David Droga to headline Design Indaba Conference 2019. New appointments at Ogilvy. Radisson Hotel Group appoints Frederic Feijs as regional director, Francophone Africa & Egypt. Zoona CMO to invest in women. Maximising the impact of Jeanette Minnie’s legacy. Hoorah ramps up ecommerce capabilities with acquisition of Durban-based Tenzing Agency. Havas wins the Blue Train account. One-Eyed Jack wins Jameson, Olmeca and Altos PR accounts. New PR book ‘transcends media relations, social platforms & content creation’ with practical career advice. UAE Exchange rebrands its Africa operations as Unimoni. Livity Africa rebrands to Digify Africa to strengthen digital vocational training. Living digital archive that would do Nelson Mandela proud southafrica.co.za launches on centenary of Madiba’s birth. Alteram Solutions opens its doors to new interns.
Africa.com acquires iAfrica.com
Africa.com has completed its acquisition of iAfrica.com, South Africa’s oldest, news portal from South African media giant, Primedia (Pty) Ltd and telecoms powerhouse, MTN (Pty) Ltd. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
iAfrica was founded in the late 1990s, and remains one of South Africa’s most recognized brands as a highly credible news source, providing an unbiased, South African view on local and global current events. Africa.com Chairman and CEO, Teresa Clarke, will serve as executive editor of iAfrica, whose content will continue to include a wide array of coverage of local and international news, business, sport, and lifestyle content.
The acquisition builds on Africa.com’s strength in running the news site at www.africa.com, and the Africa.com Business Publishers Network, a group of nearly 50 business content publishers on the continent who have joined Africa.com to create a digital audience of over fifteen million influential business people.
“The acquisition of iAfrica creates a next generation South African media platform with a global reach,” said Clarke. “By acquiring iAfrica, we are able to combine editorial, technology, and marketing resources, bringing the benefits of more original content and better site performance to readers of both iAfrica and Africa.com.
Internet services with the @iafrica.com email address will continue to be operated by MWEB, a division of Internet Solutions Digital (Pty) Ltd
People moves
Vizeum CPT appoints a new managing director
Vizeum SA has announced the appointment of Anne Van Rensburg. Starting on the 2nd of July 2018, Van Rensburg’s new role involve taking on the leadership of Vizeum Cape Town as managing director. She will assist Kelvin Storie (group managing director Vizeum) in the growth of Vizeum Cape Town and further strengthening the leadership team across the Vizeum SA portfolio.
Van Rensburg has worked with clients that span local to global brands and encompass FMCG, healthcare, liquor, food, clothing and automotive. Most recently, she headed up UM Cape Town as managing director. Prior experience included being acting media director at Carat, media director at The Jupiter Drawing Room as well as media director at Young & Rubicam.
“I’m delighted to be part of an agency that places culture and people at the heart of the business. I find the ethos of respect, ambition and talent combined with the quality of our Vizeum capabilities particularly inspiring. There is boundless energy within Vizeum and infectious enthusiasm amongst the team, it’s impossible not to be excited about the road ahead,” she said.
David Droga to headline Design Indaba Conference 2019
Global advertising superstar David Droga will take centre stage at the renowned Design Indaba Conference, running from Wednesday 27 February to Friday 01 March 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa. Droga is the founder and chairman of Droga5, a multiple award-winning agency based in New York, US, that ranks among the top 10 advertising and marketing companies in the world. Droga himself is the advertising industry’s most awarded creative, having scooped the highest number of awards of any creative at the Cannes Lions festival.
For the role he has played in elevating the stature of brands like Google, Under Armour, The New York Times and Chase (one of the US’s largest banks), Droga became the youngest ever recipient of the 2017 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity’s Lion of St. Mark, the festival’s award for outstanding contribution to the creative industry.
Droga is lauded as much for his craft, work ethic and leadership as he is for his loyalty, sincerity and willingness to take calculated risks. He states, “When your peers think you are great, you are good. When you do good for people who don’t know you, then you are great.”
“Our job is to move people and do extraordinary things,” said Droga, encapsulating the Design Indaba ethos – A Better World Through Creativity – perfectly.
New appointments at Ogilvy
Ogilvy has announced three new senior appointments that deepen the client-centric approach at the recently re-founded agency.
