Briefly…The New Age launches tech supplement today; PICA Awards 2011 coming up soon; Aegis Media hosting second Digibate in October; Property24.com acquires SAHometraders; Suzuki SA & PenQuin International roll out ‘wild’ exhibit at JIMS 2011; Mgongo kicks off on DStv tonight; From Facebook to a factory tour
The New Age launches tech supplement today
The New Age newspaper is forging ahead with added value additions to its daily newspapers. On Friday it launched SportsAge and today, the first technology supplement, TechnoAge, was inserted into the paper.
“Currently it’s a single page so as to give us a feel for the market,” says TNA’s Gary Naidoo. “We’re hoping to attract technology advertisers to the supplement, despite the fact that they often advertise in magazines. We believe that because newspapers have a higher readership than magazines, this should be an attractive proposition.”
The TechnoAge supplement is geared towards “informing, educating and entertaining” the New Age readership, says Naidoo. “Of course, with the tragic death of Steve Jobs, we’ve taken a good look at Apple products.”
Naidoo confesses that with his long affiliation to Sahara Computers, he’s still a PC man. “No, I haven’t migrated to Apple,” he laughs.”And I don’t yet have an iPad.”
PICA Awards 2011 coming up soon
Magazine publishers nationwide are gearing up for the most hotly anticipated and exciting annual events on the publishing industry calendar, Magazine Publishers’ Association of South Africa (MPASA) 42nd annual PICA Awards.
PICA will recognise and reward publishing excellence in the business-to-business, custom and consumer sectors of the South African magazine print and online publishing industry at a star-studded Black and White themed event.
This year’s awards have attracted 438 submissions, a 25% increase on the previous year. “After introducing a highly successful entry streamlining process in 2010, we’ve continued to simplify the process, which we believe has had a positive impact on the awards,” says Danielle Weakly, chairperson of the 2011 PICA committee.
In terms of the judging process, the number of judges has increased from 30 in 2010 to 48 in 2011. According to Weakley, the 2011 PICA Committee has challenged the judges to interrogate the submissions and to investigate how each adds value to both the title and the reader.
The judges will examine the metrics including ABC/membership data, target reader demographics and mission statements. The panel will also look at how the publisher gauged the success of the submission. Covers will be judged on their appeal and function in engaging a reader. Writing, visual production and design will be judged on how well a specific type of reader is able to engage with, and extract value from these elements.
The 2011 PICA Awards will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre on November 17 at 18:30. To book your place at the most prestigious event in the publishing industry, visit www.mpasa.net
Aegis Media hosting second Digibate in October
Aegis Media, in conjunction with Bizcommunity, will be hosting the second online Thought Leadership Digibate on October 20, 2011. The debate, which will include a host of media marketing heavyweights, will be streamed live on the online radio station The Taxi (www.thetaxi.co.za) from 09h00 to 11h00 and will largely be focused on the Out of Home sector (including commuter and digital), with some insights into the current intention to ban alcohol advertising.
“We were extremely pleased with the outcome of the first digibate, which covered the media marketing sector in Africa, and we are really excited to be planning the second one. We are certain that the same amount of strategic pointers will be shared this time around,” says Dawn Rowlands, CEO, Aegis Media, Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Thought Leadership Digibates will be held monthly in Cape Town and will include a panel of experts in their respective fields. Podcasts of the previous digibate are available on https://thetaxi.co.za/aegis-digibate-at-the-taxi/.
Property24.com acquires SAHometraders
Property24.com recently announced its successful acquisition of the online property portal business, SAHometraders, extending the offerings of both companies for consumers and real estate agents. The result of this partnership is the country’s biggest property search listing network, which looks set to provide South Africa’s most compelling value proposition as a result of the combined audiences, property listings and pricing.
The SAHometraders audience of over 180 000 visitors per month combines with Property24.com’s 517 000 visitors per month (as measured by the DMMA) to provide the largest online audience of property buyers, sellers and renters to the estate agent industry.
“After extensive analysis of the country’s top performing property portals, we soon recognised the potential for a great partnership with SAHometraders based on the strength of their SEO performance,” says Property24’s general manager, JP Farinha. “We discovered that their customer base also strongly complements that of Property24.com, with their primary focus on independent estate agents meaning limited property listings overlap, resulting in greater choice and added value for end-users.”
SAHometraders websites will continue to operate separately, but the convergence of the back-end operation will result in a wider range of properties on offer across all sites. The addition of SAHometraders’ considerable database to Property24.com’s existing 187 000 properties makes the integrated offering number one in the country in terms of the number of unique properties listed.
Suzuki SA & PenQuin International roll out ‘wild’ exhibit at JIMS 2011
PenQuin International and client Suzuki Auto SA conceptualised, planned and executed an ambitious display stand at Johannesburg International Motor Show (JIMS), which runs until October 16. The mammoth task required PenQuin to construct, deconstruct and re-erect the stand elements.
The Suzuki Adventure Zone occupies an impressive 2 500m2 outdoor area at the Esplanade across from the lake. An industrial theatre production will entertain and educate the trade media on the 7th October.
Embracing Suzuki’s ‘Way of Life’, the Adventure Zone will be split into contrasting ‘Wild’ and ‘Urban’ experiences to accommodate all aspects of Suzuki’s range of vehicles.
All off road vehicles will be displayed on the ‘Wild’ side that includes a zoo area (managed by Lory Park Zoo, wildlife sanctuary and haven), a bird aviary, suspension bridge, Bedouin tent and an 80m2 tree house to entertain guests.
The urban experience will have a distinct industrial feel, reminiscent of the urban jungle. This display will showcase Suzuki’s ‘road’ vehicles alongside a suspension bridge, graffiti areas and a first ever 450m2 stacked container structure.
“Initial construction time for all structures was estimated at around five months, but was completed in only seven weeks,” says PenQuin’s Darren Leishman.
The overall project required a total of eight weeks, with a management team of ten supervising a construction team of 40 people. This included applying for and receiving engineering safety and compliance certificates and completing the design, layout and construction.
Mgongo kicks off on DStv tonight
Enter the Mgongo show, an exciting interactive series premiering on DSTV channel 107 tonight. Developed by Sony South Africa, the Mgongo show extends far beyond your average entertainment programme.
From its intro theme song ‘Pump it On’ by rising SA music star Toya Delazy to spicy interviews with some of South Africa’s hottest artists and celebrities, presenters Precious Kofi and Sandile van Heerden are set to enthral viewers weekly with the latest in entertainment news.
The show will also showcase interviews with international artists topping the charts around the world, movies, must-have product reviews, gaming, social commentary and much much more.
The über cool interactive platform of the show will further provide viewers with the opportunity to share their opinions via Facebook and Twitter as they watch.
Follow the show on MgongoShow.tv
From Facebook to a factory tour
King Pie, South Africa’s favourite pie brand, is calling for entries this month for three lucky winners to join them on a Factory Tour experience that will take place on November 2. Entries from all over South African will be accepted, with one winner from the Cape, KZN and JHB being selected. Cape Town and Durban winners will be flown up to the Johannesburg Factory courtesy of Mango.
“The production process is very interesting” notes Nicholas Kuhne, Marketing Manager for King Pie. “This is a wonderful opportunity to reward our most loyal supporters a little peak behind the scenes, something that is generally not accessible to the public”.
To enter, post what you think would be the tastiest pie ingredients on www.facebook.com/kingpiebrand
For more information www.facebook.com/kingpiebrand and follow on twitter: @kingpiebrand
