The Media Online’s weekly round up of moves in media. Bold new leadership move for net#work BBDO. The Loeries appoints Tseliso Rangaka as new chairman. SABC News bids farewell to Thabile Ngwato. Dong-Ping Wong for Design Indaba. Tribeca Public Relations appointed to launch Ritual Gym. Tiso Blackstar launches #datafree app, SANewsLIVE, for mass-market reach. Alibaba Establishes Global E-Commerce Talent Programme in Rwanda. Dis-Chem Pharmacies announced as presenting partner of FIBO Global Fitness Africa. Old Mutual repositions its brand and readies for growth. #PAMRO2018 featuring a spectacular line-up of speakers.
This week’s BIG move: Thabo Mbeki for next Heavy Chef event
Former president Thabo Mbeki is one of the speakers at the next Heavy Chef event in Johannesburg. Being hosted at St Stithians, under the banner theme of Educating Africa, Mbeki will be joined by S’onqoba Maseko and Sam Paddock to discuss how the 4th Industrial Revolution is going to impact the education sector.
Heavy Chef’s Fred Roed – saying the line-up of speakers belonged on a TED stage – said they wanted Mbeki because of his contribution to intellectual engagement about Africa’s past, present and future. Sam Paddock formed one of the most impactful edtech startups on the African continent. S’onqoba Maseko is the founder of the Sifiso Learning Group.
They will also be announcing the launch of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation’s ‘Buy A Brick’ campaign. “What this means is that Heavy Chef is supporting the TMF’s quest to build the Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library, an African Centre of Excellence in learning, research and discourse for the transformation of Africa. Inspired in part by the John F. Kennedy Library and Clinton Library in the US, this building intends to become a ‘living library and museum’ for African youth,” the organisation said in a statement.
“When the building is completed, we’ll be able to access President Mbeki’s considerable collection of documents, books, photos and historical artifacts that has been amassed in Mbeki’s decades of service to the African continent. This new building will also re-energise the broad African Renaissance Movement aimed at contributing towards Africa claiming the 21st century.”
Tickets are R145 and early booking is advised.
People moves
Bold new leadership move for net#work BBDO
TRACE TV Southern Africa regional head – and former SABC executive – Leo Manne, is the new managing director of net#work BBDO, joining the recently stepped up “new#guard” of CEO, Boniswa Pezisa, and chief creative officer, Brad Reilly. With founding partner and former creative chief, Mike Schalit moving into a Cheerman/Careman ‘not chairman’ role.
Pezisa said the management team had deliberately looked outside the ad industry for someone to help drive a disruptive, innovative business approach.
“Leo is renowned for shaking things up, and given the need to change the advertising business model and deliver true integrated ways of working, management and delivery, we approached Leo to come and help take us to the next level,” said Pezisa. “His drive, business acumen and global digital media experience brings a compelling new dynamic to our team.”
Manne, a Wits graduate, was consumed by the world of radio, first as a DJ on the campus radio station, he then helped to drive the success of the countries first community radio station, the Voice of Soweto, setting up its newsroom. He’s also spent time carving out paradigm-shifting new platforms for the likes of YFM, METRO FM and SABC 1 as channel head, where he delivered a successful and memorable World Cup experience on the channel in 2010.
Manne has steered TRACE into a significant brand and business in Southern Africa across its TV, Digital, Events and Mobile business verticals.
The Loeries appoints Tseliso Rangaka as new chairman
Tseliso Rangaka, executive creative director at Ogilvy Cape Town, has been appointed chairman of the Loeries for the next two years. He takes over from Suhana Gordhan, creative director at FCB Africa.
Rangaka welcomes the chance to help reshape the industry to meet dynamic, contemporary marketing challenges in South Africa.
“Relevance is the key – our creativity must connect with our clients’ markets and reach them in ways that surprise and engage. A critical ingredient to this is getting the right mix of people around the puzzle,” he said. “That’s when magic happens.”
Tseliso Rangaka’s appointment is “a milestone moment” according to Ogilvy Cape Town MD Vicki Buys.
SABC News bids farewell to Thabile Ngwato
Popular SABC news anchor, , has resigned from the SABC to pursue business interests after five successful years of producing and presenting news at the SABC.
Head of television news, Nothando Maseko said, “We are sad to see Thabile leave but we are happy to have had the chance to work with her. She has been an absolute pleasure to work with and as a public service broadcaster we are happy that we have contributed immensely to her news presenting career. We wish her well and we would like extend our gratitude to her for being devoted throughout her tenure at the SABC”.
Ngwato expressed her gratitude for the knowledge, experience and lessons – and most importantly professional relationships built over the years. “I am certain that this will add value in my new journey and future as an entrepreneur,” she said.
Dong-Ping Wong for Design Indaba
Architect Dong-Ping Wong, the founder and director of New York-based design firm, FOOD, will be speaking at Design Indaba 2019.
His studio focuses on designing environments, from ground-up structures to renovations to landscapes, all with the intent of transforming how people relate to the context, culture and resources around them.
Ongoing projects include the New York headquarters for a Hong Kong based media company; a spa in the Cayman Islands; and + POOL, the world’s first floating, water-filtering pool.
He’s also worked with artists including Kanye West and Louis Vuitton menswear creative director Virgil Abloh.
