The Media Online’s weekly round up. KasiKrew puts community at the heart of Rank TV. New editor appointed at Netwerk24. New appointments at Curro. DEOD announces exclusive deal with Channel 2. Consulta appoints Tribeca as its PR partner. Platinum Seed building social support platforms with 5 For Change. The fastest growing South African website does it again. FoxP2 reaping rewards of digital integration.
This week’s BIG move: KasiKrew puts community at the heart of Rank TV
Primedia Outdoor has recruited a ‘KasiKrew’ – community based videographers – for four of its Rank TV sites, according to Peter Lindstrom, Primedia Outdoor’s sales and marketing executive. Much like a reporter from a local newspaper, the videographer’s job will be to cover events within local communities – everything from weddings to soccer matches, interviews with community personalities and beyond.
“Our intention is to create vibrant local content for the people of a specific community,” says Lindstrom. “Content that tells stories about familiar people and places, and that is relevant and interesting to the people using a particular rank.”
Rank TV is a South African outdoor commuter channel with large LED (and LCD) screens situated in over 12 sites, nationally. With a viewership of around two million a month and programming aimed specifically at the day-to-day public commuter, the platform hopes to cement itself as the people’s channel – and the locally based KasiKrew are a concrete step towards making this happen.
“Ranks are the new shopping centres, where thousands of people converge on their way to work, shopping and other destinations,” says Lindstrom. “They are also often a last point of contact before a purchase decision is made, making them a good location from which to reach out to the mass market. They play to an economically active audience, who are receptive to trends and marketing that focuses on their lifestyle.”
People moves
New editor appointed at Netwerk24
The quintessential Afrikaans news portal, Netwerk24 appointed a new editor on 1 June 2017, Henriette Loubser, previous editor of Huisgenoot. Jo van Eeden, previously editor-in-chief of Netwerk24 and Ads24’s Afrikaans dailies Beeld, Die Burger, Volksblad and Rapport, will take up new commercial responsibilities as a publisher of Netwerk24.
Netwerk24 is South Africa’s largest subscription news offering and is the digital destination for leading Ads24 brands Die Burger, Beeld, Volksblad and Rapport. Advertisers can rest assured that the editorial team at Netwerk24 are in good hands and that the platform will continue producing top quality, credible news for its loyal audience.
Loubser has been Huisgenoot’s editor for the past five years. Loubser, who started her career as a journalist at Volksblad, has a wealth of editorial and publishing experience at some of Media24’s leading Afrikaans titles. She held roles as news editor and assistant editor at Huisgenoot, senior editor at Sarie and deputy editor at Die Burger before being appointed as Huisgenoot editor in 2012.
Ané Honiball, GM of Ads24 says, “Brands which advertise on Netwerk24 will continue to benefit from being on a platform that offers readers news that they can trust and opinions that matter. There are a number of exciting options available that provide a multimedia experience through video. The quality of the editorial and audience reach will move from strength to strength with Henriette at the helm of Netwerk24’s editorial team and Jo on the business side, promoting and preserving the future of news in Afrikaans.”
Curro Holdings appoints regional head
Arthee Rajkumar has recently been appointed regional head at Curro Holdings, the biggest JSE-listed independent school operator. Rajkumar joins Curro Holdings, bringing with her a wealth of global experience in the education space, after having worked in a leadership position in the Middle Eastern division of Taaleem-Edison Learning, an international education brand.
Rajkumar’s responsibilities include assisting with and ensuring the implementation of approved plans and policies at allocated schools, alongside developing, promoting and preserving the educational and business interests, reputation and goodwill of Curro. Entering this new position, her international education experience includes, leadership, management, training and development skills, curriculum mapping and planning practices. Rajkumar holds a Bachelor of Pedagogics in Education, a Bachelor of Education Honours and a Master of Education – all attained from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
When out of the office, she favours time spent outdoors, hikes and adventure sports such as skydiving and bungee jumping.
Curro Holdings appoints group curriculum manager
André Pollard has recently been appointed group curriculum manager at Curro Holdings, the JSE-listed independent school operator. Pollard has been with the group for ten years. As curriculum manager, he will be responsible for curriculum strategy and implementation across the five Curro school brands, ensuring consistency in quality education throughout all schools, as well as maintaining the output of good results. Delivering the curriculum so that learners can embrace innovation and prepare them for global competency in a rapidly changing world through 21st Century skills is a priority for Pollard.
