The Unfair Advantage

In this episode of The Unfair Advantage, Don Packett and Kelvin Jonck return from a short season break to unpack why large language models (LLMs) have effectively become the ultimate brand influencers. Unlike traditional creators who rely on paid product placement, AI platforms operate on a "pull model" where consumers actively seek out their unbiased, unsolicited advice to make real-world purchase decisions.

But here is the catch: AI models are not a monolith. Every LLM has a completely unique personality and data priority set that dictates what it recommends:

• ChatGPT (The Scholar): Demands deep structure, nuance, and rich context.

• Perplexity (The Researcher): Operates as a fact checker valuing schema markup and authoritative citations.

• Claude (The Local Skeptic): Built to see straight through corporate marketing fluff and look for on-the-ground truth.

• Gemini (The Google Traditionalist): Strictly prioritizes institutional authority signals, E-E-A-T, and trusted domains.

• Grok (The News Desk): Obsessed with speed, real-time social pulses, and fresh data.

  
  

Don shares a firsthand look at this power shift, explaining how Gemini leveraged six months of his personal fitness and Strava data to actively talk him out of a late-night restaurant run.

If your customers are turning to chatbots instead of search engines, you cannot afford to try to market your way into the algorithm with traditional fluff or goodie bags. Tune in to discover the technical, content, and entity trust frameworks your business needs to survive and thrive in this new era of Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)

We’ve all been scrolling so long we’ve forgotten why we even opened our apps in the first place. 📱🧟‍♂️

In Episode 17 of The Unfair Advantage, Kelvin Jonck and Don Packett sit down with Jason Van Dyk, founder of the Sociable app, to talk about the massive gap between simply being "online" and being truly social.

While every brand and platform is locked in a dogfight for three seconds of your attention, Jason breaks down why the future belongs to the "Intention Economy" a space where people are starving for actual, human connection. Stop fighting the algorithm for a meaningless notification ping, and start making people feel welcome.

What’s in this episode:

• Attention vs. Intention: Why chasing eyeballs leads to an absolute "dogfight" for attention, and why building for intention is the ultimate unfair advantage.

• Audience vs. Community: The critical difference between broadcasting to followers and actually giving people the "permission" to participate in real life.

• Escaping the Algorithm: Why algorithms are designed to feed us safe, "baseline mediocrity", and how to break out of the mold.

Jason Van Dyk is the founder of Sociable, an app built to strip away the digital noise and foster genuine, human-led communities. He focuses on creating spaces driven by intention rather than algorithm-fueled attention.

Welcome to Episode 16 of The Unfair Advantage. While we start off lighthearted with some numerology on the "Sweet 16," this quickly becomes one of the most sobering and important conversations we’ve ever hosted.

Kelvin Jonck and Don Packett are joined by Kyle Janse, a researcher from the Center for Analytics and Behavioral Change (CABC). Kyle, who comes from a legal background, explains how the CABC uses behavioral science and social media data to tackle major societal issues like prejudice, public health, and division.

Through their partnership with YOUKNOW and the use of the Brandwatch platform, the CABC analyzes public social data to uncover the deep-seated beliefs that people share when protected by online anonymity. Kyle walks us through the "HeCares ZA" project aimed at getting men and boys involved in positive change, and details the grim but necessary findings of their recent Child Predation Report.

Kyle Janse is a researcher at the non-profit Center for Analytics and Behavioral Change (CABC). His work focuses on the intersection of law, technology, and behavioral change, with a specific emphasis on advancing gender equality and tackling harmful societal norms.

What if you could do three full-time jobs and still have time to sleep? In Episode 15 of The Unfair Advantage, Kelvin Jonck and Don Packett sit down with tech legend Vincent Maher to discuss the "Time Compression" era of AI.

From the early days of Vodacom’s The Grid to his current role as a multi-CEO, Vincent shares how he has "augmented" himself to move at a speed that was impossible just a year ago. We dive into Claude Code, the Model Context Protocol (MCP), and why the future of e-commerce belongs to agents, not browsers.

What’s in this episode:

• The Death of the Email Thread: Why reading a 40-mail corporate thread is a waste of time in 2026.

• Agentic Software Development: How tools like Claude Code allow developers to act as architects while AI handles the execution of hundreds of technical tasks.

• What is MCP? An introduction to the Model Context Protocol—the "USB-C for AI" that allows your agents to talk to any service, from Shopify to your bank.

• Agent-to-Commerce: Why your future shopping won't be done on a website, but by your agent negotiating with a store’s agent in real-time.

• The "Vibe Coding" Reality: Moving past one-line prompts into building complex, professional-grade platforms in days instead of months.

  
  

Vincent is a pioneer in the South African digital landscape. Having held leadership roles at Kagiso Media, Mxit, and Vodacom, he now leads Broadbrand and Digitalize, focusing on the intersection of AI, programmatic media, and agentic commerce.

In Episode 14 of The Unfair Advantage, Kelvin Jonck and Don Packett sit down with Leigh Stefanski, Managing Director of Now Boarding, to tackle the tension between rapid AI acceleration and the foundational craft of UX/UI.

From her journey through food blogging and Property24 to running a top-tier design studio, Leigh explains why the "What If" mindset is a business superpower and why empathy remains the one thing AI cannot replicate.

