Gareth's Guests CliffCentral.com

The Coronavirus pandemic has swept across the planet and left many wondering “what’s next?”. What are the marketing trends likely to be? How will this change the way in which brands communicate? And how will this pandemic impact on our collective psychology? Gareth Cliff chats to advertising icon Reg Lascaris and ‘Brain & Brand’ guru Timothy Maurice. If you would like us to host a webinar for your company or industry - either to a public audience or for internal communications - please email us: contact@cliffcentral.com.

What are the results we should be bracing for in South Africa as the political decisions impact our economy? Daniel Silke is someone who could provide some answers around this. As he’s written in his recent column: “Re-opening South Africa needs to express much more than a colour-coded set of amended restrictions. It needs to be coupled to hope for a new future. Not one based on dependency and decay, but one based on innovation across the board.” Gareth chats to Silke, a keynote speaker, author and futurist specialising in South Africa, Africa and global trends. He’s also the Director: Political Futures Consultancy.

When someone as accomplished as Professor Brian Kantor speaks on the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown, you better make sure you listen. He is an economist and is the former Chief Investment Strategist of Investec Wealth & Investment SA. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Cape Town, where he was the Dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Head of the School of Economics. Previously, he's also been a non-executive chairman of Acucap Properties and the founding chairman of the V&A Waterfront. Prof. Kantor holds a B.Com and a B.A. (Hons), both from UCT, and doesn't hold back to share his informed opinion on the state of South Africa's lockdown.

How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting the advertising and marketing worlds? That's what Gareth discusses with Sean Donovan. As the President in Asia for TBWA - known for disruptive ideas that locate and involve brands in culture, giving them a larger share of the future - Sean definitely knows more than a thing or two about this.

As Covid-19 has engulfed the world, an interesting observation to make has been the different approaches taken to thwart the threat of the pandemic. With a documented global history of male bias when selecting leaders, should we be looking to re-address the role of women in leadership? There's evidence to suggest female Presidents and Prime Ministers have dealt with large scale challenges far better than their male counterparts in the last half century. From Thatcher to Merkel, from Ardern to Ing-Wen... this may be the time for feminine leadership to be given its big break.

Africa has always had a rich oral tradition of storytelling, that through the centuries has made it possible for people or cultures to pass knowledge, history, and experiences from one generation to the next. This largely rural tradition is a dying art form that has never been more necessary, particularly at such a critical time in South Africa’s history. Even with a financing past, Michael Charton understood this and created Inherit South Africa - to condense epic narratives of South Africa into bite-sized stories. He shares more about his passion with Gareth, and retells some of his favourite figures from the past.