Credible. Industry. Intelligence. The Media Online’s weekly column delivering news of account wins, people moves and need-to-know media business news.
This week’s BIG move: Hoorah Digital and The Odd Number nab digital veteran Raphala Colson Mothoagae
Digital consultancy Hoorah Digital and through the line agency The Odd Number have jointly hired online marketing veteran, Raphala Colson Mothoagae (left), to bolster their consulting team.
Mothoagae comes to Hoorah Digital from Vodacom, where he was a senior specialist in digital marketing, having previously worked as a digital strategist at The MediaShop, as head of digital media at ZenithOptimedia Group and at Starcom, where he headed digital media.
At Hoorah Digital and The Odd Number, he will head up the joint team working on the Nedbank digital account.
Mathoagae said Hoorah Digital’s consultancy-style approach was a major factor in attracting him to the position. But, he added, he was also attracted to the culture at the company and the opportunity to work with the innovative team at The Odd Number.
“The fact that they are young and vibrant and willing to take chances was a major draw card,” he said. “They’re also the kind of team that’ll do whatever it takes to serve clients and help them take their technological capabilities to the next level, and that’s magic”.
According to Hoorah Digital CEO Shaune Jordaan, Mothoagae’s digital pedigree makes him a natural fit for the digital consultancy.
“Raphala has spent nearly two decades in the digital and online space. He was there at the dawn of the digital era in South Africa and has experienced its incredible growth firsthand,” said Jordaan. “We’re incredibly happy to have that experience, as well as Raphala’s innate understanding of the industry, at Hoorah Digital.”
People moves
Machine Intelligence Institute of Africa appointments John Kamara as a director
The Machine Intelligence Institute of Africa, a non-profit organisation founded by Dr. Jacques Ludik in 2016, has appointed Nigerian thought leader and visionary, John Kamara, as its newest director. He will help promote the value of machine learning and data science application in Africa.
With vast experience in new markets and verticals across multiple sectors, he’s dubbed an expert in various technological arenas, including e-commerce, internet solutions, digital applications, and financial payment solutions. He will share 20 years’ leadership experience and invaluable knowledge on technologies, as well as market entry and start-up growth.
Business moves
SABC and Athletics South Africa reach one year agreement
The South African Broadcasting Corporation and Athletics South Africa (ASA) have announced the signing of a one year agreement that will see the SABC producing and broadcasting the Comrades Marathon, Cape Town Marathon and Soweto Marathon. The Comrades Marathon, which takes place on 9 June 2019, will be broadcast live on SABC 2 from 05:30.
Acting chief operations officer, Dr Craig Van Rooyen, said the SABC was committed to the development of athletics in the county. “This agreement also bears testimony to the fact that the SABC and ASA are keen on working together in promoting not only the sport, but also showcasing our local and global superstars, who inspire the nation.”
Advertising sales for Tiso Blackstar’s motoring titles move into the Group
All advertising sales for Tiso Blackstar’s motoring publications and platforms will be managed within the Group from 1 July.
By bringing the sales function internally, advertisers will benefit from a single point of contact that offers broader cross-platform exposure in providing impactful marketing solutions for brands, said Nina Minne, business manager: motoring at Tiso Blackstar.
Tiso Blackstar owns some of the country’s most influential platforms catering to the vehicle trade and car enthusiasts alike. These include Business Day Motor News, Sowetan Motoring, Sunday Times Lifestyle Motoring, Herald World of Wheels, Dispatch Motoring, and Ignition Live, reaching a combined audience of more than 3.1 million readers in South Africa.
Stanton Porter Marketing previously managed the ads.
Tribeca Public Relations expands its relationship with Hollard
Hollard Partner Solutions, one of four Hollard Group businesses, has appointed Tribeca Public Relations (Tribeca) to help profile the Hollard partnership approach and its Partner Solutions business proposition.
“As part of our ongoing journey to drive business growth through partnerships, we needed a communications agency to help us engage with South African businesses about how we can grow their business through insurance,” said Nqobile Saleh, head marketing for Hollard Partner Solutions.
Tribeca will implement a targeted public relations plan to help the business meet its objectives.
Think again, think Riverbed
Riverbed has been awarded the corporate communications account for McCain, following an intensive four-way pitch against prominent, multinational agencies.
The renowned international producer of frozen vegetables is re-strategising its brand positioning, and undergoing a future-fit transition, with Riverbed as a preferred partner.