What’s in this episode:

• The Corporate Secret: Why "doing time" in corporate is the ultimate training for solving big-business problems and navigating red tape.
• UX/UI in the Age of AI: The difference between a "prompter" and a "thinker," and why the industry is facing a looming "Empathy Gap."
• The Danger of Generic Design: How to avoid the trap of cookie-cutter digital products in an automated world.
• Leapfrogging with Craft: Why the next generation of designers must master the "why" before they master the tools.
  

This episode is for anyone who’s ever ran out of drinks at a braai and wondered, "Why can't I just get this delivered?" Join us in The Unfair Advantage where, Don Packett and Kelvin Jonck sit down with the spectacularly awesome Enrico Ferrigolli, the co-founder of Bottles and now the Executive of Online at Pick n Pay.

Enrico shares his incredible journey from Italy to South Africa, revealing the real story behind launching the Bottles app after running out of drinks at a braai. He explains how a pandemic-driven partnership with Pick n Pay was made possible by a "communion of intent," turning a clever idea into a massive local e-commerce operation. This episode is packed with real-world marketing and South African business growth insights, offering a look at what it takes to find a product-market fit, scale a company, and make magic happen in the tough retail industry.

What we dive into:

• Enrico’s Journey: From Italy to South Africa

• The Origin Story: Running Out of Drinks at a Braai

• The Partnership: Bottles and Pick n Pay's "Communion of Intent"

• The Bug of Entrepreneurship: From Bottles to Le Pickle Restaurant

• Advice on Merging Your Baby (Bottles) with a Corporate Partner

• The Most Important Question: Pineapple on Pizza?

  
  

Welcome to Episode 12 of The Unfair Advantage. In this episode, we're joined by our mate, the co-founder and CEO of Roger Wilco, Charlie Stewart, to unpack the findings of their latest CX report. Charlie doesn't hold back, diving into the biggest customer experience mistakes companies are making.

We get into the hilarious "empathy gap" where brands think they're winning with values, but customers just care if you keep your promises. We also dive into the surprising stats on AI adoption and the power of "bothism" (balancing digital and human experiences). Charlie even shares a mic-drop moment around "brands optimising themselves into irrelevance."

This conversation is full of insights you can take back to your team to build a truly customer-centric brand.

Chapters & Timestamps:

• 04:28 – The Origin Story: Why Roger Wilco Started the CX Report

• 05:59 – The Empathy Gap: What Brands Get Wrong About Loyalty

• 09:34 – The Bothism Problem: Digital vs. Human Comeback

• 12:40 – Mic Drop Moment: The Irrelevance of Efficiency

• 13:11 – Outro: See You at the Poker Table
  

Do your employees really love your product? Like, really? In this episode of The Unfair Advantage, Don Packett and Kelvin Jonck chat with Kaylin Phillips, the Digital Product Manager at Netstar. Kaylin reveals a core strategy for building a product that sticks: dogfooding.

Kaylin unpacks what it means to "eat your own dog food" and why getting your employees to use your product is the ultimate unfair advantage. He shares how to build an internal culture around product testing, why leadership buy-in is a must, and how this simple approach can give you invaluable customer insight and a major competitive edge. If your team isn't already your biggest fan, you're missing out on a huge opportunity for growth.

What You'll Learn:

• Kaylin’s journey from hard hats in the mining sector to product management in the digital world.

• What it means to "eat your own dog food" (and why it’s not a replacement for QA).

• How to drive an internal culture around product testing.

• Why leadership needs to make being your own customer an imperative.

• The power of identifying issues before your customers do.

Welcome to Episode 10 of The Unfair Advantage. In this episode, Don Packett and Kelvin Jonck dive into the paradoxical idea of speed in business and marketing. The conversation is sparked by a clip from our previous episode with Kate Syuma, which gets Don thinking about his old "Speed Kills" theory and why he completely changed his mind.

This is a deep dive into how customer insight, social listening, and tech advancements have changed the game, making speed a critical differentiator. It's no longer about who can go the fastest, but who can get the right data and make the right decisions in the moment. Don even mentions a great LinkedIn post from Yakuru at Bob Group that highlights this exact point.

Forget the old-school monthly reports and slow strategy; this is about understanding that in the world of marketing, if you're not gaining speed, you're losing.

Post from Bob Group: 🔗link🔗

It turns out your customers are already creating it for you. In this episode of The Unfair Advantage, hosts Don Packett and Kelvin Jonck dive into a spicy story about Tabasco and the untapped power of unsolicited social data.

Kelvin unpacks a real-world case study, revealing how they helped the hot sauce brand find surprising new customer insights and a brilliant, unplanned partnership. From discovering why people are putting Tabasco on popcorn to entering a new country with a collaboration, this episode shows how looking beyond traditional KPIs can reveal incredible marketing insights and opportunities for growth through User-Generated Content (UGC).

What You'll Learn:

• Why the "good, neutral, bad" KPI is an outdated metric for social listening.

• How to use big social data to find unsolicited customer insights.

• The surprising story of Tabasco, popcorn, and a game-changing partnership.

• Why looking at what people are saying can lead to your next marketing strategy.