WATCH: How brands can manage purpose and profits as inflation bites

Stage 2 load-shedding rears its head just before winter, as we’ve just swallowed another 9% tariff hike from Eskom. With the UN warning of runaway global food prices unseen since 2011 and with the pandemic still lurking in the background, its fair to say that all of us have had enough.

Inflation is creeping up beyond the Reserve Bank’s target range of 6% according to most economists. And yet that is still below global inflation rates, which are closer to 7% and 8% in the US and Europe.

Inflation will affect the spending choices of households, but it will also affect brands, which might have to decide which programmes and initiatives to pause or cancel.

This rise in the cost of living and the subsequent reduction in disposable income affects margins. So how do brands navigate this tricky terrain?

Business Day spoke to Thulani Sibeko, chief marketing officer of Standard bank; Jeremy Sampson, MD of Brand Finance Africa and Mike Sharman, founder of digital agency Retroviral.