Luca Gallarelli was appointed MD of the Ogilvy Group, while Vicki Buys takes over as MD of the Ogilvy Cape Town operation and Tassin Albertyn becomes head of delivery.
New Ogilvy Group MD Gallarelli was instrumental in driving the agency’s Next Chapter journey during his five years as MD at Ogilvy Cape Town, implementing a more agile business model that removed duplication and addressed clients’ broader business needs.
Ogilvy Cape Town MD Vicki Buys has served as managing partner and deputy managing director at Ogilvy, and has been a board member since 2013. She also worked closely with Gallarelli to shape and implement the agency’s Next Chapter philosophy. Buys has long been responsible for Ogilvy’s relationship with Volkswagen SA. Ogilvy’s VW account has been consistently awarded, winning two Silver Lions and a Bronze in Cannes this year.
New head of delivery Tassin Albertyn comes to Ogilvy from Old Mutual, where she was lead digital project/programme manager and responsible for managing project stakeholders, digital operations, and project and programme planning, among other disciplines.
“These appointments strengthen Ogilvy’s ability to put client needs at the centre of what we do,” said Ogilvy South Africa CEO Alistair Mokoena. “This client-centric philosophy is geared to ensuring our client brands matter to their audiences, and that they retain remain culturally relevant at all times,” he said.
Zoona CMO to invest in women
Chief marketing officer and shareholder at Zoona, Lelemba Phiri, has announced that she will be leaving Zoona at the end of September 2018 after six and a half strong growth years to pursue opportunities to empower and invest in women.
Lelemba has held various positions in the company, across Zoona offices in Zambia, South Africa and Malawi and has played a key role in building the brand across the region. She was at the helm of the Zambian financial services company during some of its most important growth phases and was instrumental in expanding the business into the Malawian market.
She has led key initiatives within the company that drove for gender balance both within the leadership teams and within their agent and teller networks. This included key initiatives as the The ‘Girl Effect’ Empowerment Programme that saw the company proactively working with community leaders in Zambia to identify young women with high potential from poor communities and recruit them to become part of the Zoona teller network. The young women were further up-skilled with business, finance and technology skills.
Phiri will remain a shareholder and director at Zoona, and will still support the company’s strategic direction in its key markets and help strengthen the leadership teams and their networks locally and regionally.
Maximising the impact of Jeanette Minnie’s legacy
What’s the maximum impact one person can have on media and media freedom in a country, a region, a continent? Jeanette Minnie dedicated her life to advancing media in southern Africa. The late Jeanette worked as an individual, in coalitions, in the jobs she held, and in the manner she worked with others to create change.
The impact of her work is difficult to quantify. Fifteen percent of a policy that supports media freedom? Two percent improvement in the functioning of an organisation in which she was a board member?
Whatever the impact, it is set to grow with the Jeannette Minnie Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) entitled Civil Society and African Media Policy in the Digital Age. The videos for the course have now been filmed and the team is working on exciting interactive exercises and case studies from different African countries.
Paula Fray, managing director of frayintermedia, said, “We are fast moving towards the launch of this free course and getting more and more excited about the impact this course can have on media policy in Africa.”
The filming of instructors discussing key media policy elements was concluded in the Wits Centre for Learning and Teaching Development (CLTD) studio. The expert facilitators are Prof Justine Limpitlaw (Wits), Zoe Titus (Namibia Media Trust), Dr Sarah Chiumbu (UJ), Koketso Moeti (Amandla.mobi), and Paula Fray (frayintermedia).
“The instructors really did a good job of simplifying key media concepts, while making it clear how to create change in media policy” said Fray.
The course was initiated by top media policy experts –Guy Berger (UNESCO Director of Freedom of Expression and Media Development), Zoe Titus (Former director of the Media Institute of Southern Africa regional), Prof Justine Limpitlaw (Electronic communications lawyer, Visiting Adjunct Professor, Wits), Dr Chris Armstrong (Visiting Fellow, Wits), Hendrik Bussiek (journalist and international media policy advisor), together with Jeanette’s widower, Pierre Minnie.
The project is a partnership between the Learning Information Networking Centre (Link) at Wits, and CLTD at Wits with research and project communications support by frayintermedia.
Let us know if you want to be notified about course launch
Radisson Hotel Group appoints Frederic Feijs as regional director, Francophone Africa & Egypt
Radisson Hospitality AB, publicly listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, Sweden and part of Radisson Hotel Group, has appointed Frederic Feijs as regional director for North Africa & Egypt with immediate effect.
