July was National Saving’s Month and to encourage South Africans to think differently about how they spend their hard-earned cash, Capitec Bank hosted the first Swapping Mall at Atlas Studios, Jo’burg on 30 and 31 July. It worked by inviting locals to bring along up to five good quality, gently-used items they no longer used or wanted to swap for other peoples’ they wanted more. No money was exchanged.

Adding to the buzz of shopping without spending a cent, The Swapping Mall even looked like a real retail store: it had five ‘departments’ (books, fashion & accessories, art & design, home ware and toys), a friendly swapper squad to assist swappers and a check-out till that rung-up swapper purchases for R0. Four upcycling experts also added to the once-off experience by hosting workshops like how to make jewellery from unwanted things; makeover an old pair of jeans into a must-have look; resurrect second-hand furniture into bespoke pieces or turn empty milk cartons and chicken wire into magical decorative light boxes.

Here’s what one swapper (aka Linette Retief, a Rapport journo) said, “What an amazing, paradigm-shifting experience for my seven year old son and myself! From swapping our “previously loved” possessions for tokens and experiencing the rich variety of the mall to the quirky joy of a receipt stating that one has spent exactly R0.00, it was a sheer pleasure. Surely this must be the first time ever that such retail therapy has been available without necessitating the involvement of a single cent, card, or EFT. I believe Saturday’s Swapping Mall has made a powerful statement on every level from the financial to the spiritual – and it is testimony to Capitec’s continued pioneering spirit and out of the box thinking in an industry sorely in need of exactly that.”

Close to 700 people attended the event. To check out more visit Capitec Bank’s Facebook page and click on the Swapping Mall tab.

The Atmosphere team hit the streets of Joburg along with 50,000 other Gautengers in the 2011 Discovery 702 Walk the Talk from Marks Park Sports Club last weekend. Atmosphere client Europcar joined in the gees with a stand manned by cheerleaders with green pompoms and Floors Direct also joined in the fun with a stand.

Atmosphere were recently involved in the media launch of DStv BoxOffice, the first satellite based video on demand service in South Africa.

Media and DStv VIPs were treated to a true Hollywood style event staged at Tintswalo at Waterfall Estate, where guests heard from various DStv spokespeople, tested the product and mingled with movie characters, while the media were given the opportunity to have one-on-one interviews with the DStv representatives to get their individual comments on the launch.

The event was followed by a wide spread media rollout announcing that the long awaited BoxOffice has arrived.

The best night out is the one where you stay in with BoxOffice, DStv premium subscribers will be the first to enjoy the benefits of renting the latest Hollywood Blockbusters on their PVR’s all from the comfort of their own home.

Daddy’s Deals, with love from kulula.com, launched to consumers and media in a way that perfectly suited the brand’s honest, innovative and daring-to-be-different identity: they sold hugely discounted deals from a Daddy’s Deals Branded Airstream Caravan parked at The Old Biscuit Mill.

Daddy’s Deals is a fresh take on the online deal buying model that offers consumers exclusive deals and unique experiences at a fraction of the price.

The deal vouchers sold on the day included R400 Arabella Spa vouchers being sold for R50 and the deal of the day, a R6 384 night’s stay for two at Aquila Private Game Reserve being sold for R200.

For the second year running, Sanlam Investment Management (SIM) Global’s Kokkie Kooyman was named the top global financial fund manager in the prestigious Investment Week Fund Manager of the Year Awards. Kooyman’s Global Financial Fund has outperformed its peers over one and three years as well as over longer periods.

Investment Week is the leading weekly investment journal in the UK. Its annual awards, held in London last night, aim to highlight funds which have consistently outperformed over a three year period and the judges also take into consideration how the outperformance was achieved, i.e. how consistent the selection is and whether the performance is sustainable.

Kooyman believes his team’s ability to find smaller growth companies that were unaffected by the global turmoil as well as mispriced ‘gems’ all over the world is what sets them apart. “Our approach has remained consistent since we started the fund in 1999. We compare and invest globally – as opposed to many of our competitors who only look at developed market banks. I have been visiting banks in Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong and China since 1995 and this has given me a very deep understanding of the banking sectors in these markets. Banks in the UK and US were added to my ‘radar’ in 1997 so we were probably ahead of our competition in terms of the developed markets too.”

A select group of Johannesburg media were recently invited to a sneak peak of Virgin Active’s newest club scheduled to open at the Maponya Mall in Soweto on 30 July 2011. The health club, which is over 3500 square meters in size, has been tailored to the community’s specific needs and will be the first in the country to boast a full hair salon. Virgin Active Soweto is set to become a new lifestyle destination for residents in the area and will feature the latest technology in exercise equipment and training facilities as well as a lounge area with televisions encouraging the members to stay on to watch their favourite teams in action. Virgin Active will employ approximately 28 permanent staff at this club predominantly from the area and is undertaking several CSI projects such as providing soccer kits to local schools.

On Saturday the 25 June, J&B®, the world’s ultimate party whisky, staged one of its legendary global parties at the Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town, complete with video mapping, facial recognition stations, LED-clad dancers, a floating stage and a video dance floor as part of the “party of the future” theme.

Electronic music icon and world-class international DJ Carl Craig provided the soundtrack to an exceptional party, with local artists Ivan Turanjanin of Soft Touch Operation, Monique Pascall and Culoe De Song completing the line-up.

Atmosphere managed all media relations for the event with crews from a number of local lifestyle television shows, traditional print media and bloggers adding to the paparazzi feel of the event.

As part of the KWV Friends for Dinner campaign, Atmosphere invited a few of Johannesburg’s top media and bloggers for an evening of good food, delicious wine and stimulating conversation.

The third in a series of dinners hosted by KWV, guests enjoyed canapés and wine 100 feet in the air at Silverstar Casino’s dinner in the sky, followed by an exclusive cocktail workshop at the stylish FTV Lounge where they learnt how to make four signature KWV cocktails.

The Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship this month published its first national ‘Young Upstarts Report’, a research study into SA youth and their attitudes towards entrepreneurship. It revealed that 65 per cent of youth are keen to start their own businesses and of those, 19 per cent have a business idea but have as yet done nothing with it. This could be due to the fact that they lack relevant local role models and mentors to give them practical guidance on being their own boss, as the study revealed.

The study was commissioned by Virgin Unite, the non profit foundation of the Virgin Group, which funds the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship while research was conducted by Instant Grass, a youth insight company. It covered in-depth conversations between Instant Grass and its network of over 100 ‘grasses’ and a face-to-face quantitative survey of more than 800 young people, 16-35 years of age in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

For more insights and to view the full report, log onto www.bransoncentre.co.za.