Conversation LAB has appointed Uyanda Manana as its new managing director. The appointment forms part of the agency's goal to drive change, build relevance and champion diversity. In doing so, it has also sold shares to several rising stars in the industry.

Scout PR & Social Media (Scout) has been awarded a new PR account, which will allow it to manage the international and local media communications for wine estate De Toren Private Cellar.

Mankone Ntsaba has been announced as the new chairperson for Kagiso Trust. Ntsaba has been with the board of the company since 2009 and has served as deputy chair of the board, as well as chair of the programmes committee, for the last six years.

The Shoprite Group has donated 200 care packs containing hygiene essentials to patients at the Rev Dr EM Chabula-Nxiweni Field Hospital in Port Elizabeth.

Smarketing — or sales and marketing — teams are often seen as two separate entities within a business. However, these departments really are two halves of the same team, one that is geared towards generating revenue.

Discovery Vitality has partnered with SHOUT4MASKS to donate thousands of protective surgical and KN95 masks to healthcare workers on the frontline fighting the pandemic.

FNB has announced the launch of its new brand campaign, which calls on South Africans to rally behind local businesses to help rebuild the economy. The new campaign launched nationwide across outdoor, television and digital on Thursday, 30 July.

Fortis X South Africa has manufactured the continent’s first biodegradable and compostable products, made 100% from plants, with zero plastic and no additives. The plant bottles function as normal plastic bottles, but without harmful fossil-fuels; they also disappear in a natural composting environment.

Brave Group has announced the launch of the Sowetan's '#KnowYourPlace' creative campaign. The campaign was conceptualised and developed by House of Brave, the group's full-service advertising brand specialist agency.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is in the spotlight — and with good reason, says Michelle McGowan, head of marketing and CE product marketing manager at LG Electronics South Africa. McGowan says that SA brands have been adopting this technology to gain a competitive advantage over industry rivals while decreasing their operational costs and enhancing customer service.