Media Moves… TheMediaOnline’s weekly round up. Gillian O’Mahoney appointed chief financial officer Aegis Media. Heart 104.9FM appoints new managing director. Mediamark launches in-house creative division, Lab 42. New general manager for ComutaNet. Mediamark Digital appoints digital sales manager. Acceleration Media clinches Renault South Africa SEM account. SIMONSAYS communications signs research and organisational development consultancy. Isilumko Media appointed by Elizabeth Arden to promote Juicy Couture. Fashion Media gets additional rights. Radio DJ’s outdoor ad company joins OHMSA. Ogilvy & Mather Africa and Bharat Thakrar Scoop Continental Agency Awards. All the moves in media.
Who’s moved where
This week’s BIG move: Gillian O’Mahoney appointed chief financial officer Aegis Media Sub-Saharan Africa
Over the past two years Aegis Media and its network brands have shown over 200% growth in the African market place with just over 50% of this growth coming from the digital media space.
O’Mahoney joins the Aegis team as a very experienced financial person with over a decade’s experience in the communications industry and some key achievements under her belt. She has recently returned from London where she was the Global CFO of Hall & Partners Group, Omnicom Group Inc.’s independent research consultancy. Prior to that she headed up the M&A activity for ‘DAS’ (Omnicom’s marketing services division) across the UK and Europe. As Aegis continues its growth and expansion across Africa her experience in not only financial, but legal and due diligence will stand the company in good stead.
“I am delighted to welcome O’Mahoney into the Aegis family. She has a proven track record with vast and varied experience and is perfectly suited to the way we do business in Africa and is highly qualified be able to navigate our financial plans forward. Her undeniable strengths lie in being able to strategically lead the finance function, whilst staying closely involved in the implementation of the operational strategy and delivering strong performance to shareholders,” said Dawn Rowlands, CEO Aegis Media SSA
Heart 104.9FM appoints new managing director
Following an extensive recruitment process, Heart 104.9FM has announced the appointment of Gary Petersen as the new managing director of the station. Petersen has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the business world, having previously spent time at Woolworths, Old Mutual and Santam. During a career spanning more than 20 years, Petersen has been exposed to a broad range of business areas, with a particular focus on marketing and business development activities.
“I am incredibly excited by the opportunity. I am an avid listener of the station and look forward to working with the talented and dedicated team that has been assembled at the station” says Petersen.
“On behalf of the owners and employees of the station, I would like to welcome Gary into the fold. We believe that he is a highly skilled individual and look forward to a long and enjoyable relationship with him” comments Aqueel Patel, director of MRC Media (Pty) Limited and Heart 104.9FM.
New general manager for ComutaNet
ComutaNet has announced that Dave Frankel has joined the company as general manager of new business. Frankel will work closely with Garry Rogers, executive of sales and marketing, and the newly realigned sales team in providing a holistic and creative sales service to both clients and agencies.
Frankel enjoys in-depth knowledge of transit, outdoor and digital media through his experience in positions such as GM of Oracle Airtime Sales, sales director at Pop Outdoor, sales manager at CNBC Africa and most recently from his experience in the transit sales sector.
“It has been extremely refreshing to be focusing on the ‘middle’ LSM market which I think is the most dynamic target market in SA and I hope to continue to bring clients a superb offering in this sector with my work at ComutaNet,” says Frankel. “I am thrilled to now be in a position where we as a team can offer a host of media solutions to clients and agencies across the industry.”
Mediamark Digital appoints digital sales manager
Eugene du Plessis is the new digital sales manager for Mediamark. Elton Ollerhead, managing director of Mediamark says that Du Plessis’s nine years’ experience in the marketing, sales and digital environment will be an asset to the company.
“His digital and publishing experience will bring a valuable skillset to the Mediamark executive committee and to Mediamark Digital. We aim to make Mediamark Digital the leading digital sales house in the country and Eugene is well poised to help us accomplish this.”
Du Plessis has over the past five years successfully managed and monetised digital entities such as News24, Supersport.com, Sport24, Channel24, Wheelsw24, Blueworld as well as Bandwidthblog to mention but a few.
