The Media Online’s weekly round up of moves in media. Andrew Cooper joins Relativ Media. New CEO for IMM Graduate School. New MD to take Interact Media Defined to new heights. From intern to art director at Boomtown. Grant Lottering is Air Mauritius’ new South African sports ambassador. Key figures from YouTube and Viacom Africa are the latest to join a line-up of industry-leading speakers at CGMS 2017. AdJoin Media welcomes Mail & Guardian to its programmatic publishing marketplace. Freedthinkers appoints Tribeca Public Relations. South African Fashion Week & ZAlebs partner up. Uber Kenya pitch picked up by Hellocomputer, FCB Cape Town, FCB East Africa. Turner partners with Africa Animation Network for FupiToons. Huawei South Africa receives Top Employers Certification. JCDecaux advances in digital out-of-home in Tanzanian, Mozambican and Zambian markets. Vodacom to live stream Zahara album launch. New Media wins gold in New York.
Andrew Cooper joins Relativ Media
After 21 years at Primedia Broadcasting, Andrew Cooper has joined the Relativ Media team to broaden his experience in the media and advertising field.
“I learnt a great deal during my tenure at Primedia, climbing through the sales ranks, building relationships with agencies and clients alike and I’m looking forward to growing those skills and relationships with the assistance of the team at Relativ Media,” says Cooper (left).
“The out of home space is an entirely different ballgame to radio so I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in and growing my knowledge base with a very experienced and fantastic group of people. I took up this challenge because Brett Tucker and the team struck me as an extremely innovative business where the answer is never ‘no’. I’m really excited to see what the next few years hold.”
Relative Media MD Brett Tucker adds: “The team and I extend a huge welcome to Andrew, who is already proving to be a fantastic addition to the team. We’re very fortunate to be in a position where we can welcome new staff and to see our two year old business growing as steadily as it is.”
People moves
New CEO for IMM Graduate School
The IMM Graduate School has announced the appointment of Dalein van Zyl as chief executive officer of Professional Learning Group (PLG), which includes the IMM Graduate School in SA, as well as Oxford College of Marketing in the UK as of 1 September 2017. Van Zyl is responsible for the leadership, operations and strategic direction for the Group and its educational institutions.
Van Zyl (left) is a mechanical engineer by profession with over 15 years working experience in leadership roles in various industries and sectors. In 2007 he returned to South Africa from having worked abroad, and joined Metier, a private equity business where he was director and principal of the Metier Capital Growth Fund II and was responsible for investments in the healthcare, telecommunication and education sectors. In 2004 he joined The Boston Consulting Group in New York, before which he worked for Rand Merchant Bank in Johannesburg and Boart Longyear in Santiago, Chile.
“I am excited to take up the challenge to further enhance the business and elevate the IMM Graduate School and Oxford College of Marketing brands as we move forward. My vision for PLG is for us to build a world class education group with the backing of a diverse and highly motivated team.”
New MD to take Interact Media Defined to new heights
Richard Bicker Caarten (below) has joined the well-established publishing and events company Interact Media Defined (IMD) as managing director (MD), effective as of 1 October 2017.
IMD was established in March 1995 as Pipe Trade Publishing and has been growing its presence and reach quite aggressively since then. Today, the company boasts 14 publication titles in its stable, complete with complementary multimedia platforms, to ensure its core goals of disse
minating information and educating its industries are reached. The company also specialises in events organising and exhibitions, and owns the popular Mining and Technical Exhibitions (MTE) brand, which has a fast-growing African footprint as travelling exhibitions company.
“It was important for us that the new managing director would have ‘skin in the game’ and acquire a stake in the business,” said Sean Macnamara, who has been the managing director of IMD for the past nine years. Macnamara has since taken up the role of operations director with the added responsibility for finance and projects, to focus his energy where his strengths lie. “We felt that the new MD position needed to be more strategic, as we believe that our product offering and the industries we serve could benefit from this,” he said.
From intern to art director at Boomtown
Beginning in 2013 as an intern as part of the Boomtown Bayeza programme, Gerard Addison has quickly proven his creative prowess as he has risen up the agency ranks, and today has been appointed as art director.
The role will see Addison (left) concept and create client campaigns for the agency, and directing the visual elements. “My passion is in concept design, big ideas and art direction, and that’s what I have built my career to date around,” remarks Addison. “To have created this goal for myself, and to have achieved it in such a short space of time blows my mind, but I am excited for the challenge that lies ahead.”
