Briefly… Wine goes digital; Seven seconds away…from a telephone ad; IAS adds media budget performance audits to its portfolio; Samsung and Golf Unlimited target decision makers on the green; Student DJs sizzle with McDonald’s and Campus Media; Maningue Nice Z-CARD® series launched for Mozambique; and New independent global public relations network
Wine goes digital
Wine magazine is going digital. Fully digital. The last printed edition of the magazine will roll off the presses in September.
“While we are excited by the possibilities of the core offering moving from print to digital – and using it to support a range of established projects – the decision to stop producing a printed magazine was not an easy one,” explained managing director Stuart Lowe.
Wine magazine’s circulation has remained static for the past decade, but its digital audiences have grown substantially. Between website users of winemag.co.za and the Wine e-mail newsletter subscribers, Wine’s online audience is currently in excess of 30 000 a month, indicating the general market appetite for wine-orientated digital content.
“The reality is that the small niche audience of Wine magazine, together with a lack of advertising support from the industry combined with the expense of print and delivery has always created an extremely challenging environment for the magazine. Add to that the impact of the proposed liquor advertising legislation and the publication of a monthly physical product becomes an untenable business proposition.”
Seven seconds away…from a telephone ad
Making use of seven seconds prior to any phone call being connected to the outbound network, Call Media technology has created a fresh and impactful way for advertisers to interact with their target markets.
Call Media has partnered with various strategic partners amongst them Primedia Unlimited and Primedia Business Solutions (with Investec as a shareholder), to launch this technology into the South African market. The technology, which is patented by Call Media, allows advertisers to target specific markets and receive accurate and measurable feedback.
Steve Bravo, CEO of Call Media, says “This is not an alternative to traditional advertising media but rather a medium which sits alongside traditional media, at the same time creating an additional tool which provides a completely measurable investment for any marketer”.
A ‘win win’ situation for all parties involved, this one of a kind technology rewards businesses and individuals who subscribe to it with reduced telecommunications bills and offers advertisers a cutting edge digital medium.
Call Media provides a digital platform to market in real time to a profiled live audience. Subscribers who listen to any particular advert on their landlines can request more information relating to the advert they have just heard by pressing a key on their handset and will receive this additional information via email to their inbox instantly.
IAS adds media budget performance audits to its portfolio
Recognising the ever-increasing need to be able to provide performance based evaluations of advertisers’ media expenditure, the Independent Agency Search & Selection company (IAS) has partnered with an experienced media specialist who will be able to facilitate and conduct media audits.
“Since the amount of money the clients spends on media exceeds most other expenses, advertisers will benefit from independent media performance analysis to improve the value of their media buy. The performance input also assists and motivates the media agency,” said Johanna McDowell, managing director of IAS.
The performance analyses provided through this partnership will be custom made to the needs of the client but will include analysing the media process, media planning and buying, contract and remuneration advice and competitive insights.
Media audits assist clients achieve the best service, performance and media value from their agency and ensure that clients are given an optimal return on investment.
Independent media specialist consultant Adriaan de Buc, who will conduct the audits, is a seasoned media expert with more than four decades of experience in the South African advertising and marketing industry.
Samsung and Golf Unlimited target decision makers on the green
Samsung Business, through Golf Unlimited’s golf cart GPS advertising, will talk to decisionmakers on the move – in their golf carts. Golf Unlimited provides Samsung Business, a new division at Samsung, with an innovative advertising medium on four and five star golf courses where it can dominate the attention of decision makers from tee to green.
The majority of golfers frequenting the country’s premier golf courses are top executives and decision makers earning top salaries, making the Golf Unlimited platform a key channel for advertisers to reach the LSM 14+ consumer. In addition the communication message is displayed in a very “clean” advertising space, with not a lot of opportunity for other brand communication.
“Golf Unlimited provides a unique advertising medium as golf carts are mandatory in some of these courses and therefore the ideal platform to introducing the new range of Samsung business solutions to the desired target market across all 32 four and five star golf courses nationwide,” said James Ferrans, Head of Sales at Golf Unlimited.
Installed at eye-level on the golf carts, the GPS units display information such as the distance to the green and any obstacles golfers may have in their path. Underneath the pertinent information, Golf Unlimited offers exclusive and uninterrupted advertising exposure, equating to 14 minutes of shrink back branding per hole, from the tee to the green.
Student DJs sizzle with McDonald’s and Campus Media
Campuses across South Africa were rocked by the opportunity to showcase their top student DJ’s in the McDonald’s Top Jock search. With Campus Media, their on-site “brand its” interacted with students to unearth South Africa’s hottest student DJ.
The victor for this year’s challenge was Morné Nel, a student at Stellenbosch University in the Western Cape. An ecstatic Morné said that he was stoked about his win and has been shaking up Stellenbosch dance floors with his fusion of various house music genres for the past five years.
Popular radio DJ, Euphonik, set the vibe at campuses ablaze as MC and honoured the overall master on the decks of their Campus. In order to claim this title , contestants had to rip through 2.47 minutes of funk-filled vinyl (that’s right, a tribute to the dedication of McDonald’s 24/7) before facing the nail-biting elimination by the crowd.
After campaigns at an array of universities and colleges across the country; the grand finale was held at The Venue in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg where the respective winners went head to head in the ultimate vinyl showdown.
Maningue Nice Z-CARD® series launched for Mozambique
David Ankers from Expresso Grafica – LDA in Maputo, Mozambique, has just completed the first Z-CARD® in the Maningue Nice series for the province of Inhambane in Mozambique.
The eight-panel card contains detailed maps of the region as well as information about things to see and listings of restaurants and pubs, adventure activities and places to stay in each town. The cards are distributed in South Africa and throughout Inhambane, inside branded dispenser boxes.
“It took many trips to the region to identify exciting tourism spots, take photographs and ensure the accuracy of the map,” says Ankers. “The help and information given by local tourism players in the region was invaluable.”
He has already done a Maputo City Guide in this format that has had huge success. A fifth reprint is planned for later this year. “The tour operators love them and we receive requests for them all the time. The Mozambique Consulates also really like them and we are hoping that the Maningue Nice serious will prove to be as popular,” he said.
Ankers will soon be visiting resorts in Ponta do Ouro which have expressed an interest in being included on the Z-CARD®. He intends to undertake the Province of Gaza in 2012 and by 2015 have covered the entire country.
New independent global public relations network
HMC Seswa Corporate Communications has successfully concluded an agreement with UK – based leading independent European communications consultancy, Firefly Communications. The agreement will see the two companies share international networks and best practice.
“HMC Seswa is continuously striving to expand on their expertise and access to global best practices. We always want to improve our level of knowledge in order to provide custom-made South African integrated communication solutions,” said Mbali Msimango, HMC Seswa Practice Group Head.
Twenty-year-old Firefly has established itself as an independent PR agency with a proven track record delivering great PR campaigns reaching business and consumer audiences. With 40 people across offices in London (HQ), Edinburgh, Munich and Paris, and a network of quality partners across the rest of Europe, Americas, South Asia and Asia Pacific, Firefly offers the highest standards in international communications.
HMC Seswa Corporate Communications has a 29-year track record of service to both local and multi-national companies in South Africa. The company has built its reputation through the provision of specialist PR services to companies operating in the Business to Business; IT; mining, manufacturing, heavy engineering and transport sectors of South Africa.
HMC Seswa is the founding agency for the Mazole Africa Network that has representative offices in several countries in sub Saharan Africa including Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Botswana, along with informal links throughout the continent.