Media Moves… TheMediaOnline’s weekly round up. National Geographic launches global rebrand, taking it ‘further’. Media24 appoints new chief financial officer. Justine Williams is new marketing services director at SPARK Media. Primedia Outdoor awarded tender for Richards Bay AdLites. DUO Marketing and Communications set to end 2016 on a high note. DUO named AfricaCom media partner for second year. SABC announces its platinum sponsorship at Promax/BDA Africa 2016. CNN named the world’s #1 international news brand. Kwesé and ESPN sign long-term collaboration agreement for Sub-Saharan Africa. Brightening the streets of Harare
This week’s BIG move: National Geographic launches global rebrand, taking it ‘further’
National Geographic has announced an extensive global rebrand across the company’s world-class media platforms, experiences and nonprofit organisation. This evolution further builds on last year’s expanded joint venture with 21st Century Fox and cements National Geographic’s position as a leader in premium content with an unparalleled global reach.
“A year ago we combined all of our content platforms into one company, establishing an unparalleled and enviable global reach for our iconic brand, which touches over 730 million consumers every month,” said Declan Moore, CEO, National Geographic Partners. “Now, as we reimagine our business for the 21st Century, this rebrand — the largest in our history, and possibly the largest of any integrated media company — reinforces to consumers and the marketplace, with a singular vision, the power of the National Geographic brand as well as the premium, visually spectacular nature of our storytelling across every platform.”
The rebrand will touch every aspect of National Geographic (at both the for-profit National Geographic Partners and the nonprofit National Geographic Society), including the visual presentation of the global channels in 171 countries, the iconic magazine, nationalgeographic.com, all of the company’s social and digital platforms and the National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The new global tagline ‘Further’ embodies the ethos and spirit that have defined the National Geographic brand for over 128 years. Embracing the company’s purpose to be the leading premium content destination for science, exploration and adventure, ‘Further’ captures the aspirations of the National Geographic audience and serves as a rallying cry for its employees, explorers, photographers, producers and other constituencies as well as a promise to advertisers, affiliates, educators and other external partners.
As part of this effort, the network will also drop the word “Channel” from all on-air and off-air extensions across 440 million households in 171 countries and 45 languages. The rebrand will coincide with the global event series premiere of MARS, the epic story of mankind’s thrilling quest to colonise Mars, from executive producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, on Monday, Nov. 14, at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT in the United States (globally Nov. 13). The initial phase of the network’s rebrand design covers all aspects of National Geographic.
Who’s moved where
Media24 appoints new chief financial officer
Cindy Hess is the new chief financial officer at Media24. Hess joins Media24 from the listed company Pioneer Foods where her responsibilities as CFO included financial strategy and reporting, operational capital management, internal risk and control measures and IT management. Prior to this she was Sea Harvest’s financial director for seven years, and has also held senior financial positions at Woolworths and Transnet.
“We are delighted to welcome such an accomplished CFO to our management team,” Media24 CEO Esmaré Weideman says. “Cindy has a fantastic track record and we believe she will slot in very well in our dynamic and fast-paced environment. There cannot be a more exciting industry to work in right now and we brought Cindy on board to help chart this journey successfully.”
Hess says it’s an honour to join Media24 at such an exciting time in the media industry and looks forward to a “long and prosperous career with the group”.
Hess takes over from retiring Media24 CFO Manie Mayman (61) who has served the company in this capacity from 2007 to 2009 and again from January 2014 to date.
Justine Williams is new marketing services director at SPARK Media
Justine Williams has been promoted to marketing services director at SPARK Media. The duties in her new role include delivering tailored marketing and sales insights to agencies and clients to help them understand the South African consumer on a local level.
“Justine has dedicated 15 years to the team at NAB and now SPARK Media in various roles, and we’re confident that she’ll soar even higher in her new role,” says joint CEO of SPARK Media, Gill Randall. “Justine has the full backing of her team and management and we look forward to seeing her work more of her magic over the next few months and years.”
Justine adds: “We have access to the best local and international data and insights but we don’t scrape the surface of what we can do with it. Along with our team of super bright youngsters, we’ll be delivering the great value that our clients have grown to expect from SPARK Media coupled with fresh new ideas and opportunities to help them grow their brands.”