“Gerard and I have had many conversations about his career and ambitions,” adds Boomtown MD, Andrew MacKenzie. “Our approach to not only clients but our people is creativity, possibility. And for him to have begun as a graduate four years ago, and now be our art director is an amazing achievement and we’re incredibly proud of him and his work.”
Grant Lottering is Air Mauritius’ new South African sports ambassador
Survivor, motivational speaker, ultra-endurance cyclist and Laureus Sport for Good Ambassador, Grant Lottering (left), has entered into a 12 month sports ambassador agreement with Air Mauritius. As the national carrier’s official sports ambassador, Lottering will play an integral role in showcasing Mauritius as a sporting destination, while simultaneously promoting Air Mauritius as the airline of choice to the island, and beyond.
“For Air Mauritius, the ambassador dimension has been embraced in order to accommodate and support the unprecedented year-on-year growth of the brand,” says Carla da Silva, Air Mauritius regional manager, Southern Africa and Latin America. “Sport has become a strategic value proposition for Air Mauritius. We have tracked a substantial increase in sporting and adventure events, as well as MICE travel to Mauritius (for this purpose,) over the past 36 months. Lottering is an exceptional and highly admired sportsman. As an athlete, as well as avid philanthropist, he combines top performance in his sporting discipline and CSR interventions, with utmost passion and excellence. These are precisely the qualities that are interwoven throughout, and embodied within our business and operating culture.”
Among others, the dynamic partnership will see Lottering present motivational talks across the country, as well as deliver the key note address, at the Annual Air Mauritius Travel Oscar Awards, taking place in February, 2018.
Key figures from YouTube and Viacom Africa join a line-up of industry-leading speakers at CGMS 2017
Malik Ducard, global head of family and learning at YouTube (pictured right), and Alex Okosi, executive vice-president and managing director at Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Africa and BET International (left), will each address delegates at the CGMS Summit.
Curated by the BBC and held in Manchester, UK, from 5-7 December, CGMS 2017 will focus on five themes of education, empowerment, entertainment, innovation and freedom.
Ducard’s role at YouTube involves overseeing partnerships and business development efforts for the platform’s family entertainment and educational content. Prior to joining YouTube, he served as senior vice-president of digital distribution for the Americas at Paramount Pictures.
Okosi is the driving force behind VIMN Africa, home to Viacom’s powerhouse entertainment brands MTV Base, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., NickToons, VH1 Classic and BET on the African continent.
Business moves
AdJoin Media welcomes Mail & Guardian to its programmatic publishing marketplace
AdJoin announced this week that it would be partnering with investigative digital news publication, Mail & Guardian.
Adjoin Media is a private audience marketplace, which aims to increase value for publishers by using data technology to re-package unsold inventory into more valuable audience segments. These audiences are sold across a network of publisher partners, which will now include M&G.
M&G will make use of AdJoin’s full product stack including Private Audience Marketplace, Premium Direct (which sees advertisers strictly interested in only M&G having the ability to purchase its inventory programmatically) and Yield Management – driving up value for all unsold inventory.
“Joining AdJoin’s ever-growing marketplace ticks a number of strategic boxes for us. Firstly, making the right data-driven audiences available to brands and agencies is critical to the evolution of the industry and it’s great to be part of that,” said Riaan Kriel, regional manager for M&G.
“Secondly, we are very excited to be one of the first local publishers to have our site’s premium inventory available using AdJoin’s programmatic direct site buy product. We understand that we need to make the process of purchasing M&G’s inventory easier for buyers and allow them to self-manage their campaigns,” Kriel went on to say.
Freedthinkers appoints Tribeca Public Relations
Freedthinkers, a strategic consultancy founded by Mike Freedman and Pippa Kapelus, has appointed Tribeca Public Relations to manage the communications of its three core competencies: In-depth market research; purpose-driven brand strategies and place-making expertise.
Within each of these areas, Freedman and Kapelus design processes that assist brands, organisations, districts, towns, municipalities as well as provincial and national governments to solve the challenge of sustainability. This enables its clients to appoint the right teams to implement organisational strategies, facilitate change management and find clarity where there’s chaos.
“In the past, we have primarily relied on word of mouth and repeat business to grow our consultancy. To add to this, we have appointed Tribeca to further expand our business into new sectors by leveraging effective public relations activity,” says Freedman.
“Tribeca has built a deep experience and knowledge of helping consultancies talk to the people important to their businesses, built through our work with clients like Retroviral, Platinum Seed, 10th Street Media and Franklin Covey, among others,” says Nicky James, co-owner of Tribeca Public Relations.
