So Twitter went down today, “Something is technically wrong” is what they are saying and “It’s an absolutely tragedy” according to others. How sad is it that our lives have become utterly revolved around social media. What happened to the good old days…oh who are we kidding, it SUCKS!

Twitter went down exactly at 8:20am GMT this morning and my first thought was “here comes all Twitter Facebookers” so we best prepare ourselves for some very opinionated Facebook posts and damn hashtags.  When something like this occurs in this day and age most people go from panic, clicking and refreshing everything,  to sarcasm, making ridiculous “Brace yourself posts”, to realization, remembering  that you actually have real work to do in the real world…These are the 3 stages of social media breakdown.

Do not fear though my social media crazed freaks, Twitter will be back and life will go on. The struggle is real and I’m sure some of you “Literally just can’t even” right now but the brains are working on it and in the words of Twitter “We are aware of the issue and are working towards a resolution” So cut them some slack peeps this hasn’t happened since 2008.

“We can’t help everyone. 

But everyone can help someone” Dr. Loretta Scott

The new year has started, and for most of us it means a new opportunity for success, a chance to enjoy life a little more, and the inspiration to create a better environment around us.

But with the failing economy and the constant increase of the cost of living, not everybody steps into the new year with good luck and good circumstances around them. More and more people are resorting to begging and crime, just to survive. Homelessness has grown, and work is becoming more scarce now than ever.

There are nearly 4 million orphans living in South Africa, with most organisations relying heavily on donations. With more and more illegal animal trading, abandonment and dog-fighting going on, the NSPCA is also struggling to keep ahead with the growing demands of looking after animals. People are donating less to these type of charity organisations, but basic goods, like food, are getting more expensive.

From November 18th to December 18th 2015, Decimal Agency attempted to do our part and share some of the success we’ve experienced in 2015. The “CanDo” project involved collecting cans from staff, clients and everybody who wanted to donate towards a good cause. All cans were welcome, and staff members were even asked to donate one can every day they stepped into the office.

Thanks to the generous hearts of our community and staff, we collected 197 cans of food, including baked beans, spaghetti, sweet corn, tuna, mixed vegetables and dog food. The cans were then given to two very deserving charities, nominated by those who donated cans.

The JHB SPCA: Serving the greater Johannesburg for over 110 years, the SPCA is a non-profit, non-government organisation. Its hospital provides veterinary treatments for animals whose owners cannot afford it, as well as housing over 300 homeless, sick unwanted and abused animals.

Decimal Agency donated 31 cans of dog food, as well as one big bag of kibbles to the organisation. The SPCA is located in 5 Benray Road, Reuven.


Hugs Haven: This children’s home for babies and children fulfil a unique role in that they provide services to financially and socially disadvantaged families. Their mission is to support a healthy and stable foundation for children to grow up in, creating a healthy and stable society.

A staggering 166 cans of food were donated to Hugs Haven. They are located in 49 Oak Avenue, Linbro Park.


For further donations to these charities, financial or otherwise, please call them directly. Watch Decimal’s website for future Goodwill Campaigns.

We thank all of those who opened their hearts to help give some new hope in the new year. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

This year is expected to be a whopper and we can look forward to a lot happening. From it being a leap year, the 2016 Summer Olympics happening in Rio, to even the Juno Spacecraft finally reaching its destination on Jupiter. We’re making history happen!

Not one to ignore the trends, Decimal Agency is hopping on that exact bandwagon and making 2016 a year to impress. And in order to do that, we’ve armed ourselves with the latest trends in Advertising & Marketing to ensure you get more than you expected.


In order to pay special attention to each of our offerings, Decimal has looked at the trends occurring in the major silos of the industry:

Traditional ATL Advertising:

With Television and Internet advertising making up more than 60% of predicted adspend this year, it would be foolish not to pay attention to this type of media. Especially with international events, such as the Olympics and the much-talked-about US Presidential Elections, television will dominate in developing countries and rural areas. In fact, television advertising is projected to provide up to 30% of global revenue in the advertising industry.


Social Media Advertising:

Social Media this year will be connecting real-time living with the digital world, giving consumers the opportunity to educate themselves and to make convenient, well-informed choices - without much effort and right when they need it.

