According to Dictionary.com, advertising is the act or practice of calling public attention to one’s product, service or need.

For Jarred Leslie, Senior Art Director at Decimal Agency, advertising is much more than that. To him, creative advertising is the soul of branding a business. And without creativity, that advertising might be bland and insignificant.


Sitting down with Leslie, I am a little shocked that such a young, obviously-trendy man has so much knowledge about the industry. Leslie has a bubbly personality, something you would expect of somebody that is in advertising. His passion for creative excellence is very apparent as we discuss his love for all things artistic, creative and advertising-related:

Tell me something interesting about Jarred Leslie that the average person would not know?

I love the outdoors and living on the edge. Apart from my passion for advertising, I love extreme sports, especially Motorbike riding. In order to fuel my adrenaline-addiction, and strangely to escape the pressures of everyday life, I try to ride on- and off-road as much as possible. I find it clears my head and prepares me for the week ahead.

What do you love about the advertising industry?

Advertising is a very social, relationship-based industry. I love meeting with people and helping them grow their business in a creative, artistic way. Each client has a story, and I love bringing that story to life. Also, there is never a dull day in advertising: every day presents a new challenge.

What do you do at Decimal Agency?

I manage Decimal’s design team to ensure that the creative work we do for our clients meets their specific requirements. I also ensure that the work is on par with my highest standards: I don’t approve work that I wouldn’t want for my own company. However, I don’t agree with backseat driving, so I try to do as much as I can from a design and strategy perspective, while still giving my team the creative freedom to explore their own ideas.

What do you do FOR Decimal Agency?

Being an Art Director is more than just managing a team of creatives. It is about building relationships with clients, earning their trust and advising them on the best artistic direction for their Marketing communication. I also work hard to inspire my team to grow, explore and be better than their best.

What tools do you use in your career to achieve your goals?

Apart from the obvious creative programs and design equipment, I find that time management is probably the most important tool for me. I have a lot to get through in one day, meeting clients and reviewing work, so managing my time and following a concise diary is essential. I also believe in doing research in order to ensure that I am aware of what our clients’ competitors are doing, what the trends in the industry are and what new innovations there are that will help improve our service.

What gets your creative juices flowing?

I get inspiration from various mediums, but the thing that makes me think more creatively than anything else is being challenged with a new concept, or cracking an old problem. My colleagues help a lot with this: as much as I try to inspire them each day, they challenge me to grow and be better too. We learn from each other on a daily basis. Of course, a nice smoothie also helps every now and again.

In your opinion, what was the best campaign you headed, and who was it for?

The 2014 Soviet Summer Campaign was by far the most exciting campaign I have been part of. I learned a lot with that campaign. We traveled to Tzaneen and did a photoshoot in the forest. In order to add some authenticity to the shoot, I brought along a Honda 1977 750 4-stroke motorbike. It is a classic and added just that extra zing we needed for the campaign. However, on my way to the location, I got lost and missed the shoot. Luckily I had briefed the team the previous day, and everything went smoothly without me. It just goes to show: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

What are the 5 things you do that benefit Decimal Agency’s clients?

- I am courteous and always make sure I listen to the client’s needs and requirements
- I am spontaneous, which means I try new things often. This keeps my work and ideas fresh and trendy
- I go beyond the call of duty to ensure our clients are more than happy with our service and the work  we deliver
- I under promise and over deliver: breaking a promise just to look good isn’t what I am about. I prefer surprising or clients with great work that turns heads and makes sales
- I meet deadlines. There is nothing worse than missing a client’s deadline. Advertising is about timing, and meeting that expectation is a very important requirement to being a good Art Director.

Where do you see Decimal in 5 years?

If we can maintain the pace at which we are growing now, I see Decimal Agency becoming one of South Africa’s leading advertising agencies. We have a lot of potential, and a lot of passion. That’s all you need to succeed.

At the end of the year, we will donate these cans to a registered charity of YOUR choice:









Decimal Agency

Recognised as one of South Africa’s most prestigious Direct Marketing awards, the Assegai Integrated Marketing Awards celebrates innovation, creativity and strategy within the direct marketing industry.

Launched in 1998, The DMASA (Direct Marketing Association of South Africa) recognised the need for a high-profile event that would not only honour excellent work, but would also provide the Direct Marketing Industry with networking opportunities and informative workshops. The name was chosen to symbolise the ability to aim and find your target successfully.