Entering this new position, he brings with him operational-, curriculum- and quality management; leadership and people development skills, as well as financial planning and control. Pollard holds a Teachers Diploma and a Health and Physical Education qualification from Paarl Teachers College, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from UNISA. When out of the office, he takes advantage of family time, playing a round of golf and supporting SA rugby.
Business moves
DEOD announces exclusive deal with Channel 2
New internet TV service DEOD (Digital Entertainment on Demand) by on-demand solutions provider, Discover Digital, has secured the near-live short-form digital rights for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy 2017 and the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 tournaments and has been appointed the exclusive aggregator in Sub-Saharan African by the Channel 2 Group for all ICC tournaments up to and including and the 2019 ICC World Cup.
In addition to being the exclusive digital rights licensor in Sub Saharan Africa, Channel 2 Group also holds the exclusive global audio rights of the ICC until the 2023 World Cup.
Tim Cook, senior manager of sports at Discover Digital, describes the deal as ‘huge’ for South Africa. It will allow DEOD to take near-live highlights of the events to South African cricket fans within minutes of them happening throughout the day.
Stephen Watson, MD of Discover Digital, says: “This is a significant deal in the sports space, taking a major mainstream event out of the pay-TV arena to a much broader audience. We have seen a massive trend towards near-live short-form action content, as many people simply don’t have the time to sit and watch a whole day of sports, but they still want to keep up to date with the action. This is a fantastic way for fans to keep up with a tournament like this wherever they are, and they don’t have to wait for a sports roundup at the end of the day.”
Consulta appoints Tribeca as its PR partner
Consulta, a customer insights research and management consultancy, has appointed Tribeca Public Relations as its public relations partner.
Tribeca will support Consulta in various ways, including managing the announcement of the findings of the research company’s portfolio of South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) surveys. The SAcsi is just one of the diverse range of research tools that Consulta offers its clients, all of which offer a platform to customise feedback according to each client’s needs.
“The SAcsi benchmarks customer satisfaction across various industries, from fast food outlets to mobile phones and everything in between, giving South African businesses an academically researched insight into customer sentiment,” explains Prof Adré Schreuder, CEO of Consulta.
“Tribeca’s challenging approach to public relations has already seen SAcsi information being seen and used more extensively, raising the profile of the research and the depth of the work that Consulta does,” Schreuder adds.
Platinum Seed building social support platforms with 5 For Change
Platinum Seed has extended its contract to work with philanthropic organisation 5 For Change for a second year, following a successful 2016.
“We are very passionate about community and social development that makes a real difference in people’s lives,” says Brad Elliott, MD of digital agency Platinum Seed. “When we were approached by 5 For Change to assist them with marketing their event, it was a very natural fit.”
Each year, 5 For Change carefully chooses five socially uplifting and community-driven South African initiatives, which are rotated. These organisations are guided in their marketing and management, and are supported in a truly ‘ground-up’ way by the 5 For Change team and their supporters.
The majority of 5 For Change’s donations come from an annual black-tie charity fundraiser hosted in honour of their five annual beneficiaries.
The next event takes place on Saturday 15 July 2017 at Cape Town City Hall and the proceeds will go towards Ikhaya Le Langa, Numeric, Sunshine Cinema, Dine with Khayelitsha and Community Keepers.
Making moves
Algoa FM – first radio station in Africa to lead with innovative OB technology
Broadcasting from remote locations is on high demand in Algoa Country, and with a new outside broadcast vehicle, Algoa FM chose to pioneer innovative technology to power the communications aspect of its outside broadcasts.
The radio station is moving away from fixed line technology to introduce Viprinet as its solution and in doing so, future-proofing Algoa FM’s sustainable efforts in this regard.
“We’re dependent on a highly reliable Internet connection for remote outside broadcasts and our research revealed Viprinet to be the perfect solution because it bonds up to six links from different service providers into one high performance internet link,” says Chris Wright, digital manager at Algoa FM.
“This means that a multitude of cost-effective cellular network packages from different service providers can be combined to create one highly secure and reliable virtual private network connection at very low risk offering high redundancy.”
Dave Tiltmann, MD of Algoa FM, said the station has been at the forefront of digital convergence in broadcasting since our privitisation in 1996. “My team is highly innovative in their approach and I am extremely proud of this next phase in remote outside broadcast opportunities for the business,” he said.
