South Africa, April 15 -- South Africans are switching brands faster than ever. That is not a provocative claim. It is a documented behavioural shift playing out across every category, from retail to financial services to FMCG. And yet the dominant marketing response is to spend more on performance media, sharpen the targeting, and reduce the cost-per-acquisition. It is a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

The root cause is not a media problem. It is a brand problem. It is the consequence of a decade in which South African marketers progressively defunded brand building in favour of short-term activation, and are now discovering that brand equity is not a tap you can turn back on overnight. Look at store brands: they're winning ...