“I am very passionate about digital media, servicing clients and working with great teams,” says Du Plessis, “and I really look forward to working with the great people at Mediamark.”
A Capetonian, Du Plessis will relocate to Johannesburg in the New Year. Until then he will be commuting between Mediamark’s Cape Town and Johannesburg offices.
Who’s won what
Acceleration Media clinches Renault South Africa SEM account
Acceleration Media has extended its relationship with Renault South Africa by winning the motor manufacturer’s SEM (Search Engine Marketing) account. The digital agency will help Renault to drive customer acquisition and retention using ‘paid search’ as a tool.
Renault South Africa is already an Acceleration Media client and partly chose to partner with Acceleration Media because of the strong existing relationship. The motor manufacturer is a user of the Radian6 social media monitoring platform, which is resold in South Africa by Acceleration Media.
“Local car buyers are increasingly making use of the Web to research their options before they even walk into a dealership to look at cars,” says Andre van Niekerk, digital manager at Renault South Africa.
“By adopting aggressive paid search and combining it with other tools such as SEO, we aim to put ourselves in the forefront of the consumer’s mind when he or she starts to consider buying a new vehicle. Pay-per-click is an invaluable way of bringing qualified traffic to our site, and ultimately, driving users to our dealers around the country.”
SIMONSAYS communications signs research and organisational development consultancy
Niche organisational development and research consultancy, The Narrative Lab (TNL), has appointed SIMONSAYS communications to handle its ongoing public relations requirements.
Based in Johannesburg, TNL offers tailor made solutions that equip leaders with the tools to understand the dynamics and problems experienced by their organisations, while also arming management with techniques to educate, motivate and shift mindsets so that sustainable change can take place. Using business narrative (or story-telling) as a diagnostic and intervention tool, TNL has conducted successful projects with companies such as Anglo American, Nedbank,, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, Harmony, Sasol and Vodacom, to name but a few.
The PR appointment is effective from November and the campaign will focus on developing the TNL corporate image within South Africa – profiling its strategic direction and new product solutions into the market place.
SIMONSAYS communications MD, Melanie Stevens says: “We are looking forward to working with an innovative research consultancy that has a truly unique approach to people development and organisational problem solving. TNL has already built up a strong presence with many blue-chip companies and we intend to further develop this reputation by creating opportunities that will enhance its profile.
Isilumko Media appointed by Elizabeth Arden to promote Juicy Couture
Below-the-line activations and experiential media company, Isilumko Media (powered by Studentwise) was recently appointed to promote Juicy Couture and Viva La Juicy– two international fragrance launching in South Africa by Elizabeth Arden. The campaign runs for 12 consecutive weeks until Christmas 2012 in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, and Port Elizabeth.
Isilumko Media is responsible for the in-store sales, which sees ‘Juicy Girls’ working 20 Edgars stores, and five top performing Red Square outlets. The promotions forms part of a multi-dimensional campaign that is supported by in-store TV broadcasts, point of sale promotional material, social media, advertising, direct messaging and more.
“Playing an integral role in the launch of the Juicy Couture and Viva La Juicy fragrances has been exciting. We had to carefully caste for and select brand activators who represent the Juicy Couture culture which has been evolved in the international arena,” says Lauren Durant, director at Isilumko Media.
Fashion Media gets additional rights
Primedia Unlimited’s Fashion Media business has been awarded internal advertising rights to Edgars Nicolway and the Morningside Red Square. These new additions complement an already burgeoning portfolio of rights to 178 Edgars and 39 Red Square stores nationwide.
Fashion Media evolves Edgars and Red Square window display areas into 3D industrial brand theatres and offers brands prominent advertising space on in-store escalators, hanging banners, lifts, gondola ends and beepa sleeves. Fashion Media also manages the group’s in-store promotional space and all advertising platforms within the Edgars fitting rooms.