The independent, through-the-line creative agency won the pitch based on its ideas-led approach, combining its roots and strength in PR, as well as it’s experience in developing purpose-led work.
Mindshare SA wins Old Mutual iWYZE
Mindshare SA has won the Old Mutual iWYZE business.
“We are delighted to announce this new business win starting the year on a very good note,” said CEO, Zia Namooya.
“It’s encouraging to find more clients valuing outcome based approaches within the TV attribution space over the standard bulk discount model on its own. The model developed for iWyze is a first of its kind for South Africa, and paves the way for more interesting bespoke solutions for our clients.”
#ROOTS2019 – Building Insights with LEGO
This year SPARK Media are partnering with LEGO to showcase the ROOTS 2019 launch.
“We will be building insights out of the new, extensive data and reveal these through ROOTS LEGO SCENES at each city’s launch event,” said Gill Randall, CEO of SPARK Media. “Like LEGO bricks, the data by itself is pretty useless until you start building and analysing and finding patterns and designs. These findings will be used as tools that help assist our marketing and media professionals to make better decisions about their strategies.”
The ROOTS LEGO SCENES aim to take some of the immense amount of data and translate it into practical, visual and fun scenarios of what our South African buyers and shoppers look like and do. ROOTS gives marketers a better understanding of their customers by geographic area.
ROOTS will be launching in Durban on 4 June, Johannesburg on 6 June and Cape Town on 11 June.
Asoko Insight and African Business magazine announce African Business DealRoom partnership
Asoko Insight and African Business magazine, two business-to-business information providers, have announced a partnership to produce and deliver The African Business DealRoom, an initiative designed to expedite the matching of African businesses seeking growth funding with Africa-focused investment institutions seeking deal flow in the region. The African Business DealRoom will be delivered as a series of exclusive events bolted on to the top-level business conferences and investment forums that take place in the region.
AdColony’s Telkom Summer campaign smashes expectations
Utilising a first-to-world technology, AdColony has delivered a 37% engagement rate for Telkom’s Summer campaign, smashing the average local industry benchmark of just 3%. AdColony is just one of the innovative media businesses operating under the Nfinity Media banner in South Africa.
“The campaign ran for a period of five months specifically utilising our Aurora product which delivers interactive video advertising experiences like allowing users to tap and swipe the campaign on their phone or to shake and tilt their devices for added engagement,” explained AdColony South Africa’s MD Andrew Kramer. “The technology is astounding – the ad was watched to full completion 1.2 million times during the campaign period.”
Making moves
On the road again: AGENCY SCOPE fieldwork for 2019 begins
In announcing the start of fieldwork for AGENCY SCOPE 2019/20 across South Africa, SCOPEN partner and director for the UK and South Africa, Johanna McDowell, said the value of the information gleaned from face-to-face interviews with marketers has seen the number of participants grow from 70 CMOs in 2016 to 219 in 2017 and an anticipated 260 participants this year.
“AGENCY SCOPE is a biennial study conducted by international research consultancy SCOPEN, and has taken a firm hold in South Africa with marketers who want their requirements met and agencies looking to meet them,” she said.
“This year, a key focus will be on what impact the digital giants like Google, Amazon Web Services and Facebook, as well as digital consultants, are having on what agencies are doing, as they strive to meet a burgeoning need to feed the digital space. We are looking to see what marketing requirements are being sold by the ‘other than agencies’ sector.”
For the diary
World Printers Forum Conference to open Berlin Publishing Days 2019.
The World Printers Forum Conference will this year kick-off the re-launched Berlin Publishing Days on 7 October 2019. The conference will provide an overview of the major print-related issues currently facing the publishing industry.
Print products continue to account for the largest share of turnover in the portfolio of publishing companies worldwide. A fact impressively evidenced by the Print Innovation Awards 2018: There is a large scope for innovation in the print sector.
The conference will be hosted by the capital city office of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in Berlin.
Speakers will include Thomas Drensek, COO Newspaper Printing at Axel Springer (Germany), Iris Chyi, Associate Professor and New Media Researcher at the School of Journalism of the University of Texas, Austin (USA), Björn Christian Wilms, Managing Director, Styria Print Group und Druck Carinthia (Austria), Gary Thomson, Senior Market Consultant at EMGE & Co. (UK) and Sebastian Haupt, Managing Partner, Multisense Institut (Germany).
