Are We Making Advertising for Algorithms or for People?

The Lead Creative · Aug 28, 2026 · 1h 9m · transcript

Algorithms optimise towards the familiar. Brands, however, need to be remembered for something distinctive.

In this episode of The Lead Creative’s Marketers’ Brief series, Refilwe Maluleke, Executive Head of Marketing at Discovery Health, and Bridget Harpur, Head of Marketing at Volkswagen South Africa, join Mongezi Mtati and Bizcommunity Managing Editor Danette Breitenbach to explore why intelligent, experienced marketing teams still produce advertising that looks and sounds like everything else.

In this episode, they unpack:

Why algorithms can push advertising towards a sea of sameness.

How…