Who’s won what
Primedia Outdoor awarded tender for Richards Bay AdLites
Primedia Outdoor has been awarded a tender for 200 illuminated street name signs (AdLites) in Richards Bay, KwaZulu Natal.
The company, which has an existing relationship with the City of uMhlathuze municipality, has been awarded a three-year contract from 1 October 2016 – 31 September 2019.
Outdoor advertising officer, Shernon Daniels, commended the out of home company for their approach, which led to their winning the tender. “Primedia is very professional and hands-on. They are very knowledgeable when it comes to outdoor and field knowledge.”
Primedia Outdoor already owns holdings in uMhlathuze, which lies approximately 180km north-east of Durban.
AdLites, also known as directional signage, are illuminated freestanding structures that function as community information signs.
Boutique tech PR agency DUO Marketing and Communications set to end 2016 on a high note
Specialist tech PR and digital marketing agency, DUO Marketing and Communications, has added two new clients to its growing portfolio of tech clients across South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. Urbian, a digital product studio, is looking to grow its market share in South Africa through DUO’s expert PR, marketing and digital services. While Curve Group, a specialist in hosted and managed IT and financial services, is looking for assistance in building brand awareness of its solutions for enterprise businesses.
“Digital marketing and PR are increasingly integrated and the addition of these two clients advance our view that quality content is core. We tailor the platforms and tactics required to build brands, grow market share and drive engagement to meet the specific business objectives of each client and we believe this is key to our success. Depth of industry knowledge and measurable commercial results have always and will continue to be the reason our clients partner with us,” says Gauteng regional manager, Dominique Pienaar.
With its focus on delivering communications solutions for tech companies in the B2B and B2C space, DUO Marketing has been fortunate to bolster its portfolio with high calibre, disruptive brands over the course of 2016 including Saicom Voice Services, Outsystems, Compare Africa Group, Novum, Fuzzy Logic and redPanda Software.
DUO named AfricaCom media partner for second year
DUO Marketing and Communications has for a second year been selected as an AfricaCom media partner.
Established 12 years ago, the consultancy delivers strategic communications, content curation and digital marketing services to technology companies designing solutions for Africa’s businesses.
“Never before has technology been a more powerful enabler for our continent, and we are excited, through our partnership with AfricaCom, to engage with, and learn from some of the greatest minds in our industry. We remain relentless supporters of the opportunities that disruptive innovation enables for the people of Africa,” says Judith Middleton, CEO of DUO Marketing and Communications.
AfricaCom’s 2016 agenda addresses the theme ‘Economic development and social empowerment through digital connectivity’.
SABC announces its platinum sponsorship at Promax/BDA Africa 2016
The SABC has reaffirmed its Platinum sponsorship for the PROMAX/BDA Africa 2016 which takes place on 03 November 2016 at The Maslow Hotel, in Sandton.
SABC was one of the inaugural sponsors of PROMAX/BDA Africa in 2006 and has since strengthened its partnership with the organisers of this prestigious event.
The PROMAX/BDA Africa conference brings together creative minds in marketing, promo producing and advertising from all over the world. Delegates get exposed to the latest global trends and developments in creating and producing of promos.
Kwesé and ESPN sign long-term collaboration agreement for Sub-Saharan Africa
Econet Media’s Kwesé (www.Kwese.com) and ESPN (www.ESPN.com) have announced a groundbreaking media collaboration in Africa.
The deal will deliver the most comprehensive sports coverage in Africa, offering a wide range of sports and thousands of hours of programming. African audiences will benefit from industry-leading content from the world’s leading sports media company in ESPN, in conjunction with Kwesé’s premium sports offering, while Kwesé’s pan-African reach and its TV everywhere multiplatform distribution capability will deliver the content to viewers through TV and digital platforms making it accessible to sports fans wherever they are.
The deal comes into effect in early 2017 with the launch of an ESPN channel in 19 countries, which is exclusive to Kwesé. ESPN will also produce daily SportsCenter updates for Africa, bringing the iconic sports news and highlights brand to the channel.
