TheMediaOnline’s weekly round up of moves in media. CNN adds to Africa strength with Eleni Giokos appointment. Direct and digital gurus join Mortimer Harvey family. The courageous Doug Larter joins the Heroes. SENTECH appoints new CEO. Newly formed Emote appointed as Hootsuite’s Platinum Solution Partner for Africa. CoAlliance named official fundraising partner for Qhubeka. CNBC Africa announces video syndication partnership with Newstag. TBWA\ expands its agency footprint in Africa. Stone Soup PR website relaunched. Dentsu Aegis network adds MKTG to global brand network.
This week’s BIG move: CNN adds to Africa strength with Eleni Giokos appointment
CNN International has hired Eleni Giokos as a business correspondent, based in the network’s Johannesburg bureau.
Giokos, who joins from Bloomberg TV Africa, will take on a range of responsibilities for the network. In addition to reporting on news and business stories, she will also work across CNN’s African feature programmes, including Marketplace Africa and African Voices.
“Eleni is an enormously talented and versatile broadcaster. She has interviewed world leaders, covered major breaking news stories, and presented network feature programmes. Her appointment underlines our commitment to African stories and African audiences. We’re delighted to have her here at CNN,” said Mike McCarthy, senior vice president for programming at CNN International.
Giokos began her career at CNBC Africa, before moving to 24-hour news channel eNCA, where she was an anchor and correspondent. She then joined Bloomberg TV Africa as senior anchor and financial journalist, anchoring two programmes for the channel.
She has interviewed the likes of South Africa President Jacob Zuma, Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, IMF MD Christine Lagarde, and Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson.
Who’s moved where
Direct and digital gurus join Mortimer Harvey family
Mortimer Harvey has appointed industry stalwarts, Winnifred Knight and Luisa Mazinter, as direct business director and group chief innovation officer, respectively.
Andrew Fradd, group managing director of Mortimer Harvey, says the agency is proud to welcome Winnifred and Luisa into the family. “With their combined experience in direct and digital marketing and out-of-the box thinking, the agency is set to lead the way in strategic omni-channel and data-rich marketing.”
Knight oversees the Mortimer Harvey Direct team. She’s also responsible for strategy and training in the direct and CRM space at Mortimer Harvey and initiated the roll-out of an extensive training programme for all staff at the agency covering direct, CRM and digital.
Mazinter leads the Mortimer Harvey digital and social media teams, focusing on strategy, business model design and innovation.
The courageous Doug Larter joins the Heroes
After graduating with a degree in Philosophy, Classics and English in 1998, Doug Larter realised that at some stage he would actually have to work for a living and decided that a career in advertising was better than having a real job.
After 17 years in the industry and countless hours of overtime, Larter has worked as copywriter and creative director at most of the top ad agencies in South Africa. In this time he has had the privilege to work on a range of blue chip brands including: Woolworths, Shell, Engen, Santam, Savanna, Hansa Pilsener, SA Rugby, Klipdrift Brandy, Captain Morgan, Puma, Ster-Kinekor and Checkers.
Larter firmly believes that the industry needs to move back to a centralised agency model and arrives at Hero as newly appointed Creative Director, he excited about the agency’s capabilities and the fact that the business offers clients a truly integrated suite of products.
“For years Hero has been largely un-sung, but has been quietly getting on with the business of delivering results for clients,” says Larter. “I am massively impressed by the agency’s offering and this position represents an opportunity for me to work with a team of like-minded people who share my passion for creating standout work that makes a difference.”
Larter still thinks that being in advertising is better than having a real job.
SENTECH appoints new CEO
SENTECH, broadcasting signal distributor, has announced the appointment of Mlamli Booi as the company’s chief executive officer. Booi succeeds Dr. Setumo Mohapi who was appointment as the CEO of the State IT Agency (SITA) effective 1 April 2015. SENTECH had in the interim, appointed Ms. Rudzani Rasikhinya, then CFO, as acting CEO.
“The Board has confidence in Mr Booi’s ability to provide outstanding leadership and he embodies the experience, vision and leadership skills necessary to lead SENTECH to greater heights. His deep understanding of the ICT sector renders him ideally suited to be our next CEO” said Mello Magatho, chairman of the board.