Feijs rejoins Radisson Hotel Group, where he started his career in the hospitality industry in 1998, at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel Brussels. Since then he has held leadership positions across multiple countries and continents until his most recent position as regional general manager in French Polynesia.
Now he assumes responsibility for the group’s presence in Francophone Africa and Egypt and will play a key role in the evolution of the brand in these markets. Feijs will be based at the Radisson Hotel Group’s Area Support Office in Dubai.
Tim Cordon, area senior vice president, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Radisson Hotel Group, said: “I am thrilled to announce Frederic’s appointment as he assumes responsibility for some of our key territories in Africa, one of Radisson Hotel Group’s core growth markets.”
Business moves
Hoorah ramps up ecommerce capabilities with acquisition of Durban-based Tenzing Agency
Digital media consultancy Hoorah has acquired Tenzing Agency, a Durban-based design and development agency, as it looks to build out its ecommerce capabilities.
Founded earlier this year by four veterans of the South African digital space, Hoorah has made significant strides since launching. Having won accounts, including that of the World Wildlife Foundation for Nature (WWF) in South Africa, before it officially launched, the digital media consultancy recently sold an equity stake to The Odd Number, with whom it won the Nedbank digital account.
The relationship between Hoorah and Tenzing Agency started when the Durban-based company was approached to help Hoorah achieve its vision for the WWF’s revamped ecommerce offering at www.wwfstore.com.
It was in the midst of this project that the Hoorah team realised that the talent embedded in Tenzing could help it provide an end-to-end commerce solution for its clients.
While the South African online retail space remains relatively small, it is growing. Hoorah hopes to help clients capitalise on that growth by using targeted media to drive customers to online stores that look good and work well.
“At Hoorah, we’re all about producing real business results for our clients,” said Hoorah CSO and co-founder Jay Thomson. “The work we did with Tenzing on the WWF store brought home how important ecommerce can be in producing those results”.
Havas wins the Blue Train account
Havas Southern Africa recently won a multi-year contract with The Blue Train to become its full-service marketing and communications agency partner in South Africa. The iconic South African ‘Blue Jewel’, as the luxury train is affectionately known, joins the Havas stable after being without an agency for more than a decade.
“Coming out winners from what was a thorough tender process was one of our shining moments this year. It is testament to the talent and dedication of our integrated team across the board. We are so very proud, and very excited to be embarking on this journey with The Blue Train,” said Lynn Madeley, CEO of Havas Southern Africa.
“Handling such an iconic brand is more than just work – it’s a responsibility to South Africa because the success of this partnership impacts the bottom line of a business South Africa is invested in. For over 65 years, The Blue Train has redefined and finessed ultimate rail luxury, winning numerous global awards that cement its reputation. It is a challenge we are up for, to carry on that legacy of excellence and continue elevating the ways in which the brand comes to life across many communication touchpoints,” she said.
Havas will handle all marketing and communications activities, from strategy to creative, PR and digital. The integrated team will support the strategic move to reposition the brand and support its existence as a business unit within the Transnet umbrella.
One-Eyed Jack wins Jameson, Olmeca and Altos PR accounts
Specialist marketing and communications agency, One-eyed Jack, has been appointed by Pernod Ricard SA (PRSA) to manage the public relations and influencer engagement for Jameson Irish Whiskey.
The agency was invited to a three-way pitch and won the business through its creative ideas, solid understanding of the Jameson brand, track record and passion for the work, said Daryl Dixon, marketing manager for Irish Whiskey and Tequila at PRSA.
Off the back of the strength of the Jameson pitch, PRSA also awarded One-eyed Jack both the Olmeca and Altos tequila PR accounts. Furthermore, Ballantine’s Scotch Whisky has re-appointed the agency for a third year, bringing to four the number of brands within PRSA that One-eyed Jack works across.
New PR book ‘transcends media relations, social platforms & content creation’ with practical career advice
Veteran PR consultant Ivan Booth has released a new book aimed at providing prospective publicists with illuminating information about the industry. Current PRs, too, will benefit from unique career insights spread over 29 chapters described by one reviewer as ‘so readable, so practical and so enjoyable.’
