram.com/emceeiii/#ViralMarketing #CreativeStrategy #Retroviral

    Ep. 14 Virality by Design #foundersdesk

  6. Sep 3

    Ep 18 The Next Brief #businessofinfluence

    THE MARKETING INDUSTRY IS NOT BEHIND BECAUSE IT STOPPED LEARNING. IT IS BEHIND BECAUSE IT STOPPED UNLEARNING.In this episode of the Business of Influence Podcast, hosted by Leroy Marc, Yuvisti Ramgulam, a seasoned voice across client, consulting and production roles, sits down for a conversation about what the marketing and advertising industry needs to confront honestly before it can build anything worth building next.The framing that runs through this entire episode is precise and uncomfortable. The industry is no longer in its foundational phase but it has not yet arrived at what comes next. It is sitting in the middle, carrying the weight of outdated practices, inflated expectations and a volume obsession that has quietly crowded out the creativity and strategic clarity that made this industry matter in the first place.The production conversation is one of the most important reframes in this episode. Production has been treated as a support function, a line item that gets what is left of the budget after everything else has been decided. Yuvisti makes the case that this is exactly backwards. Production is the bridge between strategy and the consumer. It is where the idea either lands or falls apart, and an industry that treats it as an afterthought is an industry that has already lost control of its own output.The agency triangle insight is equally sharp. The persistent expectation that work should be quick, good and cheap is not a negotiating position. It is a contradiction, and the clients and agencies that keep having that conversation instead of a value driven one are the ones producing work that nobody remembers. The shift required is not tactical. It is cultural.The AI conversation in this episode is one of the most grounded takes on the subject this show has hosted. AI is an input, not a solution, and the industry's job is not to hand over the work but to decide what AI should do and what human judgment, talent and experience must retain ownership of. That distinction is the one that will separate the agencies that thrive in the next era from the ones that dissolve into it.The South African market insight closes the episode with something worth amplifying beyond this conversation. Local marketers operate in one of the most complex, fragmented and diverse markets in the world, and the resilience and adaptability that is required is not a limitation. It is a competitive advantage that the rest of the world has not yet fully reckoned with.This is the next brief and the industry needs to read it.If you work in marketing, advertising, production, brand strategy or the creator economy, this episode will challenge how you think about what needs to be unlearnt before the next era can begin.The Business of Influence is brought to you by Style ID Africa.—Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #BusinessOfInfluenceListen and Follow UsApple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaBSpotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYiInstagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqITikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0Follow Our Host and Guest Leroy: https://www.instagram.com/leroymarcn/?hl=en Yuvisti Ramgulam: https://www.instagram.com/yuvisti/?hl=en Email: info@styleid.africaMusic Produced by Emcee: https://www.instagram.com/emceeiii/#MarketingStrategy #AdvertisingIndustry #FutureOfMarketing #TransformationStrategy

    Ep 18 The Next Brief #businessofinfluence

  7. Aug 25

    Ep. 13 The 54-Market View #foundersdesk

    LEADING MEDIA ACROSS 54 AFRICAN MARKETS DOES NOT MAKE YOU AN EXPERT IN ALL OF THEM. IT TEACHES YOU HOW TO LISTEN.In this episode of Founder's Desk, hosted by Tami Ruschin, Amanda Hoosen-Ramguthee, integrated media leader across 54 African markets, sits down for a conversation about consumer intelligence, influence and what leading a digital strategy at continental scale actually teaches you about people.The career insight that anchors this episode is deceptively simple. Do not be a jack of all trades, specialise deliberately, master a skill, move to the next, and eventually those seemingly unconnected experiences form a strategic view that no single discipline could have built on its own. The leaders who get this right build it on purpose. Everyone else stumbles into it too late.The humility conversation is where this episode gets most interesting. Leading across a continent means accepting that you cannot be the expert in every room. The role of a continental leader is to be the glue, connecting local specialists and holding the strategic framework together while giving the people closest to each market the authority to lead within it.The marketing argument Amanda makes is one every brand needs to hear. Formulaic campaign thinking causes brands to lose sight of the human on the other side of the screen, and consumer centricity is not a philosophy, it is a practical operating model built on data, empathy and the willingness to meet people where they actually are rather than where the media plan assumes they should be.Her closing thought on the future of marketing is the one worth sitting with. As AI absorbs the repetitive and the mechanical, the irreplaceable skill becomes the ability to distill data into human insight and translate that insight into creativity. Stay curious, ask why, and never let a silo define the ceiling of what you understand.Founder's Desk is brought to you by Style ID Africa.—Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #FoundersDesk Listen and Follow UsApple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaBSpotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYiInstagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqITikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0Follow Our Host and GuestTami: https://www.instagram.com/tami_blend_ruschin/Amanda Hoosen-Ramguthee: https://www.instagram.com/amandaramguthee/?hl=en Email: info@styleid.africaMusic Produced by Emcee: https://www.instagram.com/emceeiii/#IntegratedMedia #AfricanMarketing #ConsumerIntelligence #MediaStrategy

