The Media Online’s weekly round up of moves in media. ECR Breakfast team makes KZN radio history. De Leur promoted to group marketing manager at Peermont. Chief Investment Officer appointed to AEEI main board. Tiso Blackstar’s launches new ‘how-to’ Money Guides. Castle Free new sponsor of Blitzboks, the SA Women’s Sevens and the SA Sevens Academy teams. Dalmatian tops off new business streak with Protea Hotels by Marriott win. Weber Shandwick opens Kenyan office to meet growing communication needs in Africa. Burson-Marsteller Africa partners with Reputation Matters across Africa. Newsclip launches social media solution. Free top drawer series content added to PrideTV. AU Commission endorses African Public Relations Association Conference. AutoTrader is SA’s leading auto marketplace. Young talent blazing a trail at CBR Productions.
This week’s FUN move: ECR Breakfast team makes KZN radio history
It’s not every day that radio presenters get to call themselves music video stars too. But East Coast Breakfast’s Darren Maule, Keri Miller and Sky Tshabalala can do just that after featuring in well-known Durban artist Aewon Wolf’s latest music video.
The track ‘Feelings’ by Aewon Wolf, featuring Garde and Earl Evans, dropped this week Monday and the video was released yesterday. While the track could well be the next big hit, the video will certainly leave you laughing thanks to acting by the East Coast Breakfast team.
So what did the ECR trio make of the experience? Maule, who has experience behind the camera says, “It’s really great to be back in the movie making business.” Miller quips, “I had the best time, wish they had told me the wine was a prop.” Meanwhile Tshabalala admits, “It took a long time and showbiz isn’t what you think it is. But hopefully the chicks dig it.”
If you’d like to see the Breakfast team making KZN radio history, catch the video here:
People moves
De Leur promoted to group marketing manager at Peermont
Sharon De Leur, who was formerly, Emperors Palace marketing manager, has now been promoted to Peermont Group marketing manager.
Chief Investment Officer appointed to AEEI main board
JSE-listed African Equity Empowerment Investments Limited (AEEI), a diversified investment and empowerment company has announced the appointment of Abdul Malick Salie as an executive director to the AEEI Limited Board, in the capacity of chief investment officer (CIO) with immediate effect.
Salie, a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA) SA has more than 15 years’ experience holding numerous directorships in the financial and IT sectors. He brings expertise in commercial and financial disciplines and has been working as the head of corporate finance at the AEEI Group for more than five years.
Having previously served in various operational and financial roles in multinational groups such as Vodacom, Pioneer Foods and the Media 24 Group, Salie also has extensive experience in audit and regulatory environments both locally and internationally.
Business moves
Castle Free new sponsor of Blitzboks, the SA Women’s Sevens and the SA Sevens Academy teams
Castle Free is the new headline sponsor of the Blitzboks, the SA Women’s Sevens and the SA Sevens Academy teams. The scandal-ridden Steinhoff was previously the Blitzboks’ sponsor.
“This deal is part of our continued partnership with SA Breweries over many years,” said SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux. The company has been involved in sponsoring other national teams and is currently the title sponsor to all of the Boks’ competitions and tours.
“We are delighted to have Castle Free as the brand associated with our championship-winning Blitzboks. Castle Free was first launched at the Cape Town Sevens tournament last year, so the power and potential of a partnership with the Blitzboks and SA Rugby was a natural next step. The Springbok Sevens team is on a journey of inspiring the nation and SA Breweries have always done the same.”
The Castle Free logo will appear on the front of the Blitzboks’ jerseys from this weekend’s Las Vegas Sevens.
Tiso Blackstar’s launches new ‘how to’ Money Guides
Tiso Blackstar has extended its Money personal finance offering by delivering a series of Money Guides that act as “how to” resources on a variety of topics impacting the financial well-being of South African consumers.
Laura du Preez, editor of Money, says the Money Guides deliver a new way for personal finance content to be presented to readers, with information that is relevant, accessible, and easy-to-use. “The content serves as reference point for consumers who need step-by-step guidance to improve their financial literacy and make better informed decisions when purchasing financial products and services.”
Reardon Sanderson, GM sales and marketing at Tiso Blackstar Group, says: “The useful content provided in the Money Guides has attracted the support of brands who have realised benefits in reaching South African consumers with sound guidance around their financial decision making.”
Tiso Blackstar Money has already partnered with 10X Investments for the publication of the Money Guide to Retirement, as well as Discovery for the Money Guide to Investment. Numerous additional Money Guides are already in the pipeline.
Dalmatian tops off new business streak with Protea Hotels by Marriott win
Dalmatian has been awarded the Protea Hotels by Marriott advertising account. The new account gain was the outcome of a hotly contested, three-way pitch and consolidates a particularly successful business acquisition phase for the agency.