With the explosion of advancing Digital Technology, accompanied by multiple platforms and channels, Social Media Advertising has reached a point of limitless potential. Facebook is working on launching their own search engine, Snapchat will start embracing advertising, and even video streaming is becoming a vital marketing tool. In addition to this, Identity-based PPC (Pay Per Click) allows you to target specific consumers based on their phone numbers or email addresses.

With better Internet connections and evolving apps on all mobile and static devices, video streaming is taking over. Vlogs are allowing people to share their brand experiences with friends on a global scale, completely changing the very definition of word-of-mouth marketing. This makes for a potential goldmine in your advertising strategy.

The notion of Content Re-marketing is also taking Social Media by storm, with marketers being able to tag visitors on their site en re-targeting them with content after they have left. Digital marketers are using all these opportunities to create an Omni-channel experience, taking you from brand consideration right through to brand experience and after-sales opportunities.


Digital Media Advertising:

Working hand-in-hand with Social Media advertising, Digital Media is constantly changing and evolving. With new tools, platforms and technology, it might be difficult to stay abreast of the opportunities available.

Digital Marketing has long since not just been about SEO and mobile-friendly websites. Interaction and convenience is fast becoming an integral part of your advertising strategy, if not the complete foundation of it. By using multiple digital platforms (such as Smartphones, iPads and Apple watches) your brand should be creating seamless, engaging experiences.

With more personalised ways of avoiding adblockers and Social Media gaining more and more recognition, it is becoming easier for brands to build lasting relationships with their consumers, thus creating more loyalty and return purchasing.

Mobile use is expected to increase even more this year, dominating desktop use by far. Convenient and easy use of mobile technology should be your first thought when it comes to your advertising strategy.

But, of course, content is still king, using blogs, website content and Social Media to tell your brand’s story. Put yourself in your consumer’s shoes and give them content they can relate to.


Visual Design Trends:

It’s not only the back-end of advertising that is changing. Even the “window-dressing” is evolving and creating waves in the industry. While Graphic Design trends might not disappear overnight, there are definitely some interesting versions of the current styles heading into 2016.

In the past few years, designers have gotten a lot of retro inspiration from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, and they’ve mixed this with a sophisticated, minimalist twist. This year’s designs will follow the same trends, but with a more 80’s colourful, bright interpretation.

Flat designs will continue to dominate, with negative and white space still as critical as ever, leaving designs looking clean and noticeable. Designers are getting creative with negative space to create a few “picture-puns”. Dynamic logos, kinetic logos or logos that change-but-remain-the-same will also find greater appeal, offering the consumer something that is fresh yet familiar.

Handwritten fonts in logos are a rising influence, as this creates an honest, intimate feeling. By stacking the letters, you can also create a fun, interesting element, and “trick” the consumer into reading the whole name.


Overall Marketing Trends:

Put all these trends together, with a few basic principles, and you’ll get a winning advertising strategy to support your marketing objectives.

Not sure yet what your marketing objectives are? Well, here is what you should be concentrating on in 2016:

Relationship Marketing tops the list, where building stronger loyalty and long-term customer engagement trumps quick, short-term purchases every time. A personalised, intimate, relatable strategy is vital if you mean to succeed in 2016.

As technology continues to grow, marketing tools are becoming more specialised and advanced. This allows marketers to refine their targeting with location-based marketing. This makes it possible to target users at the point of engagement, giving them what they want, where they want it. It’s not just about what you say anymore. Marketing strategies have become a multi-dimensional challenge of “what, where, when, why and how” your message is communicated

Instead of moving slowly, marketing trends seem to be running into the digital space. With virtual reality tools, like the Oculus Rift, that create 360-degree brand experiences, to real time Social Media platforms (Snapchat) that make your consumer feel connected and unique. Your strategy needs to reflect this, with a strong support system of ATL, BTL and OTL tools.


As a TTL Advertising Agency, Decimal has all the tools, knowledge and experience to use these trends in successfull, result-bearing campaigns. Our skills set and creative genius not only leads to brilliant ideas, but also makes for actionable, realistic strategies that gives you results.

Wait… What?! Where do I sign up?

But all is not as it seems in the land of honey and dreams…

The hours are long and taxing. There are always tight deadlines and, more often than not, you’ll be working late hours and on weekends. There are clients that don’t appreciate your creative thinking, and at times you have to bin your brilliant idea to simply give them what it is they asked for. Working with a creative team of artists can be trying too.