From the start the awards show proved to be very successful, and has now grown to accept over 260 entries, and hosts over 60 judges.


However, quantity did not affect quality this year, as many of the judges ruled the results phenomenal:


With the quality of work, a number of entries received honourable nods. However, the big winners of the evening included Gloo@Ogilvy with 9 gold, 6 silver, 4 bronze and 3 leader awards; Demographica walked away with 5 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze awards.

In addition, Liquorice / Publicis Africa not only took home 7 awards, but also received a nod for the highest overall rating - The Nkosi Award.


Highlights included the much anticipated and highly competitive company awards with Gloo@Ogilvy receiving “Agency of the Year”, Standard Bank taking “Brand of the Year”, Elizabeth Lee Ming winning “Direct Marketer of the Year”, and Darryl Joubert from Intimate Data chosen for the “Hall of Fame” award.

This year, an additional award, “The Black Spear”, was also added for those entries that achieved more than 94%, with 4 different agencies receiving one each.

All entries were individually scored by an expert panel of judges and the final scores were audited by an independent auditor.

With the standards set, Decimal Agency has accepted the challenge to submit its work for next year’s Assegai Awards. An Assegai Award does not give honours for extravagant production values or enormous budgets. Rather, it recognises breakthrough strategy, creative brilliance and outstanding results in all Direct Marketing media, from mail and print to digital, from mobile to broadcast. It rewards effective, measured marketing.

These are the core-values with which Decimal Agency creates each of our winning campaigns for each of our clients. And while we don’t do it to earn prestigious awards (your success is award enough for us), recognition for hard work is always appreciated.

1. Offer a lucky discount of 13% on all purchases instore
2. Hide a lucky omen in your store, and publish clues on where to find it on Twitter and Facebook. The person who finds it, wins a lucky prize.
3. Feature Friday the 13th related products on your Social Media sites. These can include items such as umbrellas, black clothing, etc.
4. Donate 13% of your to a charity organisation - somebody will be feeling very lucky
5. Feature an “unluckiest winner” contest online, where the person with the unluckiest day wins a grand prize.
6. Have a lucky draw with 13 winners from different stores, or different clients.
7. Offer a Baker’s Dozen special where the customer gets a 13th product free.

1. Finding Qualified Prospects for Your Business: By reviewing the contact lists of your current clients (and friends, if you want to be cheeky) you might find a few good leads. Ask your clients if they would be willing to forward a recommendation email to them. Minimise your client’s effort by writing and designing the mailer yourself. Not only will it grow your word-of-mouth business, but your client might also be pleasantly surprised by your emailer.
2. Expanding Your Marketing: By using your LinkedIn profile, you have a big opportunity to increase the reach of your current marketing efforts. Not only is it the perfect platform to reach a group of individuals interested in you and your business, but it is also an effective way of building positive relationships with them. LinkedIN is an excellent communications platform, helping you keep your current and potential clients updated with your latest moves.
3. Developing Your Contact Network: Once you are registered with LinkedIn, you can send everyone you know a personalised message, inviting them to connect with you. The personalised message allows you to remind them where you met, and how you are connected already. You can also give them good reason why building a closer relationship with you will benefit both your businesses. You can also import contacts from your other Social Media platforms, as well as your email networks. Join in on the thousands of relative discussions on LinkedIn too. This will attract attention to potential clients too, and will show them you are really interested in staying up to date with what is happening in your industry.
4. Creating Additional Marketing Opportunities: LinkedIn offers many offline marketing opportunities. Not only does it provide opportunities for speaking engagements and media appearances, but the people who follow you will have access to your blogs, podcasts and videos - whatever other marketing platforms you can’t fit on your business card.
5. Making Sure Your Company Website is Current and Up-to-date: In order to run a successful LinkedIN account, you need to have a dedicated team that will ensure responsiveness and interaction. You will need the latest technological hacks in order to show your followers how dedicated you are to your trade - Decimal Agency has a dedicated Social Media team that ensures your profile always looks good and is always displaying the latest news, trends and finds.

Decimal Heads Back to the Future Too

Imagine sitting at your desk today, minding your own business, finishing that report your boss needs so desperately. Then, suddenly, a silver DeLorean appears out of nowhere, and out steps the two weirdest characters you have ever seen…

Impossible? If you’re an avid Back to the Future fan, then it isn’t at all!