Commenting on the new business, Dalmatian MD, Gabrielle Weinstein, said, “It is a huge privilege to work on one of South Africa’s most loved brands and we are particularly motivated by the incredible communication opportunities that exist within the hospitality business. We look forward to creating work that demands attention and contributes to the positive growth of this iconic hotel group.
The Protea Hotels by Marriott win adds to Dalmatian’s recent new business haul, which includes the likes of Boschendal and the Norval Foundation.
Weber Shandwick opens Kenyan office to meet growing communication needs in Africa
Weber Shandwick, a global communications and engagement firm, has opened a fully owned office in Nairobi, Kenya, to meet growing demand from domestic and multinational companies for marketing and communications expertise in the region.
This new presence builds on the firm’s existing commitment to African markets through its headquarters in Johannesburg, and its affiliates and partners on the continent. The office will act as hub for East Africa and allow the firm to execute pan-Africa client programs that reach across the region.
Allan Kamau has been appointed managing director, Weber Shandwick East Africa, to lead the new office. Previously Kamau was head of Portland Communication’s Nairobi office.
Burson-Marsteller Africa partners with Reputation Matters across Africa
Burson-Marsteller Africa has announced a partnership with leading reputation research firm, Reputation Matters. Through the partnership, Burson-Marsteller Africa will enhance its reputation management offering across its network of partners and affiliates spanning 52 countries in Africa.
“Today clients are more conscientious about their reputation, especially with the growth of social media and easier access to information,” said Robyn de Villiers, chairman and CEO of Burson-Marsteller Africa. “There has been a real shift towards reputation building and crisis management, and putting in place strategic long-term plans. Our partnership with Reputation Matters will help us to ensure that our communications are built on a solid, evidence-based foundation.”
Regine le Roux, MD of Reputation Matters, said she was looking forward to working with the Burson-Marsteller team. “This partnership links with our vision at Reputation Matters of expanding our established operations from South Africa, right across the continent, and aligning with the best in the business,” she said “Respect, growth and authenticity are the three core values that drive us and we see these principles at work in the way Burson-Marsteller conduct its business as well.”
Making moves
Newsclip launches social media solution
Marketers and PR professionals often have to use many different tools in order to track the media coverage they receive in print publications, broadcasts, online articles and social media platforms.
Newsclip Media Monitoring now makes it possible for these teams to get all their media coverage, from traditional press coverage to mentions of their brand on social media, in a single, online destination.
“Monitoring all media channels, including social, is vital for brands that want to build their reputation and measure the return on investment of their marketing spend,” explains Catherine Dabbs, a representative of Newsclip. “To achieve this, monitoring services have to offer businesses a comprehensive, in-depth view of their brand’s image and robust reporting tools.”
In line with this business requirement, Newsclip is offering brands more easy-to-download reports for deeper insights into their social media coverage – right from its media monitoring platform.
AdJoin Media re-positions pricing in 2018
It’s been almost two years since Adjoin launched as South Africa’s first data-driven, private audience marketplace and in just two short years the industry has evolved to such an extent that what seemed like cutting edge a few months ago, today feels antiquated.
A continued focus on brand safety, viewability, transparency, premium inventory, guaranteed programmatic, video, native, dynamic creative…, etc. all still sit firmly at the core of industry conversation and debate. To ignore these critical aspects of the ecosystem and their effect on buyer behaviour would be corporate suicide. AdJoin has listened and continues to work at getting all of these elements right while remaining competitive in a tough but positive economic climate.
“The reality is that we’re not only competing with other PMP’s but also a digital industry wrought with fraud and driven predominantly with a focus on ROI at all costs regardless of the effect that has on brand equity. It makes it challenging, but if we can show value to our clients while building a better environment for them to communicate in, then we’re certainly on the right path,” said Daniel Courtenay MD at AdJoin.
For this and a number of other reasons, AdJoin has decided to re-work its pricing strategy moving into the 2019 Fiscal. Where the baseline for buyers was R150CPM, agencies and brands are now able to access AdJoin’s private audiences starting at R60CPM; an almost two thirds reduction.
“This will of course incrementally increase based on format and more specific and valuable audiences, but we’re confident that for most brands there is value and scale at this R60 price point.”
“The idea is to eliminate the barrier to entry resulting from a new approach to programmatic media buying with the intention to drive quicker adoption on whatever level that may be. We want to show value to our buy-side clients resulting in long terms relationships and inherently more revenue value for our publisher partners”, says Courtenay.
