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Andy Hadfield

Andy Hadfield is a digital native... and has big dreams for the Internet.He has played in every corner of the digital industry, launching his first startup at age 19, while still at the University of Cape Town. getALife (gAL) was essentially a social network before the word was even invented (they were called content portals back then!). The site, targeted at students between the ages of 18 and 24, achieved over 1.2 million page impressions a month back in 1999/2000 and was covered on every major media platform, including Time Magazine.He then spent the next 7 years honing his strategic skills. Firstly with The Virtual Works, working on pioneering projects such as an Enterprise 2.0 employee community for Deloitte, and arguably SA’s first commercial social network Design Mind. Then later at FNB, developing a team that handled digital strategy across the consumer banking segment. This included projects such as corporate crowdsourcing, the first official FaceBook presence, a major overhaul of FNB and the country’s slickest online sales system for financial products.He runs OneBIGWidget, a boutique strategic consultancy and digital advisory. You can find him on andyhadfield.com or tweeting his love for cricket, wine and marketing on www.twitter.com/andyhadfield.

RECENT POSTS

• Transmedia: The missing ingredient in Nando’s CEO campaign

  Guerilla advertising is one of my favourite mediums of all time. It all started with staged conversations and fights in cinemas (I can't quite remember the brands involved), then extended to flash mobs, sponsored treasure hunts and various other staged advertising.It was how we got interactive before the internet came along. And I miss it!There was quite a nifty viral-esque response from Nando's to Cell C's R160-million Trevor Noah-gate that hit the airwaves recently. And I bet it didn't ...

• ‘Retweet to win’ contests damage a brand

  The local social media scene is awash with companies, brands and personalities diving in and trying their hand at this new "engagement" thing. And while there's nothing wrong with that -- the age-old strategic (nay, common sense) principles will always stand.People commit to something based on shared value. People are people, they have emotions and don't react the way you think they might. People don't always want to engage with you. People need you to understand that there's a time, ...

• Opening that digital door: 4 critical checkpoints for companies

  Social media, digital engagement, online conversation - they're not buzzwords as much as a deemed necessity these days. But where I used to encourage companies to jump in and get their toes wet, my thoughts on the space have changed slightly over the years.Yes. Digital engagement can offer some incredible long-term rewards, but be prepared to do it properly. The first couple of years you'll be fighting a continual battle to stop your engagement efforts turning into a "Guest Book" ...