The Publicist’s Playbook is no staid textbook littered with endless definitions of public relations from obscure organisations. “The phrase ‘reputation management’ does not appear in the book because it is focused on tangible, operational tactics that can immediately be employed by PR practitioners at the media coalface,” explained Booth.
“This is good advice that has helped me consistently generate real exposure for my clients over 21 years while so many of my PR peers have fallen by the wayside, victims of their inability to walk the talk,” says Booth. “Times are tough and clients want plenty of positive coverage, week after week, not lofty PR strategies that cost them a fortune and deliver very little in the way of actual news coverage and credible social media exposure.
Available on Amazon.com in both Kindle and Paperback Editions, The Publicist’s Playbook’ is described as ‘transcending media relations, social platforms and content creation’ with valuable operational nuggets that pepper the book throughout.
UAE Exchange rebrands its Africa operations as Unimoni
UAE Exchange, a leading global money transfer, foreign exchange and payment solutions brand, announced the rebranding of its Africa operations as Unimoni. The announcement was made by Promoth Manghat, Executive Director of Finablr and Group CEO, at an event held in Nairobi, Kenya, in the presence of dignitaries, partners and other guests.
Short for ‘Universal Money’, the new brand Unimoni reflects the company’s aspirations to strengthen its global presence and provide a broader spectrum of innovative financial services to its customers. Following the announcement, Unimoni will be launched across Botswana, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, subject to regulatory approvals. As part of its Africa growth strategy, Unimoni plans to be present in 14 African markets by the year 2020, and has developed a healthy pipeline of digital payment solutions designed to cater to the specific needs of the African customers.
Making moves
Livity Africa rebrands to Digify Africa to strengthen digital vocational training
In seven years, Livity Africa, trained over 85 000 people in digital skills and content development and launched over 500 careers through various training programmes. With the primary target being the youth, these professionals have come to create sustainable livelihoods for themselves, evading the scourge of poverty altogether for themselves and their families. Taking into account the efficacy of this training model, especially among the youth and partner organisations in South Africa and beyond, Livity Africa has announced that it is rebranding, to become Digify Africa.
Speaking on the rebrand, founder and managing director of Digify Africa, Gavin Weale, said, “This rebrand is really a consolidation of our purpose, to align better with who we have evolved to become and where we are headed as a social enterprise. Looking at our strategic direction as an organisation, it is in ‘Digify Africa’ that we find a clearer expression of what drives us and motivates us daily. And it is in the knowledge that for Africa to take advantage of the fourth industrial revolution, we need to get ‘digified’ to close the digital divide. Our mission is to do this by equipping young people with digital skills so that they can create and sustain their own livelihoods”.
The rebrand process will happen over the next two months, with Livity Africa making way for Digify Africa. All brand touchpoints will reflect this newer, fresher, and actualised brand. Digify Africa will continue to lead, in the same vein as Livity Africa, an impassioned intervention that meet the demands and challenges of the South African socio-economic landscape.
Living digital archive that would do Nelson Mandela proud southafrica.co.za launches on centenary of Madiba’s birth
South Africans have good reason to celebrate as the digital living archive southafrica.co.za launches with content about South Africa’s collective heritage in 11 official languages.
As an innovative nation building, educational and brand promotion web based tool, the free-to-view platform features award-winning photographic and written content by leading South African photographers, authors, academics and photojournalists. The emphasis is on quality, credible, factual content that celebrates our collective heritage in terms of the following: Cultural Heritage; Natural Heritage; Education; History; Agriculture; Industry; Mining; and Travel.
Southafrica.co.za Founder and CEO Hans Gerrizen conceptualised southafrica.co.za as an ideal means for, not least, South African Millennials and communities from outlying areas to benefit from the digital age in terms of the web tool’s empowering educational component.
Southafrica.co.za, with sister company Siyabona Africa, is the organiser and sponsor of the Mandela: 100 Moments photographic exhibition that runs until 30 September at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront based Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island. The three-month exhibition, which runs daily from 08h00 until 15h00, showcases one hundred iconic Nelson Mandela images as taken by veteran South African photojournalist and self-taught lensman, 86-year-old Dr Peter Magubane. Concurrent to the physical exhibition is its online equivalent.
