Media Moves… TheMediaOnline’s weekly round up. Koo Govender appointed CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network South Africa. Stone Soup appoints a new account manager. Wag the Dog Publishers appoints new national sales manager. Caxton Magazines makes new commercial department appointments. AMF appoints 2016 board and sets mandates for the year. ANN7 announces Sindy Mabe as new anchor of Prime. Adriaan Basson appointed editor of News24. Jo van Eeden appointed editor-in-chief of Netwerk24.
This week’s BIG move: Koo Govender appointed CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network South Africa
Koo Govender, former VWV group CEO and M-Net director of marketing and communications, has been appointed as CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network for South Africa and will be reporting into Dawn Rowlands, CEO Dentsu Aegis Network Sub Saharan Africa.
Koo was the first female CEO of the VWV Group, where her passion for women’s empowerment and mentorship was demonstrated by her championing of the Phakama Women’s Academy which is a ‘bridging’ programme to equip and empower marketing university graduates for the ‘realities’ of the corporate world. Koo will remain as a trustee of the Academy to ensure continuity and momentum of this vital and unique initiative.
In joining Dentsu Aegis Network, Koo is returning to her ‘media roots’ having been actively involved in the broadcasting and media industry for 22 years, culminating in her holding the corporate marketing and communications directorship at M-Net.
In addition to being a prominent and accomplished public speaker, Koo has won various business and women empowerment awards; the latest of which was the Mail & Guardian Investing in the Future and Drivers of Change Awards 2015.
“With a combination of client and agency experience, a thorough grounding in media, and an underpinning drive and passion Koo is the ideal candidate to both consolidate and build the Dentsu Aegis Network’s position in the South African market,” said Andre Andrade CEO Dentsu Aegis Network for Iberia and Sub Saharan Africa.
Govender said the position “provides a unique opportunity to bring together all of the experience I have gained over the years within a global group that is really committed to the challenge of unlocking Africa’s potential”.
Dawn Rowlands, CEO Dentsu Aegis Network Sub Saharan Africa commented on Koo’s appointment, “Having Koo join us in South Africa will ensure we keep pushing for transformative growth in South Africa. Our operations in Sub Saharan Africa are now sizeable and the demand for Regional thinking and expertise across Africa is immense.
Koo’s experience in Marketing, Media and Communication will be an asset to our operating model in South Africa. She will also join the regional exco for Dentsu Aegis Network SSA along with Gillian O’Mahoney, Nazli Roskin, Bevis Hoets and our other CEO’s across the region. Lastly though, we are exceptionally excited to have another strong and accomplished woman join our team.”
Who’s moved where
Stone Soup appoints a new account manager
Natalie Watermeyer has been appointed as a PR account manager at Stone Soup.
Stone Soup a public relations consultancy established in 2002, is skilled in effective, bespoke business-to-business communication strategies, writing skills and project management.
Watermeyer completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Rhodes University and Honours and Masters degrees in Philosophy at Wits, before heading to Japan and Korea to teach English. For the past seven years she has worked as a features writer and editor, primarily covering the South African arts and culture scene.
Stone Soup forms part of the Iconic Group, which offers every aspect of the ideal marketing mix, a true 360 degree approach that allows for deep client understanding and creative application.
Wag the Dog Publishers appoints new national sales manager
Bruce Crowie has been appointed as Wag the Dog Publisher’s national sales manager, working primarily on The Media Magazine and its extensions.
Wag the Dog is a respected publisher with a strong bias for fine content that is commercially viable through a number of high profile publications in the consumer, business and trade markets. Its product suite includes The Media, The Media Online, The MOST Awards, EasyDIY and easyDIY.co.za.
Crowie has worked in the media industry for 16 years, with extensive print experience in both newspapers and magazines specialising in business-to-business and niche consumer publications. In his time off he enjoys DIY and going to the gym.
Shandrell Penniken, who has served as national sales manager at Wag the Dog for three years, is leaving to pursue a career in marketing and training.
AMF appoints 2016 board and sets mandates for the year
The Advertising Media Forum has elected its board for 2016, which will comprise of the following representatives for each agency group: Omnicom Group – Gordon Patterson; Aegis Network – Celia Collins, IPG – Chris Botha, Independent Cape Town Agencies – Karen Phelan, Publicis Group – Janet Watermeyer; Group M, Michelle Meyjes; Independent Johannesburg Agencies – Virginia Hollis.
The Board has selected the following key mandates for 2016: Refocusing the AMF, Research, Legislation, Talent and Education, Transformation. Research, in the current environment, is considered the most critical focus area, while talent and education and transformation are two further areas that require significant delivery from the AMF.
Caxton Magazines makes new commercial department appointments
Caxton Magazines has recently made three new senior appointments in its Commercial Division.