Business moves
Tiso Blackstar launches #datafree app, SANewsLIVE, for mass-market reach
Tiso Blackstar Group has launched SANewsLIVE, a #datafree mobile news-reading app that provides users with content from Tiso Blackstar’s existing websites without incurring data costs. The app has been developed for the cost-conscious consumer market with limited access to data. SANewsLIVE delivers South African breaking news 24 hours a day and covers local, world, sports, entertainment, celebrity and business news produced round the clock by the Tiso Blackstar editorial team.
“Unaffordable mobile data costs in emerging markets act as a major barrier for most people to spend more time engaged with the great content available online today,” Lisa MacLeod, head of digital at Tiso Blackstar Group. “We recognised that a #datafree platform was an opportunity to deliver news to a broader, often neglected audience whose online presence is unfortunately hampered by the high cost of data in the country.
The compromise for users of the SANewsLIVE app is that while they don’t pay for data, they can’t opt out of advertising that offsets the costs of making the app #datafree. SANewsLIVE advertising takes the form of 10-second vertical videos.
Tribeca Public Relations appointed to launch Ritual Gym
Tribeca Public Relations (Tribeca) was appointed by Ritual Gym, an award-winning global gym franchise, to launch the first of its South African High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) gym venues, with the goal of securing publicity in the country’s top-tier health, fitness and lifestyle publications to drive memberships.
The Ritual Gym concept allows time-starved South Africans to fit a 30-minute workout into their busy schedules. Sessions are focused on HIIT workouts and cater to those who want an efficient, form-focused, personalised workout, at a venue that has everything on hand for its members (including gym clothes, towels and a smoothie bar).
Tribeca worked closely with Ritual Gym for the launch of its Illovo venue, and welcomed a number of media to the vibey evening launch that gave invited guests, media and influencers the opportunity to experience the unique gym space first-hand.
Dis-Chem Pharmacies announced as presenting partner of FIBO Global Fitness Africa
Reed Exhibitions has announced Dis-Chem Pharmacies as the presenting partner for the FIBO Global Fitness Africa, the world’s biggest trade show for fitness, wellness and health.
FIBO Global Fitness Africa presented by Dis-Chem Pharmacies is three action-packed days of all things fitness with a one-day fitness industry summit and two days of world-class events, stimulating fitness demos, and tips on leading a healthy and active lifestyle. From 26 to 28 October, stock up on the latest fitness equipment, apparel, sports nutrition and supplements from exhibitors offering great show-only specials.
“Dis-Chem Pharmacies is thrilled to be involved as the presenting sponsor of the inaugural FIBO Global Fitness event in Africa for 2018”, said Brandon Fairweather, marketing co-ordinator in the Dis-Chem Health Category. “As a leading player in the health and wellness category, this is a natural fit for us, and we look forward to contributing to what will no doubt be a fantastic show”.
Alibaba establishes global e-commerce talent programme in Rwanda
Alibaba Business School has launched its Global E-commerce Talent (GET) programme for the Rwanda’s university teachers, and in partnership with Rwanda’s Higher Education Council and the Rwanda Development Board. This marks the first time GET was offered in Africa, and is the first piece of a broader cooperation to bring the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) initiative to Rwanda.
The GET programme is part of the commitment that Jack Ma, Alibaba’s executive chairman, made upon his first trip to Africa and Rwanda last year to support education and e-commerce in Africa. GET aims to deepen the understanding of the e-commerce industry among Rwandan university teachers, so that they in turn, can train individuals to compete in the digital economy. Fifty lecturers from nine of the country’s top universities attended the weeklong programme.
GET’s introduction in Rwanda follows the launch of the Jack Ma Foundation’s Netpreneur Prize for African entrepreneurs working to address Africa’s most pressing challenges, as well as Alibaba Business School’s eFounders Fellowship that will train 200 African entrepreneurs to become catalysts for digital transformation. To date, 52 African entrepreneurs from 14 African countries have participated in the Fellowship.
Making moves
Old Mutual repositions its brand and readies for growth
Following its primary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in June 2018, Old Mutual has unveiled a vibrant new brand identity, to reflect its fresh customer-led approach and stronger focus on Africa. The company’s new visual personality draws on the optimism, vibrancy and seize-the-day spirit of the continent, reinforcing the message of ‘Made in Africa for Africans’.
Speaking on the eve of the #TheTimeIsNow campaign launch, Vuyo Lee, chief marketing officer of Old Mutual, said the new brand repositioning represents much more than a brand refresh.
“As an independent entity with ambitious aspirations and a clearer, stronger focus on Africa, we saw the need to establish ourselves more firmly as an effective Pan-African leader with a distinctive customer value proposition,” she says. “With that came the need to review, reposition and reinvigorate our brand.”
#PAMRO2018 featuring a spectacular line-up of speakers
The clock is ticking and time is running out to book your place at this year’s Pan African All Media Research Conference. PAMRO 2018 takes place from 26 to 28 August, in Lagos and, this year, offers an impressive line up of world-class speakers.
“It feels relevant that PAMRO is being held in Lagos this year. Nigeria is a particularly media-rich nation and plays a vital role in PAMRO’s greater goal to attain a uniform research infrastructure across Africa. It is only by consolidating our efforts and learning from each other’s successes and failures that we will achieve this goal,” says PAMRO President, Joe Otin.
Presentations at this year’s conference include:
- Mobile and Internet have changed Africa’s truth
- Closing the return path to advanced media monitoring
This year PAMRO will take place at the new Radisson Blu Hotel Lagos Ikeja, which was chosen for its central location just 5km from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
Please visit the PAMRO website for more details.