Contributors include, in no particular order: Dr Peter Magubane; Professor Sandra Klopper; Joe Latakgomo; Benjamin Pogrund; Raymond Louw; Leonie Joubert; Andile Bhala; Eric Miller; David Bristow; Justin Fox; Professor Nigel Penn; Roger and Pat de la Harpe; Peter Delaney; Rodger Bosch; Marian Shinn; Professor Lee Berger; Brett Hilton-Barber; Jacques Marais; Johan Boshoff; Jean Tresfon; David Fleminger; Megan Emmett; Tracey Derrick; Robert Hofmeyr; Nigel Dennis; Chris Daly; Chris du Plessis; Jo-Anne Smetherham; Carol Lazar; Karoline Steenekamp; and Shem Compion. On board as specialist agricultural journalists are: Louise Brodie; Glenneis Kriel; and Marinda Louw.
Alteram Solutions opens its doors to new interns
Alteram Solutions has welcomed its newest interns. This is the company’s second internship programme since 2015/2016, which currently employs 20 interns. The internship programme is aimed at providing these enthusiastic individuals with Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills and experience that will help equip them for the world of business. The interns will be granted an opportunity to really learn what is expected of them when they are representing the company
“As a services company, our employees are the only asset we have to sell. We are thus always looking for ways to improve our skills and service offerings. Growing a successful business is all about having a good business mind, combined with a strong skill set in a particular area of expertise,” says Garth Madella, chief technology officer at Alteram Solutions
The company’s growth has been strengthened by employee development as new ideas, solutions, techniques and strategies are continuously being developed in the business.
Diary
A date with the Brand Builders
BUSY CORNER Imbizo Shisanyama, in strategic partnership with Idea Power, a dynamic creative consultancy, is hosting the much anticipated ‘A Date with The Brand Builders’ on Saturday, 28 July 2018 at its widely acclaimed African cuisine restaurant in Midrand, where guests will enjoy an interactive branding building workshop and be treated to an authentic African Shisanyama lunch.
Three of South Africa’s most dynamic brand building veterans are joining forces and will be sharing valuable insights into what it takes to create and build a legacy brand in our country today.
Trendsetter in ‘powerful township brand building’ Kyle Rolfe, an experienced South African brand engineer and the founder of Idea Power will share his insights and analysis on ‘why now is the best time to build an African brand’.
Rita Zwane, founding pioneer of the Shisanyama sector and founder of BUSY CORNER Imbizo Shisanyama, is excited to be part of the programme and passionately explains the workshop’s primary objective: “Our democracy is no longer a child but at over 20 years old is a young adult. It’s vital that the issue of sustainable economic legacy creation be strongly addressed through the empowerment of brands that will particularly afford township-grown businesses an opportunity to participate in the entire value chain system.”
An interactive interview session with Itumeleng Mpatlanyana, the serial brand builder who birthed the widely successful Nkukhu-Box brand specifically for the Kasi market, is also planned.
Seats are limited and pre-booking essential – https://qkt.io/JrTrWp
AfricaCom launches FREE headliner conference tracks with world-class speaker line-up
Whether your focus is connectivity infrastructure, disruptive technologies, digital services or ICT strategy, AfricaCom 2018 – 13 to 15 November at the CTICC in Cape Town, South Africa – will be the place to be to shape Africa’s digital future.
AfricaCom in 2018, turns 21 and will be bigger and better than ever, taking into account the ever increasing influence of technology on everyday lives. As a result, several new features will be launched this year. As always though, the world’s largest Africa-focused technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) event, will offer visitors and delegates the prospect to discover and conclude business opportunities, as well as network with some of the most progressive minds in the sector.
More than 30 of these thought-leaders, over three days, will advance the conversation around Africa’s digital transformation through a series of expert sessions – the AfricaCom Headliners – which are free of charge to all registered visitors this year.
With greater connectivity comes greater responsibility and a requirement for new business models to address this latest era of communications. As the conduit for all this connectivity, telcos will need to explore how they can connect the next 1 billion and unlock the true value of Africa’s digital transformation – beyond the commercial.
AfricaCom 2018 will bring together 14 000 attendees, 450 speakers and 400 exhibitors showcasing technologies and solutions covering everything from 5G, AI, IoT, Fintech, Blockchain and beyond, with a host of new content and exciting developments.
To register for your free visitor ticket, purchase a delegate pass or find out more about AfricaCom 2018 click here.
