When Sam Tomlinson, executive vice president at US-based agency Warchawski, was asked what brought him to Converge Africa, his answer was simple and a little unexpected. Africa is the future. While US markets battle saturation and sameness, Africa offers something different: momentum, curiosity, and room to build. For Tomlinson, that’s where the real opportunity lies.
The event which brings together those in digital marketing, retail and ecommerce to learn about best practice in their industries was held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre last week.
He says in Africa, you’ve got vibrant, fast-growing markets with brands that are hungry to learn. The tools are there but there’s far less competition. That’s appealing.
It’s a strategic shift that reflects Warchawski’s broader thinking: go where others aren’t looking.
What makes a campaign high-impact?
When asked what defines a high-impact campaign, Tomlinson doesn’t hesitate. He says it’s not about how loud you are but about resonance. Does your message connect with the audience you’re trying to reach?
In his view, too many campaigns are built for the masses and lose effectiveness as a result. But AI has changed the game. “We now have access to rich, precise data. We can segment better, test more, and adapt faster.”
He shares an example from a recent brand launch where AI was integrated into every step—from product development to testing, advertising, and rollout. “We didn’t need our full creative team. Our programmers were shocked at what was possible,” he says. “It cut our costs by 90% and got us to market far faster. We were evolving in real-time.”
The contrarian advantage
Tomlinson’s edge lies in going against the grain. “One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is: when everyone’s going one way, look in the other direction.”
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That thinking led him to return to traditional media while others doubled down on social platforms. “It was less saturated, more cost-effective, and gave us a new way to stand out.”
He sees the same pattern in global expansion. “US brands are stuck. They aren’t looking at countries like South Africa or India but they should be.”
Process-driven creativity
Warchawski’s process for onboarding a brand is rigorous. It begins with listening—especially to sales teams—followed by a deep audit of everything the brand is doing or has done.
“Then we reconstruct a forecast and its less about being right but understanding when we are wrong." Tomlinson explains. “That helps us refine performance expectations early.”
Audience research is constant and mostly automated. Emails go out weekly to random consumers, with AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini mapping responses and behaviours.
AI and trust
AI plays a key role in the agency’s operations even though many clients mistrust it.
“You start by identifying where value is created and where efficiency is gained. For us, that’s usually in marketing rather than service delivery.”
He draws a line between automation and strategy. Tomlinson says AI is great for pattern recognition and grunt work. But creativity, judgment, and strategy usually require people.
In highly regulated sectors, AI can also support compliance. Warchawski trains its models on thousands of pages of industry regulations, achieving an estimated 80% flag rate before human review. “It’s not perfect but it’s a head start. And when you hand it to lawyers, it’s already cleaner.”
The future is open
Ultimately, Tomlinson sees the convergence of global opportunity and AI-driven efficiency as a chance to do things differently and better.
“When the whole world is following the same playbook, you have to ask: what are we missing? What are we undervaluing? That’s where you’ll find the opportunity.”
And right now, for those bold enough to look, that opportunity might just lie in Africa.
