Media Moves… TheMediaOnline’s weekly round up. Vicinity Media names leadership team. Apurimac Media appoints new VP for African business development. Branding the Saints project. Expand a Sign appoint new brand manager. AfricaCom 2014 reappoints Networx PR. Every1mobile appointed as online partner for DFID’s Voices For Change programme in Nigeria. Vicinity Media targets rapid growth through private equity deal. Moving Tactics launches South Africa’s first full-service digital activation company. Major new sponsorship deal for Cape Town Marathon. CMN turns two.
Who’s moved where
Vicinity Media names leadership team
Johannesburg based digital media company Business Positioning Systems (BPS) has announced a private equity deal with ex RMB heavy weights to fund the expansion of recently formed business Vicinity Media. Under the leadership of location-based advertising specialists Daryl van Arkel (CEO) and Neil Clarence (COO), the powerful Vicinity platform has performed so well as a product within the BPS stable that the duo decided to launch it as a stand-alone operation. The new venture brings together an experienced management team alongside van Arkel and Clarence, namely:
· Charles Talbot: head of publisher acquisitions who brings with him many years of location experience
· Anthony Stonefield: chief innovation officer listed as “one of the top 50 mobile content executives” by Mobile Entertainment Magazine
· Andre Steenkamp: chief technology officer a seasoned high tech professional having led technology teams and projects in some of the USA’s largest tech firms.
Apurimac Media appoints new VP for African business development
Apurimac Media has appointed Dublin born Colman Murray as vice president for African business development.
Apurimac founder and CEO Will Green welcomed the appointment. “For the past eight years, Apurimac has been the source of digital media in Africa. Our growth from outside South Africa has increased exponentially over the past two years in particular. Colman will be an asset to our Africa team,” said Green.
Murray has extensive international media experience, having spearheaded the development of Time Inc’s publishing interests in Europe, Middle East and Africa (TIME, FORTUNE, PEOPLE, IN-STYLE & WALLPAPER). Most recently, Colman accelerated the multi fold growth of AFP’s broadcast, news, image and digital revenues throughout Africa.
Based in Johannesburg, Murray will be responsible for the overall development of Apurimac Media’s strategy in the rest of Africa.
Expand a Sign appoint new brand manager
Expand a Sign, an industry leader in branding solutions and wall canvas, welcomed Kirsty Fonzari as brand manager from 1 June 2014. Fonzari has a wealth of experience having worked as group marketing manager for Three Cities and operations director for a leading group of healthy foods restaurants in the United Kingdom.
Fonzari is responsible for the development and implementation of internal and external marketing strategies and brand development for Expand a Sign throughout Africa and internationally.
“Expand a Sign’s belief system in their team really attracted me. They believe that the number one commodity in their business is their staff – what a wonderful ethos to stand for! I’m excited about the challenge and look forward to working with the Expand a Sign team to execute effective marketing strategies that will deliver growth,” says Fonzari.
Who’s won what
AfricaCom 2014 reappoints Networx PR
Informa Telecoms and Media Limited has once again appointed Networx PR to publicise the continent’s largest digital telecommunications, ICT and media conference and exhibition – AfricaCom 2014. Taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) between 11– 13 November 2014. This will be the fourth year Networx will work with Informa and the 17th year, this stellar event will be held in the mother city.
Bigger and better than ever, the event will this year focus on ‘enhancing digital communication in Africa.’ Networx PR is tasked with informing the various markets and sectors with a view to encouraging exhibitor and delegate participation alike as well as continuing with its task of entrenching AfricaCom’s position as the premier networking event of its kind in Africa.
Every1mobile appointed as online partner for DFID’s Voices For Change programme in Nigeria
Every1Mobile (E1M) has announced that it has been appointed to deliver the mobile and online elements of Voices for Change (V4C), a major project aimed at promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in Nigeria. V4C is funded by DFID (the UK’s Department for International Development). The programme, managed by GRM International, seeks to challenge and change gender based social norms as well as address the systemic and structural causes of gender inequality that undermine the value of adolescent girls and women in Nigeria.
“Given V4C’s target audience are young Nigerian women and men, the mobile phone is the ideal communications medium to reach and interact with the maximum number of young people in the shortest possible time” said Algy Williams, CEO of Every1Mobile. “We believe that every development programme aimed at sub-Saharan Africa should have a mobile strategy to achieve measurable engagement and social impact at scale.”