Free top drawer series content added to PrideTV
PrideTV’s mission to offer Africa’s LGBTQ communities the very best Video-On-Demand programming continues with almost 120 new series episodes added to Africa’s only LGBTQ VOD channel.
“All of the dozens of new episodes added are entirely free to stream on PrideTV Freemium,” says PrideTV spokesperson, Joanne Raphael-Katz.
From ‘Carmilla’ to ‘Out With Dad’, the new series content offers top-notch LGBTQ content including outstanding comedies which are most welcome in today’s current affairs climate.
PrideTV Freemium complements PrideTV Premium. The former offers a no subscription, no commitment promise that complements the one-year old VOD channel’s subscription-based service where R79 per month buys unlimited access to titles anytime.
Prepaid and credit card payment options mean that PrideTV can be cancelled at any time enabling consumers to budget better due to no contract lock-in. Finally, PrideTV viewers receive better value for money because their viewing time is not diluted by commercials and viewers avoid endless repetitions.
AU Commission endorses African Public Relations Association Conference
The African Union Commission, (AUC) has endorsed the 30th edition of African Public Relations Association Conference tagged, APRA Botswana 2018. The deputy chairperson, H.E. Kwesi Quartey (left) made this known after accepting APRA’s invitation to be special guest of honour at the conference scheduled to take place 9-11 May 2018 in Gaborone, Botswana.
The AUC’s endorsement comes alongside several others from the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), International Communications Consultancy Organization (ICCO), Global Alliance, Public Relations Networks and National Associations across Africa. Notably, APRA Botswana 2018 will also feature the second edition of the SABRE Awards Africa for Excellence showcasing the best in public relations work from across the continent. This is organized in partnership with the renowned Holmes Report
APRA is the umbrella body for the practice of public relations in Africa. It is a non-governmental, non-profit organization established to foster unity via interaction and exchange of ideas among public relations practitioners in Africa as a whole, and through communication, promote social, political and economic integration on the continent.
AutoTrader is SA’s leading auto marketplace
AutoTrader recorded over 80 million page views across its websites and applications for the month of January. That’s 20 million more than the closest competitor. The auto classifieds site, which is also South Africa’s oldest online vehicle marketplace and brand, measures its progress by audience quality; focusing on the number of site visits that can be converted to actual car-shoppers that contact sellers.
With this in mind, the site is focusing on delivering even more quality audience and leads to car sellers across the country in 2018.
“During a period when global players boasting high reach audiences enter the market, results around the quality of audience attained are important to note. Marketplaces that deliver in-market buyers to advertisers are not only more lucrative for dealers but more time efficient for their sales teams,” AutoTrader CEO George Mienie explains.
Recent research by United States automotive publishers Cox Automotive shows that 83 percent of car buyers want to start their purchase journey online, but 89 percent want to sign documents and finalise the sale in a physical dealership. Auto websites that drive buyers to a dealership are meeting the needs of both buyers and dealers, who say walk-ins are the most valuable type of lead.
Sunglass Hut’s digital signage solution showcases its brand at premium store opening
Sunglass Hut recently opened their new premium store at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town and collaborated with Moving Tactics to implement a cutting-edge digital signage solution that created an awe-inspiring visual impact at the opening event.
As a leading fashion retailer, Sunglass Hut is committed to digital technology as a key component in creating a brand statement and novel ways of engaging with its customers.
The solution not only needed to be based on Sunglass Hut’s current digital signage platform but also required interactivity in addition to an outdoor digital LED wall. Moving Tactics created a massive outdoor LED wall that can be seen during the day and at night. In-store, two 75-inch screens and an interactive touch table was installed so that Sunglass Hut has the ability to interact directly with its customers.
Young talent blazing a trail at CBR Productions
CBR Productions is blazing a videographic trail on digital media with videos that are attracting the attention of big brand names locally and globally. Headed by Chace Geyer, executive producer, and Devin Risely, creative director, CBR Productions is growing fast, and is focused on producing top quality videos for its clients while developing promising young talent in the industry.
At the start, they were producing four or five videos per month, but demand grew rapidly and today they are turning out 40 to 50 videos per month.
The growth meant a need to increase the team. With the specific intention of giving young talent an opportunity to grow and thrive in the saturated video production sector, Geyer and Risely sought out young university graduates to join them on their steep growth path.
Their director of photography is just 22, the head of post-production is 25, the rest of the team (including Geyer and Risely) are under 30, and together they produce world-class work. Brands they have worked with include well-known brands such as Rimmel, Converse, Sunglass Hut, Edgars, The Foschini Group, Urban Art, Bidvest McCarthy, and more.
Says Risely, “In this sector, our youth is an asset, as the video industry is young and vibrant itself, fast-paced, evolving, and highly innovative. It has an energy that we thrive on.”