In addition, by mid-2017, ESPN and Kwesé will together launch an African edition of the ESPN website and mobile app. The new KweseESPN.com, and its accompanying app, will combine ESPN’s industry-leading coverage of global sports and world-class digital platform with local African sports news, analysis and perspectives from Kwesé.
Who’s making moves
FoxP2 Design – The Laboratory evolves
FoxP2, the creatively-led, award-winning agency with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg, has added FoxP2 Design to its portfolio of offerings.
Why design? FoxP2 has always believed in the power of strategic creativity, no matter the brand, no matter the audience, no matter the channel. In a fast changing communication landscape, we wanted to take control of the ever more critical parts of the value chain. After all, the brand image is ultimately decided by the moment of real-world engagement. This is where design lives.
While this is a new area of focus for FoxP2, it is not a new area of experience or expertise. The autonomous design agency is led by FoxP2 founding partner and executive creative director, Andrew Whitehouse alongside Mark van Rooyen. Whitehouse spent almost a decade in design before focusing on brand advertising. This brings a rare combination of big brand communication thinking to the design agency, offering a true understanding of the full consumer journey and experience.
Van Rooyen shares the same entrepreneurial spirit and experience. With 10 years of big brand advertising experience, he successfully started 2.2, a below-the-line agency for FoxP2, as managing partner. 2.2 has now been absorbed into the design agency.
Some early projects already include leading South African brands like Coronation, who appointed FoxP2 Design to refresh their brand. This comprised logo evolution, internal communications and client touch points, both printed and digital.
CNN named the world’s #1 international news brand
The latest global data from Ipsos reaffirms CNN’s undisputed leadership in international news across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America.
The Ipsos Affluent Survey Global finds that CNN reaches 36% of affluent audiences* across the world every month via TV and digital**. This puts CNN in a dominant leadership position – with a third bigger audience than the BBC (27% reach) and even further ahead of other outlets such as Sky News (24% reach), euronews (20%) and Al Jazeera English (10%). CNN is also well ahead of business news brands such as Bloomberg (15% reach) and CNBC (14%).
A separate study -The Ipsos Affluent Survey Asia Pacific – shows CNN’s continued leadership in that region with 36% monthly reach via TV and digital. This is well ahead of the BBC (27% reach), Bloomberg (17%), Time (17%) and CNBC (16%). CNN’s performance in Asia Pacific compares to a 35% reach for the same period in 2015, with growth driven by an 18% increase in digital reach.
“For decades now, CNN has been the news and information source that audiences all over the world turn to for impartial and accurate news and information,” said Rani Raad, President, CNN International Commercial. “As we continue to invest in content and platforms, these survey figures show the unrivalled scale of our brand and a combination of TV and digital that reaches more audiences than anyone else.”
“There are so many remarkable stories unfolding around the world right now,” said Tony Maddox, EVP and Managing Director, CNN International. “We live in extraordinary times, and it’s clear that audiences turn to CNN above all others to make sense of them.”
Both surveys also show CNN as #1 in reaching key audience demographics such as Frequent Business Travellers (64% reach in global survey, 64% in APAC), Influential Opinion Leaders (58%, 61%), C-Suites (53%, 50%), Business Decision Makers (48%, 46%), and Luxury Consumers (45% in APAC).
Brightening the streets of Harare
Primedia OOH Africa has just finished installing 870 street poles on seven key roads in Harare, Zimbabwe. These include the new Airport Road, key CBD arterials (Samora Machel Road, Julius Nyerere Road, Robert Mugabe Road, Dieppe Road, Simon Muzenda Road) and the affluent Borrowdale Road. The installation is a joint venture with the City of Harare, and is set to run for the next 15 years. It is the biggest street lighting project in Zimbabwe at the moment.
Prior to the installation, which began in April 2015, some of the roads were poorly lit or in complete darkness, says project coordinator Ameer Isaacs. “The new street poles vary in height according to the environment so as to light up the entire road, rather than leaving patches of darkness,” he says.
The lights are entirely solar-powered. As such, the cost of the project is limited to the original installation and maintenance. In addition to the “green” value of relying purely on solar energy, this solution is also more reliable, as electricity supplied by the grid can be erratic. None of the street pole lights rely on local electricity suppliers, and the project therefore assists the city council by alleviating the burden of lighting the city streets.