Whether you’re a fan or not, the second film in the 1980’s Back to the Future Trilogy is known as one of the best films ever made. Starring Michael J. Fox as the adventurous Marty, and Christopher Lloyd as the outworldly “Doc”Brown, the film won the Saturn Award for Best Special Effects and a BAFTA Film Award for Ken Ralston, the special effects supervisor, an Internet-voted 2003 AOL Movies DVD Premiere Award for the trilogy DVDs, a Golden Screen Award, a Young Artist Award, and the Blimp Awards for Favorite Movie Actor, amongst many others.

The story starts of where the first one ends, on October 26 1985. Marty McFly has just arrived back from his trip into the past when Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown arrives in his flying DeLorean time machine and persuades Marty McFly and his girlfriend, Jennifer Parker, to come back to the future with him to help their future children.

And this is where it gets interesting. They arrive on October 21, 2015, where they find the future littered with new gizmos and innovations that the 80’s generation could only dream of. From flying cars, 3D advertising and online communication to hoverboards, perfect pepsi and self-lacing shoes.

Today we celebrate that date, and we look at how accurately the producers of the film predicted the future, 30 years ago.

1. Augmented Reality: A cross between a digital binocular and a smartphone, Doc walks around with a device that gives information about people as they pass him. It might seem completely outlandish, but is actually not half as advanced as some of the online information devices we have today, like Facebook Face Recognition, Google Glass and Microsoft’s HoloLens

2. Self-lacing Shoes: Nike has done it again using the movie as inspiration to design the first pair of self-lacing shoes. The shoes are an upgraded version of the 2011 Nike MAG, a limited-edition replica of McFly’s sneakers. The new footwear will feature “power laces,” in which motorised rollers in the shoe’s sole sense weight and tighten the laces when someone steps into the shoes, according to Nike’s patent. How cool is that?!

3. Pepsi Perfect: Your prefered drink on command would be a really handy device. Especially when the game is on and you don’t want to miss that try while you’re getting a drink you don’t like. Well, Coke managed to design just such a machine in 2009. With over 100 drink selections, it covers pretty much every taste, and all you have to do is press a button. Pepsi, on the other hand, has released a Limited Edition Pepsi Perfect bottle, designed to look exactly like the one in the movie. However, at $20.15 a bottle, I would rather keep to my favourite drink on command.

4. Player-controlled Games: Looking back on the arcade games that were played in the 80’s, I think we can all agree that technology has evolved dramatically. While the movie doesn’t actually show the predicted gaming-technology, Microsoft’s Kinect has proven you don’t need to use your hands to be a pro, especially in its Xbox One Iteration.

5. Mobile Payments: This is one technology where we have gone even beyond what BTTF II predicted. In the movie, a man tries to convince Marty to donate money to his cause. He pulls out a mobile device that requires only a fingerprint to process the payment. Credit & Debit Card transactions, anybody? We even have online applications like PayPal that don’t need a card to make a payment. As for the fingerprint technology, you can find that on various smartphones today. Apple Pay also uses TouchID as part of its payment security system.

6. Home Automation: When Jennifer enters her future home, she is welcomed with voice-controlled lights. This feature seems commonplace these days, and doesn’t just include your home. Xbox One can control your TV viewing by voice very well. Samsung’s SmartThings can also detect when you are home and can will start the kettle before you’re home.

7. Flat-screen TV’s: In the 80’s we were given boxy, unwielding cathode ray tube TV sets - big devils that took over the entire TV-room. These devices have become collector’s items, as you will rarely find a home that doesn’t sport a huge LCD flat-screen TV mounted on the wall these days.

8. Movie Sequels: In BTTF II, the producers lovingly joke about JAWS 19 showing at cinemas. At the time, the joke was funny, and everybody laughed. But, while JAWS 19 hasn’t seen the screen, movie sequels and remakes are jumping up left, right and centre. Jurassic Park, Spiderman, Batman…

9. Flying Cars: Yes, I hear you saying that we don’t see cars hovering next to us in traffic. But don’t be too disappointed just yet. In 2013 Terrafugia announced the development of the TF-X, a battery-charged hybrid tilt-motor vehicle that is rumoured to be the first flying car on the market, in 10 years time. However, AeroMobil, a Slovakian manufacturer, has unveiled a prototype vehicle that can go from car to aircraft in a second (maybe more). If this counts, then the vehicle will be available for sale in 2017. Expect it to cost a lot....