PURE genius from Clorets
Consumers are soon to be walking around with a mouth that’s Clorets PURE, as the brand has signed up with Nine Mile Media’s Billads sampling medium to give them a blast of PURE freshness.
Who’s making moves
Mediamark launches in-house creative division, Lab 42
“Lab 42 is an initiative to pool creative resources with the objective to offer even more targeted solutions to our advertisers,” says Cindy Diamond, Mediamark’s inland sales director.
Mediamark and the radio stations within its portfolio collaborate to ensure “our solutions offered to advertisers resonate with our audiences”. Diamond adds that “advertisers are continuously looking for creative ways to make their products stand out of the clutter”.
Lab 42 is headed up by Richard Taylor, previously MD of Avusa Media’s Learning Channel, and the team includes creative managers, copy writers and graphic design. This new division of Mediamark is positioned to be very client facing and has a thorough understanding of market trends.
What differentiates Lab 42 is the output one can expect. Taylor clarifies, “We believe in our ability to understand the advertiser’s need and overlay these with the in depth understanding of our audiences. Within Lab 42 the overarching creative theme is developed which then can be adapted and plugged into the various media platforms across our portfolio. Often our ideas encourage advertisers to engage with our audiences (their consumers) through our different touch points. Some of our campaigns include Jacobs Coffee, National Geographic – I love earth, Vodacom Jock Swop and Carling Black Label – Be the coach”.
Radio DJ’s outdoor ad company joins OHMSA
Sizwe Consulting Management has joined Out of Home Media South Africa (OHMSA) as its latest member. Sizwe Consulting is owned by popular MetroFM DJ, Paul Mtirara, who has diversified into the billboard business, hoping to forge partnerships with others in the industry.
“There is a gap for our smaller black economic empowerment business in the out of home industry and our new OHMSA membership will enable us to network and create opportunities with others in the industry,” said Mtirara.
He added that it was important to belong to a recognised out of home industry body, where it is possible to engage with municipalities off an official base. In addition, “OHMSA upholds the ethics and best practice of the industry. We thus wanted to belong to an association that will ensure the sustainability of out of home media,” said Mtirara.
Huisgenoot and YOU Magazine launch their online shop
The festive season is nearly on us again, which means trying to think of great gifts to make our loved ones happy. YOU and Huisgenoot’s online store is now officially open for shopping so you can take banish the stress of heading to a crowded store by going online and buying from our wide range of magazines and books on offer.
There’s something for everyone: makeover inspiration, wedding and knit ideas, delicious dessert recipes and blockbusters to beat the boredom.
It’s as easy as logging on and clicking through the site. You pay using your credit card or doing an electronic transfer – and you don’t have to worry about safety. We’ve implemented strict security measures to ensure your transaction is secure and your personal information is not given to a third party.
Visit https://shop.you.co.za/ or https://winkel.huisgenoot.com/ now. Happy shopping!
Ogilvy & Mather Africa and Bharat Thakrar Scoop Continental Agency Awards
Africa’s Premiere Communications Agency, Ogilvy & Mather Africa and the CEO of Scangroup Limited, Bharat Thakrar, were the big winners of the Inaugural Forbes Africa AdAwards held alongside the All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA) 2012.
Ogilvy & Mather Africa was awarded the Forbes Africa Agency Network of the Year whilst Mr. Thakrar received The Forbes Africa Advertising Leader of the Year.
The Awards Ceremony took place at the prestigious Vodadome Conference Centre in Johannesburg. This year’s AABLA awards integrated the two special categories from the newly formed Forbes Africa Awards. According to Forbes Africa, the Awards give recognition to the excellence of advertising agency networks whilst paying tribute to the stars of the industry across Africa.
Speaking on the awards Thakrar said: “We are delighted by the double win. The awards are reflection of our management style, commitment to creativity and the effectiveness of breakthrough campaigns that meet the dynamic needs of our clients across Africa.”
Note: TheMediaOnline has a job advertising service. The site is read by media professionals across South Africa. A job posting on the Media Online Costs R342 (incl VAT) and appears for 30 days. It appears both on the Media Online site and Memejobs.com.