Even just entering the advertising industry can be difficult, since you’re competing against a combined percentage of 75% B.A. or B.Com students in South Africa. Just to get an intern position, you have to prove that you are exceptional, passionate and willing to work hard for next to nothing. Even then, you might not make it.


Then, while you’re trying to make a name for yourself by winning a few awards for creative excellence, you also have to keep up to date with creative and social developments. You have to know what is trending and innovative, while also understanding your target market and how they think… In both traditional and online media.

The advertising industry is also highly affected by the state of the economy: advertising budget is usually the first a company cuts down on during difficult times. This can cause a vigorous up-and-down job market for those in advertising.

However, there are many perks too. The office space and culture is stylish and interesting. Agencies tend to keep things casual and comfortable, allowing for a creative thinking space. There are often fun things around, like game consoles and fridges filled with cold drinks.


The dress code is relaxed and casual - you are only expected to dress up for important meetings and when you see clients. Otherwise, whatever inspires you, goes. You have full reign over your creativity, and thinking in a contemporary, out-the-box way is encouraged all the time. There is no such thing as being weird here.

Yes, late hours are expected. But it can often lead to the best work. Most advertising agencies make it a fun, social occasion, leading to some great work as a result. Besides, your clients - yes, the same ones that requested a 3-day project to be done in one evening - often recognises the effort. Get ready for many “Thank You’s” on the phone.



Speaking of clients, you get to meet great people with different needs and different knowledge basis. In the advertising world, you will never go home without having learned something new. The variety adds excitement to life and the fast-paced environment appeals to many people. It is definitely not a career that the cliche "same old, same old" would apply to.


Advertising agencies also tend to recognise their staff’s work more often than in any other industry. They often celebrate their achievements, and they tend to be rather social with their clients, building good relationships and partnerships. Career growth happens rapidly, and if you work hard, you will definitely be rewarded, unlike other fields where you may wait decades before being promoted.

The field of advertising is changing rapidly, with the use of social media, Internet marketing, and other new technologies that come along. You will know and understand the newest technology before most of the world has an inkling of its usefulness. Advertising requires you to be knowledgeable about everything. From understanding how industrial machines work, to knowing what Kim Kardashian named her new son.


I guess the old cliche of “Work Hard, Play Hard” is most true in this industry. What is most definitely not true is saying that advertising is nothing but a way of trying to convince you to buy something you don’t need.


At Decimal Agency, we are passionate about telling your story. Obstacles, long hours and hard work is seen as part of the process of creating work we are proud of. Always. We don’t conceptualise over 3 martini lunches. We do it as a team to get everybody’s expertise and input in there. We don’t believe in smooth talking. We believe that advertising is about a unique blend of art, science, and narrative, which doesn’t exist in any other field.

Oh, and we do have a pretty cool office space…

Before the rise of a united South Africa, the 16th of December was celebrated by most Afrikaners as “Day of the Vow”. On this day, in 1838, the Voortrekkers took on the Zulu nation in a fight for land. With the aid of gunpowder, the 470 Voortrekkers faced an army of over 10 000 Zulus and emerged victorious, thus vowing to commemorate the day for generations to come.

In 1961, however, Umkhonto we Sizwe was formed. The “Spear of the Nation”, as it is translated, was known as the military wing of the African National Congress, and was launched to fight the Apartheid government through aggressive resistance. This was decided after the Sharpville Massacre in 1960 in which several peaceful protestors were indiscriminately shot at by police.

This year, the cabinet encourages all South Africans to honour the day as we promote reconciliation, peace and social cohesion, especially in the turmoil the country is facing at the moment. The theme, “Bridging the divide: Building a common South African nationhood towards a national developmental state” will be celebrated in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape this year.

Decimal Agency wishes you a peaceful Reconciliation Day filled with joy and love on 16 December 2015.

Have you noticed something funny about Facebook Ads lately? No, it’s not your imagination; it’s Facebook getting clever by optimising space and making most of advertising opportunities.

In June 2015, the folks at Facebook announced the launch of new multi-product ads, especially for direct response advertisers. These “Carousel Ads”, as Facebook calls it, enables advertisers to feature 3-5 images within a single ad unit. Each image has its own description and click-through URL.

Native to mobile advertising, the mobile view allow users to swipe from left to right to their hearts’ content, while Facebook has also introduced a desktop version that encourages users to move between images by clicking on the left or right arrows.

