Are you at the pineapple of your excess?
A malapropism is when people use the wrong word in a sentence. The word came from the 1775 play The Rivals, where the character, Mrs Malaprop, uses incorrect words that sound similar to the right ones - the results are absurd but hilarious.
Some silly samples (examples):
Whether subscribing to the wrong prescription or becoming a suppository of knowledge, your verbal fumbles will, however, keep things interesting because nothing quite compares to when you presented an optical conclusion at a presentation or when you rushed to grab the fire distinguisher - because nothing distinguishes you like a?collection of well-intended, yet wildly inaccurate, word choices.
Perhaps it would be best to avoid malaprops when you find yourself at the pineapple of your excess (success), confidently leading the charge like a wolf in cheap clothing.
Be informed, be sharp, bbrief...
Renewable energy regulatory reforms to power renewable energies
As South Africa continues its journey toward a sustainable energy future, wind energy has emerged as a crucial element of the country’s renewable energy mix.
With its rich wind resources and increasing demand for clean energy, the sector is well-positioned to contribute significantly to the nation’s energy goals. Despite this promising outlook, several significant challenges could impede its growth.
As the wind energy market in South Africa matures, the complexities of project development, grid connections and regulatory compliance have increased significantly.
Renewable energy regulatory landscape
Given the many challenges, the role of commercial law has become crucial in advancing the sector and highlighting the urgent need for legal reforms. This has transformed commercial law into an indispensable tool for navigating the complex legal and regulatory landscape of renewable energy projects...
Social labour planning for inclusive workforce development
For mining companies, Social Labour Planning (SLP) should be more than a tick-box exercise when applying for a mining licence. If approached strategically, it is a powerful tool for fostering economic prosperity by building a skilled and diverse workforce.
Through inclusive implementation, SLP can transform communities, bridge skills gaps, and create a mutually beneficial synergy for mining businesses and community residents.
Acknowledging the importance of SLP
Imagine a sustainable economy where everyone has the opportunity to contribute and support themselves. This is the vision behind social labour planning, a strategic approach that aims to tackle social and economic challenges while nurturing a skilled workforce.
In growing economies like South Africa, where unemployment and poverty are high, SLP cannot be overlooked. It fosters job creation through various initiatives, such as...
Sovereign wealth funds, bonus tax and US earnings season
The vidcast dives into sovereign wealth funds and how they work. We unpack the requirements for a good fund, the risks to implementation and the overall benefits to the economy. We also posture various ways of potentially implementing such a fund in South Africa.
We gain some insights on how to potentially deal with the tax implications of employment bonuses. We ask some interesting questions and uncover some unique perspective. And, of course, we update our wall of preferred picks. The aim is to get a better understanding of the driving factors, investment cases, and opportunities that may present themselves.
We look back at US earnings season kicking off. We also try make sense of the inflation prints from various regions, including South Africa. And we reflect on the legacy and impact of former Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, following his untimely passing...
Neuromarketing and consumer engagement for packaging design
Every day you are bombarded with visual stimuli. Your breakfast, your emails, and your social media feeds blast your brain with imagery. Almost every item you interact with tries to get your attention.
Your brain diverts most stimuli to the unconscious side. This includes even the most expensive campaigns from trendy agencies. However, if something visually disruptive triggers your attention, the conscious brain takes notice. This moment is crucial in the marketing process. To seal the deal, successful packaging must also be highly creative. It should engage the brain and spark curiosity. The more creative the design, the greater its influence on purchasing ?decisions.
Welcome to neuromarketing – the ?science that can help agencies and marketers understand and control this moment of inception.
Catching the consumer’s drift?
As a specialist packaging design agency, we put the consumer at the centre of everything we do. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have a hope in hell of producing work that succeeds in market. The more insight and feedback we can glean from the consumer to inform the design process, the better. But how far are we prepared to go to get this data? Traditional research methods aren’t 100% accurate because people lie – to themselves –? and without even knowing it. Brains, however, do...
Retail fashion future-proofing
It is no secret to everyday consumers and industry professionals that South Africa’s retail industry has faced many obstacles throughout the years.
Between the rise in load shedding hours, the extended economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, poor infrastructure, inflation, constrained consumer spending and unemployment, SA’s retail giants have certainly had to overcome some tough challenges.
Despite all of the road blocks along the way, SA’s clothing retailers are focused on future-proofing the industry to sustain continued growth. This is important now more than ever, as the threat of cheap online global retailers with aggressive ?digital marketing budgets in the billions is undeniable.