10. Hoverboards: This is my personal favorite future concept. Teenagers hovering in the sky, performing unbelievable tricks… While every teenager in the world does not yet own a hoverboard, legendary skater Tony Hawk recently tried a prototype. In development for over 10 years, recent breakthroughs have allowed various companies to put their own spin on the hoverboard. US company Hendo Hover has developed the first operational board that hovers about an inch off the ground, using four hover-engines. Not very practical. The Lexus Slide Hoverboard, however, works much more like the movie-version, but requires a magnetic skatepark to operate. It’s just a matter of time, skaterboys.

30 years ago, none of these technologies seemed possible. In fact, the concepts were laughed at and joked about. However, today we live in a world where nothing is impossible. In the next 30 years we might have tablets that replace meals entirely, artificial intelligence making our lives easier, homes on Mars or telepathic capabilities made possible by a chip implant.

Decimal embraces these changes and rejoice in the evolution of science. But more than that, Decimal strives for positive changes and growth in the advertising industry. That’s why we bring you innovative designs, strategies and developments, to ensure your business will be at its peak in 30 years from now.

Christmas Advertising: Decimal Plans to Succeed

It’s almost Halloween; a time where we dress up as monsters, vampires and Kim Kardashian. But the scariest thing about Halloween is that it means Christmas will be hitting stores like Chuck Norris hits a dent in a wet cloth.

Businesses are gearing up for their piece of the Christmas pie, while consumers are getting ready to start spending their money. With credit cards being whipped out at a moment’s notice, good deals all abound, boredom shopping picking up and last minute spending on expensive gifts, South Africa’s Christmas spending is likely to boom this year.

However, aiming for stores alone might not be the best idea. 51% of consumers are reported to use their phones to purchase a product, and the largest purchases for the festive season are going to be digital.

In addition to this, 71% of consumers will be using Social Media to search, research and compare products for the best deal.

With all this potential for profits, you can be sure that advertising and marketing will be saturating the market; ATl, BTL and OTL. This is the season where failing to plan will lead to planning to fail.

Decimal has you covered. We have a successful Festive Strategy that will ensure you get your consumer’s mouths’ watering for your products.

1. Start Early: With all the expected communication happening over the Festive Season, and with it happening sooner and sooner lately, make sure you have everything in place as soon as possible.
2. Christmas Callers: Communication is key during the festive season. Especially when it comes to Customer Services. Make sure your consumer knows they can get hold of you over the festive period, and where.
3. Website Revamp: With online sales rising the way they are, you want to make sure your site is up-to-date and fighting-fit.
4. Talk to the Hand: More and more consumers are being influenced by Social Media. Add some value to your products by using these sites (a complete strategy online Social Media strategy that includes Twitter, Facebook and Instagram) to remind them of special offers, products and services, and competitions you might be having. Don’t forget database and email messaging.
5. Pay-per-click: Seasonal pay-per-click advertising can help you reach new customers. Think about increasing your relevant SEO keywords, and rewrite your ad campaigns to suit.
6. Golden Oldies: Remember that concentrating on your existing customers will yield more profits than searching for new customers. Think of ways to make their Christmas better, such as loyalty discounts, free upgrades, etc.
7. The customer always comes first: Show your consumer how much you appreciate them and go the extra mile to ensure their Festive Season is special.
8. It’s all about the USP: Look at putting emphasis on your unique benefit. There are loads of discounts and specials going around, but if you can communicate your unique offering in a unique way, then you have 9 feet in the door already.
9. Timing is King: When planning your strategy for the festive season, make sure that everything is do-able on time. Printers, manufacturers and media houses will be under big headlines, so make sure you are prepared for the Christmas-onslaught.
10. Staff Training: This is not a time where you want your staff to be confused. Preparation is everything, so consider refresher training and giving them additional information about new offer. This will ensure that your consumer feels well-informed and happy with the excellent service.

Just like Santa’s main reindeer, Decimal Agency is here to help pull you through the most important time of the year. Using our Festival-Strategy, we help your business plan for success.