Gareth Cliff on... — Gareth Cliff
Gareth Cliff is known for his well-articulated and strong opinions about politics and current affairs. Hear them in his own voice here.
08
APR
Gareth's Blog: Lockdown Lowdown
Time to level with each other, ok?
You don’t have to prove you’re exercising at home during lockdown - we’ll know at the end when you roll out of your house if you did or not.
I believe you’re working from home. Thanks to all the holidays, April was a write-off anyway, so we were only expecting 50% from you. Don’t feel bad if you’re not the most productive person on Earth - you’re not.
You don’t need to post a screenshot of your Zoom calls to friends - I’m sure you have some. After this you’ll still be chatting on Zoom because there will be no restaurants, clubs, bars or events left to meet up at. Get some practice while it’s still en vogue.
You don’t have to prove you’re exercising at home during lockdown - we’ll know at the end when you roll out of your house if you did or not.
I believe you’re working from home. Thanks to all the holidays, April was a write-off anyway, so we were only expecting 50% from you. Don’t feel bad if you’re not the most productive person on Earth - you’re not.
You don’t need to post a screenshot of your Zoom calls to friends - I’m sure you have some. After this you’ll still be chatting on Zoom because there will be no restaurants, clubs, bars or events left to meet up at. Get some practice while it’s still en vogue.
18
MAR
Gareth's Blog: We’ll get through this together
Can you believe what this coronavirus outbreak is doing to us? It has everyone jumping, and in the midst of mass-hysteria toilet paper stockpiling and stock markets crashing, we should take stock of ourselves. Let’s take a sober, rational look at the madness that has taken hold in the last few days, all over the world...
28
FEB
Gareth's Blog: An apology for Tito
Imagine being the responsible parent in a family where the other parent has spent every cent, saved nothing, borrowed against the house, taken on mountains of credit card debt and siphoned off whatever cash could be found to their lover and their children. That’s what Tito Mboweni has to manage...
21
JAN
Gareth's Blog: 2020 Vision
Are you ready for the best decade in humanity’s history? No matter how much the news media, politicians, celebrities and climate change activists tell you we’re about to enter the gates of hell, we’re not. Things are pretty fantastic for humans...
13
DEC
2019
Gareth's Blog: The End is Nigh
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been called an optimist. I think the people who called me that didn’t mean it as a compliment. Throughout human history, the cynics, stoics and mystics had more respect than the optimists - but it turns out that history is on the side of those who have a generally positive view of their existence and the overall trend for humanity. 2019 has been the year of Greta Thunberg, Hong Kong, Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Jussie Smollett, Venezuela, Christchurch, Notre Dame and Jeffrey Epstein - so you’d be forgiven for thinking things aren’t great. But you’d be wrong… completely wrong.
28
OCT
2019
Gareth's Blog: New York, New Media
Siya Sangweni (CliffCentral Brand Manager), Rina Broomberg (CliffCentral co-founder) and I were in New York last week for a series of meetings, a conference and some interesting experiences in the world of podcasting. It’s always reassuring to hear other people’s stories of pioneering their businesses and ideas in new media and to compare them to your own. You quickly realise that the distance between Johannesburg and New York is shorter than it has ever been - and that we’re having similar experiences, challenges and discovering clever solutions to the flux that all media businesses find themselves in...
19
SEP
2019
Gareth's Blog: Communities: Real & Digital
People abuse the term ‘community’. A community is defined as “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.” It doesn’t mean the million things politicians want it to. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram talk about their community – but we’re certainly not in the same neighbourhood and we don’t have much in common (especially if you look at your feed on Twitter)...
22
AUG
2019
Gareth's Blog: Advertising is Alive!
Turns out we’re not just vapid and superficial.
Turns out we want more than 280 characters.
Turns out we like complex stories with lots of characters and plot lines.
Turns out we like interviews where people talk about philosophy, life and meaning.
Turns out we’re smarter than the media people thought.
For the last few years we’ve been told we’re in an attention economy. We are, but it isn’t for less and less - for soundbites and loud statements and #trending on Twitter - it’s for more. Marketers, pundits, speakers, writers and creatives want to make a difference, not just get your attention...
Turns out we want more than 280 characters.
Turns out we like complex stories with lots of characters and plot lines.
Turns out we like interviews where people talk about philosophy, life and meaning.
Turns out we’re smarter than the media people thought.
For the last few years we’ve been told we’re in an attention economy. We are, but it isn’t for less and less - for soundbites and loud statements and #trending on Twitter - it’s for more. Marketers, pundits, speakers, writers and creatives want to make a difference, not just get your attention...
18
JUL
2019
Gareth's Blog: Changing Behaviour
I remember the school run fondly. My mom would load me, my brother, and sister into the car and take us on the 30-minute drive to school. The journey had a familiar routine - passing by the same places, chatting and laughing. Someone else was always in the car though - the radio. There was a DJ cracking corny jokes at the same time every morning, making a predictable prank call, playing the number one song on the charts for that day (in 1992, it was Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’, which meant that we all had to hear that song every day for months, so that it was tattooed on the inside of our skulls and infected our dreams), and someone reading the news headlines. Those morning drives were the context for my teenage years...
24
JUN
2019
The Power of Podcasting with Gareth Cliff, Timothy Maurice & Ernest North
Online media was in its infancy in South Africa when we made the giant leap from terrestrial radio to start CliffCentral.com. Podcasting was almost unknown in South Africa and the naysayers predicted failure. Now, five years later, podcasting is the fastest growing medium in America (70% growth year-on-year for the last three years according to Edison Research) and gathering momentum in South Africa.
We’ve been collaborating with Brain and Brand expert Timothy Maurice and actuary Ernest North to assess the qualitative and quantitative effect of podcast audiences – what makes it different, how it adds value to people’s lives and how it is becoming a powerful way to connect brands to listeners.
We’ve been collaborating with Brain and Brand expert Timothy Maurice and actuary Ernest North to assess the qualitative and quantitative effect of podcast audiences – what makes it different, how it adds value to people’s lives and how it is becoming a powerful way to connect brands to listeners.
23
MAY
2019
Gareth’s Blog: The Importance of Imagination
There aren’t a lot of ways we can still exercise our imaginations. So much of it is done for us now… great TV series like Game Of Thrones or movies like Lord Of The Rings do most of the imagining for us. People don’t read fiction like they used to (or they just don’t have the time to).
02
MAY
2019
Gareth’s Blog: What’s next?
CliffCentral.com turned five on May 1st, a milestone for a small start-up that is now the leading podcaster in Africa. It’s amazing how quickly we incorporate new habits into our lives...