Uber Kenya pitch picked up by Hellocomputer, FCB Cape Town, FCB East Africa
Hellocomputer Cape Town along with FCB Cape Town and FCB East Africa, all three agencies within the FCB Africa fold, have successfully landed an Uber Kenya project after a swift yet effective pitch process.
The collaborative group effort turned out to be a winning formula and the team will be going on to deliver an integrated campaign that is custom fit for the growing Nairobi market with the launch of a revolutionised product offering.
“We are thrilled to be working with Hellocomputer and FCB, and look forward to the upcoming campaigns,” said Uber general manager Sub-Saharan Africa, Alon Lits.
“The combined team is excited to work with the innovative technology company that has shaken up the personal transport industry the world over,” added Hellocomputer Cape Town’s MD, Robyn Campbell.
“Uber’s bold expansion plans into Africa are incredibly exciting and we are thrilled to be a part of helping solve local sustained adoption in this emerging territory. Let’s roll, Nairobi!”
South African Fashion Week & ZAlebs Partner Up
What is hot in South Africa? Please ask ZAlebs, one of the most popular websites and brands for the young, the fashionable and the cool in the nation. With a focus on lifestyle and celebrity news, fashion, music and events, it is only logical ZAlebs is now one of the official partners for SAFW in the promotion of their Autumn and Winter 2017/2018 event.
“We are very excited about this collaboration and the two brands are a great fit. We can offer our audience exclusive, behind-the-scenes insights and interviews with starring fashion designers, as well as the chance to win tickets to shows and other prizes. We help raise awareness of the event, the shows and collections, as well as drive traffic to the site for SAFW to generate sales. This is the biggest style event in the country and as it is a returning event, we hope this is the beginning of a lasting partnership.” says Mauro Black, managing director of ZAlebs.
The interest of ZAlebs’ following in fashion is certainly there. Pieces on style trends and ‘Who wore it best’ get top reach and engagement numbers among its 10 million fans and followers on the site and social media. The partnering this time will entail ZAlebs coverage on interviews, running of competitions for the audience to win tickets to fashion tickets and fashion accessories, social media coverage and distribution, as well as programmatic advertising for the event.
Magnetic Storm now 51% black-owned
Magnetic Storm, an events and audio visual company, is now 51% black-owned following a transaction with local black private equity company, Engeli Enterprise Development (Pty) Ltd and the Unity in Africa Foundation.
Engeli is a verified Black Private Equity Fund Manager (in terms of the Amended BBBEE Codes) and looks to enrich the businesses it partners using its diverse skills, knowledge and network of strategic alliances. Part of the shareholding is with Unity in Africa Foundation, an organisation that assists black youth, focusing on education and development, including the Incubating Great Engineering Minds (IGEMS) programme to produce young black engineers.
On the shareholding, Magnetic Storm CEO Glenn van Eck says: “This transaction will undoubtedly have a positive impact on our business. For many years, we have been dedicated to implementing BEE strategies through the various pillars and have now taken the step of equity to embrace it holistically.
“Finding the right partner was imperative, and we are pleased to support a local enterprise, and in particular black youth through the Unity in Africa Foundation.”
In addition to the change in shareholding, Magnetic Storm has increased its senior leadership team in order to fuel further business growth and development.
Tamara Bekker has been appointed as head of client service, and Gary Billson has made an internal move to head of technical services.
Turner partners with Africa Animation Network for FupiToons
Turner has partnered with Africa Animation Network (AAN) for the FupiToons Film Festival, Africa’s first ‘made in Africa’ animated film festival aimed at kids two to 12-years-old, hosted in partnership with Ster-Kinekor. Turner will premiere its four Cartoon Network Imagination Studios shorts at the FupiToons Film Festival which will run parallel to DISCOP Johannesburg 2017, taking place from 26th – 29th October 2017.
Cartoon Network’s Imagination Studios, a drawing contest run in April 2017, was created to inspire, motivate and celebrate the wild imaginations of children between the ages of six and 12-years-old, allowing them to conceptualise and create their very own Cartoon Network friendly character duo, similar to the ones found on Cartoon Network. The first place competition winners, from each of the four categories, will now get to see their animated creations premiere at the FupiToons Film Festival before appearing live on TV on Cartoon Network across Africa this December
Making moves
Huawei South Africa receives Top Employers Certification
ICT company Huawei South Africa has been certified as one the country’s Top Employers by the Top Employers Institute for the second year in a row in recognition of its exceptional employee offerings.
This acknowledgement comes at a time when the company is on a recruitment drive at the country’s top universities. The company says with youth unemployment at a record high according to official statistics, it is committed to empowering youth to enter the formal job market.