But what are the benefits of investing in Facebook’s Carousel Ads for advertisers? Carousel Ads allow advertisers to offer more products, giving the viewer more options and information, and driving 10 times more traffic to their websites. The ads also generate 20-30% lower CPC (Cost per Click), compared to the standard link ads with a single image. The average 5.75% CTR (Click Through Rate) from a Carousel Ad is also a great incentive. The increase in placement cost is easily justified by scale and cost efficiencies.


Facebook lists the benefits as follows:

-Increased web traffic
-Improved conversion rates
-Stronger marketing results
-Cost per acquisition efficiencies

But, like any other Social Media strategy, to get these benefits you need a detailed plan. Carousel Ads are best used when you want to showcase multiple items/topics in a single post. Your grouped images should motivate a single action from your target market. Chad Martin from VML, a problem-solving organisation with expertise in marketing communications, interactive advertising, and design, notes that a lot of clients find success by placing a single ad on Instagram and then a Carousel Ad on Facebook. This ensures that the consumers clicking through on Facebook have already shown an interest in your product, and are now looking for more information before making their purchasing decision online.
Carousel Ads can be used in the following ways:

Showcasing Multiple Tools:


Displaying Different Features of a Service:


Displaying Multiple Offers:


Showcasing Multiple Images/Parts of a Product:


Communicating Several Benefits of a Product or Service:

Gabi Barbosa, writer for www.driftrock.com, notes: “Everyone has been talking a lot about multi-product ads being great for ecommerce, but most other types of businesses can also get fantastic results from them.”

As a new Advertising function, this might all seem a little overwhelming. Also, the feature is only available through Facebook API application. So, if you want to get into the new trend, contact Decimal’s Social Media experts, and we can get you a VIP ticket into the fair, for a blood-pumping ride on the Carousel.

1 December 2015 - Today, along with the rest of the world affected by the impartial disease, we commemorate and show support for all those people living with HIV/AIDS, and those who have already died from the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

HIV (the virus that causes AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is transmitted primarily via unprotected sexual intercourse (including anal and oral sex), contaminated blood transfusions, hypodermic needles, and from mother to child during pregnancy. However, there are many social factors that contribute to the spread of HIV, including poverty, inequality and social instability, high levels of sexually transmitted infections, sexual violence and limited access to quality medical care.

South Africa has come a long way since HIV/AIDS was first recognised by the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in 1981. Since then, the nation’s fight against the virus has been unyielding in its goal to minimise the atrocious effects it has on those who have contracted the disease.

In 2010, South Africa increased the efficiency of its Antiretroviral Treatment Programmes, with further expansions implemented in January 2015 to bring South Africa up to date with World Health Organisation treatment guidelines.

Although the amount of people with HIV/AIDS has risen from 4.02 million in 2002 to 6.19 million (11.2% of the population) in 2015, the infection rate is declining, especially for those people between the age of 15 and 49.

In 2015, Stats SA estimated that 162 445 people had died from AIDS-related diseases. This translates to 30.5% of the total number of deaths, compared to a staggering 44.6% in 2002. The
life expectancy for people with the disease is also increasing to an average of 62.5 years, an increase of 9.1 years since 2004.

But, more than their health being affected, people with HIV/AIDS have to live with the stigma and denial related to the infection. Fear and despair often causes a delay in testing, causing the virus to spread even further. Many people are abandoned by their families or partners when diagnosed, job and property loss occur, school expulsion and denial of medical services.


World AIDS Day is an opportunity for us to remind people of the seriousness of the disease, and to increase awareness. On this day South Africa aims to educate and inform the general public of HIV/AIDS in order to fight prejudice and discrimination towards those infected.

We support this programme, and in order to show our support, we bring you 5 important facts about HIV/AIDS that you should be aware of:

- HIV infects the immune system, decreasing the body’s ability to fight off infections and other diseases.
- HIV can be transmitted through unprotected sex, transmission of infected blood, sharing infected needles or other sharp instruments, and from a mother to her baby during pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding.
- The best ways to prevent contraction of the virus is through safe sexual activity (using condoms during sex), getting tested for HIV and other STI’s regularly, avoiding sharing needles and syringes and ensuring any blood products you may need is tested for HIV.
- More than 35 million people live with HIV worldwide.
- Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) prevents the HIV virus from multiplying in the body, giving the body’s immune cells the ability to live longer and provide the body with protection from infections.