Developments in consumer buying trends initially occur in retail, which means that the industry is beholden to transforming buyer desires.
Enhancing CX in clothing retail
Customer experience (CX) now extends far beyond the moment a customer enters your shop. Today, it encompasses every interaction with your brand – from a Google search to social media engagement, and through the myriad channels from which customers can purchase products...
Paperless future of travel - maybe
International travel is a mind-expanding privilege, but it is also immensely painful, mainly because of how dependent we are on paperwork. Have the wrong piece of paper, or the wrong credentials on a piece of paper, and a routine process can become a nightmare.
When paper tickets gave way to e-tickets more than a decade ago, it was easy to imagine that all travel would eventually become digital. Printed boarding passes were next to go, further convincing us that the future was nigh. In the last two years, biometric boarding began rolling out at airports across the United States, and arriving in Dubai invariably required one only to scan an airport and have your fact recognised by a camera.
No need to take out a passport
Recently, Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport launched a Smart Travel Project, which will see biometric sensors used from check-in to passport control and boarding. In other words, one would probably not even need to take a passport from one’s travel purse.
The only puzzle is why it has taken so long. The moment fingerprint and facial recognition became feasible, a paperless future beckoned. The fact that the most advanced airport in the world – Zayed is being upgraded at a cost $2.3-billion – will take until 2025 to become future-ready, tells us just how far off the possibility is for basic airports.
If you thought the digital divide...
B-BBEE legal sector code transformation
The recent gazetting of the Legal Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Sector Codes of Good Practice (LSC) occurred on September 20, 2024. This is a significant milestone for the transformation of the legal profession in South Africa. It marks a pivotal moment, aligning with the nation’s constitutional commitment to equitable economic participation.
We believe that the LSC will usher in a new era of inclusivity and equality within the legal profession. It is our collective responsibility to uphold these principles and work towards a transformed legal sector that serves all South Africans.
The aims of the sector codes
The primary aim of the LSC is to provide a comprehensive policy framework designed to foster sustainable transformation and growth within the legal sector. By promoting effective and meaningful change, the LSC seeks to ensure that the legal profession reflects the demographic diversity of South Africa, effectively broadening access to justice for all.
The objectives are to...
Green manufacturing load-balancing - full steam ahead
Whether it is the South African government’s newly signed carbon tax legislation or the EU’s ‘green’ import taxes, South Africa’s manufacturing sector faces significant challenges. These challenges are centered around sustainability and adapting to new environmental regulations.
As the debate around emissions, affordability, and ‘green’ taxes on exports to the EU intensifies, uncertainties remain. It is unclear how emissions will be measured or if improvements to existing energy plants will be recognised by authorities.
Manufacturing companies may also face pressure to completely switch to alternative fuels. This would be a significant challenge for South African manufacturers that still depend on fossil fuels.
Solid debate around energy efficiencies
We believe a company’s sustainability journey begins by maximising what can be achieved with existing energy plants. By managing combustion effectively and ensuring it responds to changing manufacturing needs, both costs and emissions can be optimised.
However, different fuel types react differently to fluctuating steam demands. For example...
BOOK REVIEW | Guinness World Records 2025
This best-selling series celebrates the greatest achievements in videogaming by exploring the biggest-selling titles, the fastest speed runners, the most prolific collectors, the highest-earning e-sports stars and the most critically acclaimed developers.
Discover the next generation of record breakers
Aimed at generalist gamers and skewed towards younger readers, the Gamer’s Edition offers up bite-sized nuggets of trivia, facts, stats and of course world records, covering the best-loved and most-played games, from arcade classics such as Space Invaders and Pac-Man via modern blockbusters like Legend of Zelda, Pokémon and Call of Duty, to the latest console and PC big-hitters – Fortnite, Minecraft, Hogwart’s Legacy and Starfield. Plus, you’ll get to meet every major ?gaming character: Mario, Sonic, Lara Croft, Link and many more.
The book kicks off with a review of...
BOOK REVIEW | The Blue Hour
The global No.1 bestselling author of The Girl on the Train invites you into her most suspenseful and powerful thriller yet.
A solitary creature of the tides
Eris, an island with only one house, one inhabitant, one way out. Unreachable from the Scottish mainland for twelve hours each day. Once home to Vanessa. A famous artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared twenty years ago.
Now home to Grace. A solitary creature of the tides, content in her own isolation. But when a shocking discovery is made in an art gallery far away in London, a visitor comes calling. And the secrets of Eris threaten to emerge...