Media Moves… TheMediaOnline’s weekly round up. BusinessLIVE launches paywall with tongue-in-cheek ad campaign. Publicis Machine appoints leading strategic mind, Moagi Bodibe. Sayer’s reign as chairman of JCDecaux SSA renewed. Curro Holdings appoints operational business manager. Hollard Daredevil Run goes ballsy with Tribeca PR again. Cape Town startup Zoona makes international fintech rankings. Urban Brew Studios to move to Brightwater Commons. Stretch Experiential Marketing and Point Blank Marketing Communications merge to form BTL agency giant, Elevator. Oude Molen. Banijay Rights sells broadcast rights for ‘Neill Anthony Private Chef’ series to Scripps Networks Interactive and Foxtel. Mimecast cuts through the clutter with a PocketMedia Jumpin Jax Slider
This week’s BIG move: BusinessLIVE launches paywall with tongue-in-cheek ad campaign
BusinessLIVE launched its digital subscription packages, BL Premium and BL Premium Plus, this week with a cheeky ad campaign. Conceptualised by BBDO, TMG says it “captures the zeitgeist of the moment: addressing the proliferation of fake news in the run-up to the Trump election, and the flight to quality, trusted publications as a result”.
“In a world where ‘alternative facts’ and fake news are undermining the trustworthiness of the media, more and more readers are turning to our trusted media brands to provide them with accurate, well-informed insight into current affairs,” says Ray Hartley, editor of BusinessLIVE.
“Much of our content, including our running coverage of the day’s business news, remains free but we have worked hard to create for our subscribers a package of exclusive news and comment from our own titles and our international news and data partners,” says Hartley.
BusinessLIVE consolidates content from Business Day, the Financial Mail, the Sunday Times’s Business Times and Rand Daily Mail in one site, with online-only content published round the clock.
Who’s moved where
Publicis Machine appoints leading strategic mind, Moagi Bodibe
Integrated communications agency Publicis Machine has appointed Moagi Bodibe as chief strategy officer to manage the full strategic operations of the group, spanning not only the flagship Johannesburg and Cape Town offices, but also the group’s five specialist pillars: Narrative (content marketing), Incentiv (loyalty and rewards), Answered (research), Moon Walk (public relations), and Nurun (technology specialist).
This recent appointment is in keeping with CEO Adrian Hewlett’s firm belief that agencies of the future will need to provide clients with a full-service marketing solution, and co-ordinate brand messaging across a broad spectrum of communications platforms.
“We live in a fast-paced world, surrounded by a swirl of brand messages all competing for the decreasing attention span of the increasingly-skeptical and dismissive consumer,” he said. “It might sound counter-intuitive, but in order to create a successful campaign in a world that is in constant motion, it’s crucial that you stop, and take time to think, to truly understand, to plan and to co-ordinate.”
Bodibe joins Publicis Machine from Metropolitan Republic where he most recently led the strategic planning efforts for MTN in South Africa as well as in numerous Southern and East African countries.
Sayer’s reign as chairman of JCDecaux SSA renewed
Barry Sayer has been renewed as non-executive chairman and director of the Board of JCDecaux Sub Saharan Africa, effective from the 1 February 2017.
“I’m pleased to continue to collaborate with Barry. I have no doubt that his contribution will be important to successfully meet the many challenges and projects facing us in this promising continent,” said Jean-Sébastien Decaux, CEO Southern Europe, Belgium and Luxembourg, and CEO Africa and Israel.
JCDecaux bought Continental Outdoor, in partnership with Royal Bafoken Holdings, in June 2015.
Curro Holdings appoints operational business manager
Shawn Thomson has recently been appointed operational business manager at Curro Holdings, the JSE-listed independent school operator. His responsibilities will stretch across 128 schools spanning the various Curro brands. Formerly regional head for Curro Holdings, Thomson has been with the group for six years.
Thomson will be responsible for managing and executing tasks such as school business plans, recruitment retention policies, financial planning and motivational leadership structures, among others.
Who’s won what
Hollard Daredevil Run goes ballsy with Tribeca PR again
Tribeca Public Relations will once again support Hollard Insurance in its bid to ‘run cancer outta town’ by providing public relations support for the insurer’s annual Hollard Daredevil Run on 24 March 2017.
The Hollard Daredevil Run is a national event that highlights the importance of prevention and early detection of male cancers among South African men, with participants running through the streets in nothing but a cheeky purple Speedo.
“Tribeca achieved such great results for the 2016 campaign to publicise the Daredevil Run, and we trust the team to achieve the same kind of exposure (pardon the pun) and publicity ahead of this year’s event,” says Warwick Bloom, Marketing Communications Manager at Hollard.
The run will take place in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Mbombela, and sets out to educate South African men and the women who love them about the signs and symptoms of male cancers, and what to do if they suspect that they have fallen prey to the disease.
Cape Town startup Zoona makes international fintech rankings
Zoona, an African mobile payments business that helps communities thrive, by enabling emerging entrepreneurs to provide much needed financial services in their communities, has been listed in the highly esteemed FinTech 100 list compiled by KPMG. The nomination follows on the company’s selection for the African Fintech Awards in October 2016.