The new commercial manager, for Caxton Magazines in Johannesburg is Caxton veteran Gary Wium. Wium has been in the media industry for 11 years, with previous experience in agencies, both as an account manager and a senior strategist. Most recently he was classified’s sales manager for several Caxton titles. “Gary has developed an excellent understanding of all Caxton’s magazine brands through his involvement in the division’s business hubs,” says Head of Commercial, Marc du Plessis. “His mandate is to strengthen the division’s market share by growing the non-traditional revenue line, while at the same time, maintaining spend in the core business of print.”
Angela Collins has been made commercial creative director. A passionate and creative executive, Collins has more than 20 years’ experience at some of the best agencies both locally and in London. With her “everything is possible” approach, du Plessis believes this will help her push boundaries and think outside the box in her new position at Caxton Magazines.
The third appointment is that of Dee Aylward who has been promoted to new business development manager. A stalwart of Caxton Magazines, Aylward has been with the company for nine years in which time she has held various senior positions as a manager within the commercial team. Aylward will now be tasked to grow and find new revenue opportunities nationally and across all channels.
“The Caxton Magazines Commercial team is now in a very strong position,” said Du Plessis. “We have top class sales leadership in Joburg, Durban and Cape Town, coupled with a powerhouse Research, Insights and Creative unit. All this is geared to deliver big multichannel marketing ideas and solutions for our clients.”
ANN7 announces Sindy Mabe as new anchor of Prime
Sindy Angelique Mabe will be joining the team as news anchor of ANN7’s debate and news bulletin show, Prime. She will present as the sole anchor as of Monday,
Mabe has been a news anchor for over 15 years. In the past decade, she has anchored for e.tv Sunrise as a senior anchor, a show anchor on SABC weekend live and a show presenter on e.tv morning edition in 2000.
She has also established herself as an account executive at Global Interface, and holds a National Business Diploma in Business Management from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and a Certificate for Entrepreneurs from the University of the Witwatersrand.
ANN7 news editor, Abhinav Sahay said, “This is the start of an exciting chapter for ANN7. We feel that it will help build our success as a news channel. We are pleased to see Sindy join the team, we have an incredibly talented group of anchors and she will add value to this tremendous list.”
Prime is ANN7’s debate and news bulletin show about South Africa’s heart and soul.
“For me, joining the dynamic ANN7 team is a unique and exciting opportunity to expand my skills set, meet new friends, and share in our mandate to provide our viewers with credible, reliable and balanced quality programming,” says Mabe.
Adriaan Basson appointed editor of News24
Media24 has announced the appointment of Adriaan Basson as editor of News24, South Africa’s biggest online news platform. Basson, currently editor-in-chief of the Afrikaans news platform Netwerk24, joins News24 on 1 April.
Basson will oversee News24’s national team of journalists and multimedia content producers, the syndication service News24Wire and the country’s biggest digital financial and sports platforms, Fin24 and Sport24.
“Adriaan is a widely respected journalist and editor and exactly the right person to take News24 to even greater heights,” said Media24 chief executive Esmaré Weideman. “He brings gravitas to the country’s biggest digital news asset.”
Basson, an award-winning investigative journalist with 13 years experience at Beeld, City Press and the Mail & Guardian, says he is excited about leading the winning team at News24. “It is an enormous honour and privilege. I have always been a huge fan of this market leader of online news and entertainment in South Africa. News24 has revolutionised our digital media landscape – six million people don’t lie,” said Basson, referring to News24’s average monthly unique browsers.
Jo van Eeden appointed editor-in-chief of Netwerk24
Johanna van Eeden is the new editor in chief of Netwerk24 from 1 April. Van Eeden succeeds Adriaan Basson, who will become editor of News24, South Africa’s biggest news website, from 1 April.
Van Eeden, currently editor-in-chief of Media24’s Afrikaans dailies Beeld, Die Burger and Volksblad, said she was excited about taking on the challenge of building out Netwerk24’s service to Afrikaans audiences online.
“Since its launch in September 2014 Netwerk24 has already achieved major milestones. It is the home of quality journalism in Afrikaans and already the fifth largest news platform in the country. I am looking forward to being part of the excellent team that has pioneered our Afrikaans digital news platform.”
In February alone, Netwerk24 attracted more than 1.3 million unique browsers, with the biggest growth recorded in the age group 24 to 35. “Most excitingly the biggest growth in terms of time spent consuming news on the site was amongst 18 to 25 year-olds,” said Van Eeden.
“I am also looking forward to working with the title editors of trusted brands such as Die Burger, Beeld, Volksblad and Rapport whose editorial teams have been instrumental in the success of Netwerk24,” she added. “We are facing a period of transition in the media industry and the challenge is to migrate our loyal newspaper readers to online products over time.”