“With innovative technology and a brand new look to match, we are extremely happy to have literally “cut the umbilical cord” and can now do remote outside broadcasts from just about anywhere, anytime!”
The fastest growing South African website does it again
ZAlebs the leading South Africa lifestyle website with a focus on ‘Life Love And What’s Hot in South Africa, has released record-setting numbers for May which continue the surge in traffic and engagement with young black South Africans. This rapid growth of the site intensified with Bhala Ventures assuming control of the brand in January of this year.
“We continue to see day to day and even hour to hour that young, black South Africans want a site that talks about what is important to us, and shares the latest news about the people we know and care about,” said Zibuyile Dladla, the executive editor of ZAlebs.
“Our audience is 90% in South Africa, 90% black and between the ages of 18 and 35 years old – we have over 50 ,000 unique visitors in this market making us, we believe, the largest site in South Africa and definitely the most engaged.”
ZAlebs is run by Ms. Dladla out of Johannesburg with support from Bhala Ventures, the venture and media development company founded by Gisele Wertheim Aymes, publisher of Longevity and former publisher of ELLE SA and ELLE DÉCOR SA, and James Cannon Boyce, formerly of the Huffington Post, and digital strategist behind (RED) during its early years.
FoxP2 reaping rewards of digital integration
FoxP2, the creatively-led agency with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg, embarked on the journey of digital incorporation in 2015 with the aim of enhancing their traditional above-the-line offering and providing clients with a fully integrated solution.
It is now two years down the line and the agency has successfully positioned itself as a major player within the digital marketing arena, achieving recognition within the increasingly competitive and continuously evolving industry.
Following on from the three silver and one gold award at the recent IAB 2017 Bookmark Awards, the agency walked away with Ad Of The Year awards for client Ster Kinekor in both the digital and integrated categories at this week’s Creative Circle Awards.
FoxP2 Group CEO Charl Thom says, “Increasing internal and external demand for digital touchpoints and channels spurred on the introduction of a digital element to our services. Since, we have experienced phenomenal recognition for our digital capabilities as a complement to our creative solutions,” he adds.
FoxP2 has now embarked on establishing themselves in the content production space where clients require fast turnaround on smaller budgets.
“Seeing our efforts in formalising our digital offering, resulting in highly successful client campaigns, motivates us to enhance our offering even further and embrace the talent and creativity of our staff to the full extent,” Thom concludes.
One million each! Hisense celebrates local milestone in TV and Fridge production
Hisense South Africa, the global electronics forerunner, is celebrating an impressive milestone at its local manufacturing facility today as both the one millionth television set and the one millionth fridge unit will be rolling off the production line. Coincidentally, this happens as the factory marks its fourth year of operation in Atlantis outside Cape Town.
For Hisense South Africa, the production milestones are a culmination of commitment, dedication and hard work that helped grow over time the 27 000m² high tech manufacturing facility, situated in the Atlantis Industrial Park.
The One Club for Creativity launches Young Guns 15 Program
The One Club for Creativity, the world’s foremost non-profit organisation recognising creative excellence in advertising and design formed from the merger of the Art Directors Club (ADC) and The One Club, has opened the call for entries for Young Guns 15, celebrating international creative professionals age 30 or younger.
Young Guns, open to both members and nonmembers of The One Club and ADC, is the industry’s only international, cross-disciplinary, portfolio-based awards competition that identifies and celebrates today’s vanguard of young creatives. Young Guns competitions regularly attract entries from upwards of 70 countries, with about half of the entries coming from outside the US. Winners are selected by a jury of past Young Guns and other creative leaders, to be announced shortly.
The program is open to creatives age 30 and under who have been working for at least two years, full-time or freelance. Eligible entrants can submit a combination of professional and personal work in graphic design; advertising art direction and copywriting; architectural, environmental and interior design; industrial and product design; digital (UX/UI, experiential design, interactive, web design, apps, game development): film and animation (motion design, television, video); fashion; typography and lettering; illustration and photography.
The online entry system is open now at https://www.youngguns.org, with a deadline of July 31, 2017, 11:59 pm EST. Entry fee is $100 for The One Club and ADC members, $150 for nonmembers. This year’s winners will be recognised at the Young Guns 15 celebration and party on 17November 2017 in New York.