Huawei’s Southern Africa Principal HR Manager, Rochelle John (left), who accepted the award on behalf of the company said, “Receiving this accreditation affirms that Huawei’s core values are being lived throughout our work environment on a daily basis. These values are aimed at inspiring dedication, perseverance, customer centricity and growth through reflection.”
JCDecaux advances in digital out-of-home in Tanzanian, Mozambican and Zambian markets
JCDecaux sub-Saharan Africa has introduced a new digital format in the African market – Digital Video Walls. DOOH advertising has enjoyed exponential growth in recent years globally.
The global advertising sector is primarily driven by the adaption of digital and marketers are continuously opting for DOOH for better brand recognition and penetration to consumers.
JCDecaux has strengthened its offerings with the launch of digital video walls in Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia airports. These digital video walls are equipped with the latest and advanced technology available in the market.
Vodacom to live stream Zahara album launch
Vodacom and Warner Music have secured exclusive streaming rights to multi-award winning Afrosoul singer Zahara’s album launch happening at The Good Luck Bar on the 20 October 2017 at 7pm. This is her much awaited fourth studio album entitled ‘Mgodi’.
The album launch will be broadcast exclusively through View+. Vodacom View+ is an events service within Vodacom live! and operated by Mondia Media, that enable customers the option to stream, both live and past events directly on their devices. The product will be the one stop shop for the customer’s full event’s needs, be it watching live or delayed, in part or in full. Catch it here: https://live.vodacom.co.za/s/zQsc
“Live streaming is the future of our industry and continues to gain prominence. It is a trend that businesses and marketers can’t ignore. Whether you use it for product demos, customer service, brand awareness or simply entertainment, live streaming is becoming the new norm,” said Ashraff Paruk, managing executive for Vodacom.
Brand SA, FCB Africa finalists in 2017 City Nation Place Awards
Brand South Africa and its marketing partner, FCB Africa, have achieved finalist status in the 2017 City Nation Place Awards, an international competition benchmarking and celebrating best practice in place branding vision.
The competition attracts entries from place marketing boards, mayoral teams, tourism promotion agencies, foreign direct investors (FDIs) and economic development boards, and the communication consultancies who are working with them.
Competing in the Best Expression of Place Identity Through Design category, the Brand South Africa/FCB Africa team go up against Interbrand (which entered Courmayeur), Eindhoven 365 (which entered Eindhoven), Visit Jackson (for Jackson) and Binsfled-Vidalegloesener (for Luxembourg).
According to general manager for marketing, Sithembile Ntombela, the campaign achieving finalist status was conceptualised and rolled out to deliver one core message: “South Africa is an attractive, viable, world-class investment destination for investors, traders and tourists. And it’s open for business.”
New Media wins gold in New York
New Media was awarded gold for VISI, the agency’s own design and décor title at the prestigious Folio’s 2017 Eddie & Ozzie Awards Luncheon in New York City on Wednesday.
Issue 88 won the Eddie in the category Consumer – Full Issue – Shelter/Home/Garden and Issue 89 received honourable mention in the same category. “The Eddies & Ozzies Awards celebrate editorial and digital excellence in magazine publishing and we are so delighted that the title continues to be acknowledged on an international stage,” says Editor-in-Chief Sumien Brink.
Woolworths TASTE picked up honourable mentions in the Custom – Overall use of Social Media (Eddies Digital) category, as well as the Custom — Full Issue – 6 or more issues (Eddies) for the Jan/Feb 2017 issue.
The commemorative M-Net 30th Birthday Book also got an honourable mention in the Custom Standalone Digital Magazine: Fewer than 6 Issues [Eddies Digital].
McCain South Africa awarded The President’s Safety Awards
McCain South Africa’s Springs Plant has been awarded with the President’s Safety Award this year. This award is recognition for safety excellence as well as commitment to the global safety principles.
The President’s Award is a reward for safety and achieving a total incident rate of 0.70 and below. For McCain Spring Plant, they had to prepare and create continuous awareness at the plant for the award. They ran a safety campaign where the top 10 risks in the plants and farms were identified. They had a topic on each of the risks every month and they would give awareness and buy-in sessions for their employees. Incentives were given to employees that attended all sessions.
“We are very excited to have achieved our goals and win The President’s award for this year. This award is awarded annually and it is a global achievement. McCain South Africa is committed to the safety of our employees, contractors and visitors. Safety is the direct responsibility of each one of us,” says Deolinda Da Costa, Marketing Manager of McCain South Africa.