“The last year has been an excellent one for Zoona in terms of international recognition. We are very proud to have won incredible awards on an international scale. Zoona won the Africa Entrepreneurship Award for Social Entrepreneurship, was a finalist in the Pricheck Fintech Awards and in the African Fintech Awards. Now we have earned another important accolade that further motivates us to carry on with our mission of helping communities thrive,” said Mike Quinn, CEO of Zoona.
Fintech Innovators, a collaboration between Fintech investment firm H2 Ventures and KPMG Fintech, have released the 2016 Fintech 100 list – a report that gives an in-depth look into global companies that are taking full advantage of technology and driving disruption within the financial services industry.
Who’s making moves
Urban Brew Studios to move to Brightwater Commons
Urban Brew Studios will be moving to brand new state of the art facilities at Brightwater Commons in Randburg, by early next year. The Moolman Group has been tasked with turning 10-thousand square metres of the shopping complex into the ultimate space for the production house, a division of Kagiso Media.
Urban Brew Studios new facilities will include, among other things, trendy office space for almost 300 staff members, 12 television studios, dedicated audio post production and music compilation facilities, a business centre and meeting rooms
Kagiso Media Group Head: Shared Services, David Katz says, “Kagiso Media, owners of Urban Brew Studios and its BEE owner KTH are intent on gearing Urban Brew Studios up for the next generation of content creation in Africa. With more than 25 years in the entertainment industry, Urban Brew Studios is well respected in the industry and will have new facilities to match this level of expertise.”
The production house will take over the historical cinema and bowling alley area, with 10 of the existing movie cinemas being converted into studios and two brand new larger than normal studios being built.
Urban Brew Studios will to take up their new office space between September 2017 and February 2018.
Banijay Rights sells broadcast rights for ‘Neill Anthony Private Chef’ series to Scripps Networks Interactive and Foxtel
The 13-part second season of the successful cooking show, Neill Anthony Private Chef has been sold to Scripps Networks Interactive by Banijay Rights, the international distribution arm of Banijay Group. Scripps has acquired broadcast rights for the global food, entertainment and lifestyle channel, Food Network, exclusive to its British, European, Middle Eastern, and African territories.
Banijay Rights VP sales and acquisitions, Andreas Lemos says, “We’re delighted that charismatic chef to the stars, Neill Anthony will be back on international screens from 2017. Partnering with Okuhle Media and Neill Anthony on the first series was a pleasure and it’s great to see that the show’s performance reflects our own excitement about this franchise.”
Produced by leading South African lifestyle and non-scripted TV production company, Okuhle Media, and hosted by talented Cape Town based executive private chef, Neill Anthony, season one premiered on Food Network in more than 90 countries and territories across Europe, Middle East and Africa from August this year.
Based on the successful performance of the first season, the second season will premiere on Food Network in January 2017.
Stretch Experiential Marketing and Point Blank Marketing Communications merge
Stretch Experiential Marketing and Point Blank Marketing Communications have joined forces to establish a new below the line (BTL) agency powerhouse, Elevator.
The merger means that the new entity, with an established national footprint, can better leverage the unique BTL marketing capabilities and service offerings of each agency team that will deliver world-class BTL brand campaigns to a cross-section of South Africans from mass markets to niche luxury markets.
“It’s always been our ambition to expand our client offering. We knew a merger between Stretch and Point Blank would be a perfect fit because we are culturally-aligned, with shared passions, belief systems and values,” says Mike Silver, CEO of Stretch and now joint-CEO of Elevator. “We believe this move will enable us to deliver even bigger and better disruptive BTL marketing campaigns for our clients, on a national level.”
The new agency will manage broader BTL client campaigns under the Elevator lead brand; with subsidiary divisions Elevator Engage, offering employee engagement campaigns; Elevator People, offering activations and event staffing; and Elevator Digital, offering social media and digital campaigns.
Oude Molen Cape Brandy sponsors epic Cape to Rio rowing expedition
Oude Molen Cape Brandy, one of South Africa’s oldest brandy distilleries, has embarked on an epic journey with Braam Malherbe, one of SA’s most respected conservationists and extreme adventurers, as a sponsor of his Cape to Rio Rowing expedition, which left Cape Town for Brazil on Tuesday.
Malherbe and yachtsman Wayne Robertson set off in their row boat unassisted to row 6 700 kms from Cape to Rio in a bid to highlight the importance of sustainable living and to inspire everyone to do ‘Do One Thing’ (#DOTChallenge) for the planet to ensure a sustainable future.
The team will row unassisted in a Southern Atlantic Crossing, which will take them 98 days to complete during which time they could be faced with challenging weather conditions and potential dangers and, in Malherbe’s own words, “will require our minds to be stronger than our bodies.”
Mimecast cuts through the clutter with a PocketMedia Jumpin Jax Slider
Mimecast, an international company specialising in cloud-based email management for Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Office 365, selected a PocketMedia Solutions’ Jumpin Jax Slider to intrigue the media to attend its Anatomy of a Cyber-Attack event.
According to Kira Bomberg, the PR and communications manager of Mimecast Middle East and Africa, the event was an opportunity to educate business decision makers and the media on the importance of cyber resilience in a business context.
“We included stats about the evolving cyber-threat landscape on the Slider, like 67% of organisations are seeing an increase in cybercrime, and used the Jumpin Jax to highlight the cost of whaling cyber-attacks and that almost 40% of enterprise businesses experienced ransomware in 2016,” says Bomberg.
Mimecast makes business email and data safer for more than 21 800 customers and their millions of employees worldwide.