    Ep. 13 The 54-Market View #foundersdesk

  8. Aug 19

    Ep. 12 The Architecture of the Live Experience Economy #FoundersDesk

    ANYONE CAN PLAN AN EVENT. VERY FEW PEOPLE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL SOMETHING.In this episode of Founder's Desk, hosted by Tami Ruschin, Greg Walsh, founder of G&G, the Goosebumps Company, sits down for a conversation about what it actually takes to build one of South Africa's most respected experiential marketing firms from a university side hustle into a premium live experience business with a global vision.The story starts where most great business stories do, with someone who refused to ignore what was working. Greg began his career in events while still at university, graduated, spent eighteen months as an investment banker in the UK, and eventually made the decision that most people in his position would not have had the courage to make. He walked away from a stable financial career to pursue the thing that was already making him money and, more importantly, making him feel alive. His advice to students considering the same move is worth noting. Finish the degree first; the discipline and strategic foundation it builds is an advantage that reveals itself later in ways you cannot predict at the time.What Greg brought to the events industry was not just ambition; it was structure. A sector historically dominated by organisers without formal business training met someone who understood strategy, process and the architecture of scale, and the gap he stepped into was significant.The pandemic conversation is one of the most honest parts of this episode. The events industry did not slow down in 2020. It stopped entirely. Greg speaks candidly about the collapse of his business and the decision he made on the other side of that devastation: to rebuild deliberately, to move into the luxury and premium market, and to work only on projects that genuinely excite him. That pivot was not just a survival strategy. It was a clarity that most founders only find after a crisis forces it.The episode goes deep into what scaling actually looks like in practice, moving from a founder-led hustle to a structured organisation with formal processes, clear departmental objectives and role accountability. Greg credits mentorship as the critical ingredient that made that transition possible and is honest about what he could not have figured out alone.The ROI conversation challenges how brands measure the value of live experiences, moving beyond traditional metrics toward the soft but significant impact of deep emotional engagement, and Greg's team is actively building models to quantify what the industry has always known but struggled to prove.The episode closes with a vision that is as ambitious as it is specific. South African festivals on the global stage. The country is a destination for international audiences and a legacy built on the belief that on the other side of great fear lie great rewards.If you work in events, experiential marketing, brand strategy or entrepreneurship, this episode will change how you think about the business of creating moments that matter.Founder's Desk is brought to you by Style ID Africa.—Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #FoundersDesk Listen and Follow UsApple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaBSpotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYiInstagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqITikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0Follow Our Host and GuestTami: https://www.instagram.com/tami_blend_ruschin/Greg Walsh: https://www.instagram.com/gregwalsh/ Email: info@styleid.africaMusic Produced by Emcee: https://www.instagram.com/emceeiii/#ExperientialMarketing #EntrepreneurshipAfrica #LiveExperienceEconomy

    Ep. 12 The Architecture of the Live Experience Economy #FoundersDesk
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About

Welcome to the ultimate podcast for all things influencer marketing. Join our hosts, Style ID Africa Director Tami Ruschin and award winning influencer Leroy Marc, as they delve into the dynamic influencer landscape. Every week, we bring you engaging conversations with a diverse range of guests, including brand managers, influencers, content creators, PR and media experts, and entrepreneurs. With a finger on the pulse of the industry, we explore topics that matter, from social and digital media to online trends, monetisation strategies, new technologies, and the ever changing landscape.

Information

  • Creator
    Style ID Africa
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    84
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Style ID Africa
  • Show Website
    The Business of Influence