Booi has more than 20 years’ experience in ICT engineering, policy, regulatory, strategy and management. He has worked in the ICT sector in various positions since 1986. He holds an MSc Degree in Engineering from UCT and a postgraduate diploma in project management. He also holds a Diploma in Company Direction from GIMT (2006). He is a Member of IEEE and IoD South Africa. He will be responsible for working with the SENTECH Board and management team in delivering on the company’s strategy and fulfilling its mandate.
Umhlobo Wenene FM reshuffles it’s on air personalities as the station chases the five million mark
Umhlobo Wenene FM‘s station manager Mr Phumzile Mnci has announced a reshuffle within the station.
The station’s objective for this current fiscal is to grow its listenership to five million and currently the station has 4.6 million listeners. “The reshuffle was then necessary to ensure that the station achieves this objective,” said Mnci.
Two of the station’s prime time shows, were affected by the reshuffle. The midday show Sij’ikilanga which is currently hosted by Amaza Ntshanga produced by Nonala Tose who is also a co presenter of the show. The other show with a reshuffle is the station’s afternoon drive hosted by the trio, Mthobeli August known as KCI, Luyanda “Luks” Gidane and Zizo Beda.
Luyanda ‘Luks’ Gidane will now make a move to the midday show as a producer with immediate effect. Gidane who has a vast experience in the broadcast field as an on air personality also has a flair for producing and he will fit like hand and glove in the midday show. Nonala Tose will now be a full time co-host of the show and since this show has been broadcasting live from Cape Town it will now move to Johannesburg to join the station’s afternoon drive Masigoduke, both shows will broadcast live from SABC Auckland Park, Monday to Friday weekly.
KCI will present the afternoon drive with co- host Zizo Beda. Both of them have enormous experience in the media field and they have millions of followers. Bongani Nqiqi will remain as the producer of the afternoon drive.
Who’s won what
Newly formed Emote appointed as Hootsuite’s Platinum Solution Partner for Africa
Emote has been appointed as a Hootsuite Platinum Solution Partner for Africa. Emote is a newly formed digital agency, carved out of ad tech company Popimedia, and Hootsuite is the world’s most widely used platform for managing social media.
“With its mobile economy and rapid growth in social media uptake, Africa presents a unique opportunity for Hootsuite’s entry into the market. We are delighted to join forces in order to better support our clients and their social media efforts on the continent,” says Ryan Silberman, CEO of Emote.
Hootsuite is used by more than 800 of the Fortune 1000 companies. It will provide Emote’s clients with the ability to launch social media strategies, identify and grow new audiences, and distribute targeted messages.
“We are thrilled to have Emote as a Hootsuite solution partner,” says Kevin O’Brien, vice president of Partners at Hootsuite. “Emote’s services expertise and knowledge of social media will serve our clients well in the region.”
CoAlliance named official fundraising partner for Qhubeka
On the back of its recent fundraising spinathon for Qhubeka, specialist marketing consultancy CoAlliance has been named an official fundraising partner to the non-profit organisation. Qhubeka is World Bicycle Relief’s programme in South Africa, dedicated to advancing education, health and economic opportunities by providing simple, sustainable transportation.
Conceptualised by CoAlliance to get South Africa behind Team MTN Qhubeka at this year’s Tour de France, the “Ride the Tour” challenge was a five-hour wattbike spinathon that saw 1370km pedalled. The bikes, sponsored by WattLab, recorded distance pedalled as well as wattage output, with participants competing to see who could achieve the best times and distances.
“We are extremely proud to be affiliated with an organisation like Qhubeka, and are looking forward to many more great fundraising initiatives on their behalf. We were also very happy to be able to provide support to Team MTN Qhubeka who is the first African team ever invited to participate in Tour de France, while knowing that the funds raised would change the lives of many children” says Sandi Brown, MD of CoAlliance.
Who’s making moves
CNBC Africa announces video syndication partnership with Newstag
CNBC Africa – the pan-African financial and business news channel – will be syndicating its award-winning multimedia and video clips to Newstag, an innovative ‘mobile-first’ video news service. The multi-year deal grants Newstag the right to share and distribute CNBC’s news videos on its mobile and online platforms alongside current affairs and entertainment content from other professional content producers around the world, including AP, AFP and Reuters.
