Black Friday has become one of the noisiest and most predictable moments in the marketing calendar. For many brands, the day triggers the same cycle: black-and-yellow colour palettes, urgency messaging, countdown clocks, and a rush to compete for attention. But according to Penquin’s Strategy Director, Thando Mxosa, this noise has blinded marketers to the very people they are meant to serve.
“Every year we see the same thing. Brands adopt the same colour palette, the same headlines, the same urgency cues, and we justify it by calling it competition. But it’s not competition. It’s fear. Fear of missing out. Fear of flat numbers. Fear of silence.”
Mxosa says
Mxosa argues that Black Friday has shifted from a consumer event to a reflexive industry habit—one where brands forget themselves, their audiences, and what value truly means.
What Real Consumers Are Actually Doing
While brands fight to out-shout each other, Mxosa says consumer behaviour tells a completely different story.
“Real people aren’t panic-buying TV sets. They’re collaborating,”.
he explains
Across South Africa, families and friends are:
- Creating WhatsApp groups to share deals
- Comparing prices across retailers
- Planning grocery purchases
- Splitting deliveries to save costs
Far from the chaotic imagery seen in ad campaigns, Black Friday for many is not indulgence—it’s ingenuity.
Penquin’s behavioural insights show that, locally, Black Friday functions as a moment of collective planning, where value is defined by thoughtful saving, not impulsive shopping. This makes it one of the most overlooked elements in South African retail strategy.
“South Africans use Black Friday to stretch their budgets. That’s value in its most human form,”.
Mxosa notes
The Industry’s Blind Spot
For Mxosa, the issue isn’t Black Friday itself—but how the marketing world has chosen to approach it.
“We keep chasing spikes instead of sense. We optimise for traffic, not trust. We build mechanics that feel like puzzles instead of empowerment—and every year we call it innovation.”
The result? An industry that has become desensitised to sameness. With every brand shouting the same message in the same way, marketers start convincing themselves that identical creative executions represent competition.
“Sameness is not strategy.”
But as Mxosa stresses:
If Brands Truly Cared About Culture, They’d Show Up Differently
Marketers love declaring that their creative output is “culturally led,” but Mxosa challenges whether that claim stands up during the biggest retail moment of the year.
“If we respected the consumer context, our messaging would feel human,” .
he says
Instead, he suggests brands should:
- Build for real households, not algorithms
- Create mechanics that empower rather than confuse
- Speak with clarity, not volume
- Honour the lived reality of South Africans during financial pressure
The real issue, he believes, is the industry’s blindness to the humanity of Black Friday.
The Harder Question: Who Are You When It Gets Loud?
Mxosa believes Black Friday should not only be a sales opportunity—but a strategic mirror.
“What if Black Friday became the moment brands ask themselves: Do we still sound like ourselves when the pressure is on?”
If the only way to compete is to shout louder, what does that say about brand maturity? Strength? Consistency?
For many, restraint—not noise—may be the stronger strategic move.
“Silence can sell too. Recognition can beat reach. And meaning is the one thing you can’t discount.”
A Thought for Next Year
Before brands push another templated campaign into the market, Mxosa leaves the industry with a challenging question:
“If your brand went quiet next Black Friday, would anyone notice?
If the answer is no, what does that tell you?”
In that question lies the heart of the issue—and perhaps the route back to work that feels distinctive, human, and genuinely connected to the people who make Black Friday matter in the first place.
