The media environment is swarming with undifferentiated products. So how do you reach the hearts and minds of the likes of Harry Herber? Entrench yourself as a brand and knock your sales staff into shape.

The advertising industry is recognising that the media that best delivers — whether it’s African language media or not — is the media that’s going to be best supported, writes Harry Herber.

The consumer has found out that repetition is boring, according to Harry Herber. In this indictment on the industry for their inability to get with the programme, he argues that media owners and agencies are way out of touch with evolving mindsets.

Despite consumer inflation being consistently lower than "adflation", Harry Herber thinks media prices in South Africa are just too low. Who wants to buy him a whiskey?

Without mincing his words (does he ever?), Harry Herber explains his problem with industry bodies. Why doesn’t he or his company join them? And did we ever really need the MFSA?

Three years down the line Harry Herber has three major observations on shifts in the industry. Noticeable are changes in client’s spend, what’s influencing how they spend it, and the demands being made on the media agency. Is the pace of change just going to get quicker?

Some think it’s of little consequence, but Harry Herber comments on technology that he feels is about to change media and advertising as we know it. What will the introduction of the PVR do to the TV revenue model?

If women didn’t dominate the media environment, we’d have shows like <i>Desperate Househusbands </i>and <i>Show me the Daddy</i>. Harry Herber explains why South Africa mirrors the global trend.

Some weird disease takes Harry Herber to the US every year to listen to country music and visit small towns. Seems the top media brands are about as bizarre as his habit.

The lack of ad spend in the Afrikaans media market is an anomaly Harry Herber can’t quite understand. Still, it looks as if the corner’s been turned.