“Newstag is to professional video news what YouTube is to amateur video clips. They are the world’s largest online network based on videos only from trusted sources. CNBC Africa is the largest and most credible source of business content from around the continent with over 35,000 videos interviews and clips available through its digital publishing channels. This partnership will extend our current reach and enhance our digital ecosystem,” CNBCAfrica.com Chief Executive, Sid Wahi said.
Newstag’s ‘mobile-first’ service enables users to create their own ‘tagstream’ (or personalised TV channel) in seconds, organising, consuming and sharing stories among their social networks using the latest web and mobile technologies.
Newstag CEO, Henrik Eklund, said Newstag was committed to providing global news coverage from truly distinct perspectives.
TBWA\ expands its agency footprint in Africa
TBWA\Africa recently signed a partnership agreement with Tanzanian agency, Khanga-Rue Media, making it the third new affiliate agreement concluded by TBWA\ over the past few weeks. TBWA has also confirmed a new partnership with Berry Advertising in Ethiopia and concluded an agreement with Optimum Communications in DRC. These new partnerships are aimed at establishing relationships in two key East African countries and strengthening TBWA agency footprint in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Graham Cruikshanks, TBWA\’s Director of Africa Operations, says the three signings are the culmination of an extensive process to bring partner agencies with a strong cultural alignment to TBWA\ into the network. “Equally, as a network office, we need to ensure we provide the right kind of value through skills transfer, strategic tools and new business.”
This two-way, closely collaborative approach in developing the network is fundamental to TBWA\’s strategy in Africa. Cruikshanks says TBWA\’s vision is not to be the biggest network across the continent, but to be the best. “We do this by being highly selective and only partnering with strong, dynamic local agencies with impressive local track records.
Stone Soup PR website relaunched
Stone Soup PR, specialists in media and marketing communications and part of the ICONIC Group which includes Wag the Dog Publishers (The Media, The MediaOnline, The MOST Awards and EASYDIY), Ideaology (Advertising and Design) and Snippet Video, has recently relaunched its website.
“Stone Soup is firmly entrenched in the media and marketing space, we represent top players in the industry and are able to help them influence the influencers. Our knowledge, expertise and contacts within the industry are unrivalled. We specialise in B2B communications and aligning communication strategies to our clients’ business objectives,” says Sandra Gordon, CEO and founder of Stone Soup.
The advantage of being part of the group is the ability to offer 360° communications with each element handled by a senior expert within the group. The redesign reflects this, as well as having links to social media and other useful features.
The website has a fresh look and feel and a media office provides a multi-media hub from which press releases, thought leaders, pictures, audio clips and videos can be downloaded for each client. To keep up to date with what Stone Soup is up to follow them on Twitter @StoneSoupPR or like their Facebook Page.
Dentsu Aegis network adds MKTG to global brand network
Dentsu Aegis Network has announced the formation of a ninth global network brand, MKTG, the lifestyle marketing agency it acquired in August 2014. The move further strengthens the network’s sports and entertainment, experiential and lifestyle marketing offering and continues its expansion around the globe.
In addition, out-of-home agency Posterscope’s experiential arm, psLIVE’s offices across Europe and Asia Pacific, South Africa’s Crimson Room, Australia/New Zealand’s Apollo Nation and leading US-based sports and entertainment consultancy Team Epic will be realigned as part of MKTG over the next 12 months.
“As a network, we are constantly evolving to meet the demands of our clients, to be responsive to the needs and desires of consumers and to remain pioneering in the evolution of our industry,” said Jerry Buhlmann, CEO Dentsu Aegis Network and executive officer of Dentsu Inc. “The tremendous growth and importance of lifestyle marketing made it clear that strategically it was time to unify our like-minded businesses as one single brand. We are completely committed to building out our lifestyle marketing offering and integrating the combined strength of these services to deliver on a far larger and broader scale.”
As the agencies transition towards operating as one global brand, MKTG will grow from 450 full time employees and 7,000 brand ambassadors in the United States, to nearly 1,000 full time employees in 14 countries, providing a truly global lifestyle marketing solution for clients. MKTG will be headquartered in New York City.