Who’s making moves
Vicinity Media targets rapid growth through private equity deal
Johannesburg based digital media company Business Positioning Systems (BPS) has announced a private equity deal with ex RMB heavy weights to fund the expansion of recently formed business Vicinity Media. Vicinity’s proprietary mobile technology provides hyper-relevant advertising based on consumer profiles including physical location, search term, handset type, local weather conditions, demographics, time of day and day of the week.
With capital underwritten by financial heavyweights Mike Pfaff, (former RMB CEO) and Derek Prout-Jones (former RMB chief investment officer), the private equity deal yields a 30% share in the new business, which according to Vicinity’s founders represents a significant vote of confidence in the future of proximity driven mobile media.
“4 Decades Capital decided to fund Vicinity Media for a number of reasons – we liked the space very much; we believe the universe of digital advertising is rapidly expanding and, within this the prospects for reaching customers via their mobile handsets is perhaps the most attractive space to play in,” says Prout-Jones.
Branding the Saints project
Saints Branding managing director and brand strategist, Ana Kukoc, has partnered with creative director, Alun Davies of The Design Collective, to provide a full service agency offering, driven by brand and design strategy.
Kukoc is a 25-year veteran of designing brands’ character, implementing brand strategy and working with clients across the African continent. Davies is an award-winning designer with two decades of agency and publishing experience in Southern Africa and the United States.
Both equally weighted in the left-right brain hemispheres, their collaboration is yielding an unique approach of seamless integration of strategy and creative. They call it “the halo effect” – their holistic take on understanding, designing and nurturing brands.
“It’s Serendipity with a capital ‘S’. In life, timing is everything. This is the right time to build a new kind of branding agency,” says Davies.
Moving Tactics launches South Africa’s first full-service digital activation company
Moving Tactics, the digital signage solutions company, has launched Digital Impact, an activation division that specialises in short-term, rental and campaign-based advertising solutions. The first of its kind in South Africa, the division focuses on creating experimental marketing engagements by combining digital, traditional and alternative media elements.
“Digital Impact was launched three months ago and has since been working with advertising agencies and brand directors to create and develop innovative, alternative and creative media solutions for a variety of launches, campaigns and activations,” says Chris Day, managing director of Moving Tactics. “We are the first company in South Africa to offer a full-service solution, which incorporates everything from concept development, to installation, to producing content and art direction. We stage and style the entire production from start to finish”.
Major new sponsorship deal for Cape Town Marathon
The Cape Town Marathon has secured a major new naming rights sponsorship from financial services giant Sanlam. The sponsorship will allow the marathon – renamed the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon with immediate effect – to fast-track its plans of being classified as Africa’s first World Marathon Majors (WMM) race and in the process boost city tourism by attracting athletes from around the globe.
Yegs Ramiah, chief executive: Sanlam Brand, says that Sanlam is delighted at the opportunity to be the official headline sponsor of the Cape Town Marathon. “Sanlam is pleased to sponsor an event that places Cape Town and our continent on the global stage alongside famous marathon cities such as Boston, New York, Tokyo and London. As a diversified financial services player with an extensive footprint into 11 African countries, we take pride in creating an opportunity for international athletes to compete in a global event on the continent, in particular African athletes.
South African long-distance Olympic medalist Elana Meyer, spokesperson for The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon and member of its EXCO says they have the support of and presence at the race of IAAF and will now apply for Silver Label classification. After that, the potential for this race will be immeasurable. “We are extremely pleased to have a leading financial services group like Sanlam working with us to realise the potential of this very special event.”
The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon will be over a race weekend on 20 and 21 September 2014.
CMN turns two
Creative Minds Network (CMN) opened its doors in July 2012 and the two years in operation can most certainly be likened to those of a newborn child. The learnings are at high-speed and the development and skill mastery is at such a rapid pace that one month rolls into 12 which rolls into 24; before you even realise you are no longer crawling but walking with a strong solid pace ready to take on more and more challenges.
CMN Marketing is a specialist marketing and communications consultancy that offers practical and relevant 360˚ solutions to clients seeking brand management, a higher profile in the market and effective communication with their stakeholders.
“Challenge is our lifeblood, precision our heart, and success the adrenaline that drives CMN,” says CMN managing owner, Colleen Vilela. “This has been proved time and time again over the past two years. We have had the unbelievable pleasure and privilege to work on famous brands such as HP, SanDisk, Bidvest, Tarsus, Nikon & iON, Parrot, Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, McLaren, Jabra, Ignition TV, Sun International, Itec, Sigma, Leica, Silverton Radiators, Olympus and Belkin”.
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