The Media Online’s weekly round up of moves in media.
This week’s BIG move: BBC Lifestyle extends advertising opportunities across Sub-Saharan Africa
BBC Studios has plans to create advertising opportunities on its BBC Lifestyle channel specifically for clients across Sub-Saharan Africa in countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia.
From 1 September, advertisers in these countries will be able to reach modern female audiences via a separate BBC Lifestyle commercial feed that will broadcast across Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding SADC). This will enable advertisers to target client needs through a combination of traditional advertising spots and tailored creative solutions.
“This is a significant step to offer brands the opportunity to align with BBC Lifestyle’s premium global and local content and extensive reach across Sub-Saharan Africa,” said Sarah-Jane Harling, advertising account director for Africa, BBC Studios. “With its unique mix of entertaining programming, the channel now offers dedicated ad breaks for South Africa and Africa, and remains a very attractive environment for advertisers operating on the continent. It enables BBC Lifestyle to assist brands wanting to specifically reach aspirational households in South Africa as well as consumers in Sub Saharan Africa, separately.”
Sales will be managed by DStv Media Sales on behalf of BBC Studios.
People moves
WASPA welcomes new communications chief
South Africa’s Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association (WASPA) has a new board member responsible for the non-profit’s communications and membership portfolio.
Sipho Bengu was recently elected to the governing body that represents the interests of South Africa’s mobile content and applications providers while pursuing a strong consumer protection mandate. Bengu is currently supplier development lead at ABSA Bank’s Johannesburg head office where he is responsible for boosting the participation of black-owned small and medium-sized businesses in Requests for Proposals.
With his experience as an astute deal maker comes the ability to contribute new and valuable perspectives to teams. He is well-versed in balancing competing interests. “I enjoy proactively reaching out to people in an optimistic style. So much can be achieved when everyone feels part of new objectives and no-one is alienated. WASPA’s role in the mobile sector and in the wider economy can be expanded for everyone’s benefit and I’m looking forward to achieving this for WASPA members,” Bengu said.
Publicis Africa appoints pioneer Odette van der Haar as MD
Publicis Africa has appointed industry heavyweight Odette van der Haar (left) as managing director, strengthening the management team and building on the group’s recent growth and successes.
“We were extremely selective in appointing an MD who shared our vision for transforming the craft and industry and have found the ideal leader for this in Odette. With a proven track record of driving the industry forward, we are excited at the excellence that Odette will bring to the team and our clients,” said Naeem Seedat, CEO of Communications at Publicis Africa.
Van der Haar has extensive industry experience and knowledge, most recently holding the position of CEO at JWT Johannesburg. Prior to joining JWT, Odette was the CEO of the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA). She spearheaded the rebirth and growth of the highly coveted APEX awards.
She has a reputation for championing transformation, professionalism and gender equality within the industry.
SABC conveys its condolences to the Kekana family
The South African Broadcasting Corporation has conveyed its condolences to the Kekana family following the death of sports journalist, David Kekana.
Kekana’s journey with the organisation began in 2000 at SABC Sport, where he started as a football analyst and script writer on Soccerzone.
He later joined the Soccer 411 and Sport@10 teams as a journalist. On SABC 1’s Laduma he formed part of the analysis team, and on occasion he was touchline presenter on the field.
He possessed great knowledge of the sport and his passion for the game made him one of the greatest South African soccer pundits, the SABC said in a statement.
He was a hard worker and a passionate team player and will be sorely missed by his colleagues at SABC Sport, the SABC at large and the sporting fraternity.
Boomtown promotions demonstrate dedication to growth
Boomtown has promoted two of its client services team, Lwando Marambana and Lisa Snyman, to account director and account manager.
Talking about the promotions, Boomtown MD, Andrew MacKenzie said: “Lwando and Lisa have shown exceptional growth. Lwando has a driving ambition to assist the agency in its Johannesburg operations and has grown tremendously over the last year. We are confident that his skill set, experience in the FMCG category, and business acumen will be an asset to not only Boomtown, but also the clients we partner with, and he is certainly part of our long-term growth strategy in the region.
“Lisa is based in our Port Elizabeth office and has gained valuable experience on a cross-section of government accounts. Her insight into this sector will play a vital role in the agency’s expansion into this area. We are all excited about the opportunity and the potential it presents for Lisa and Boomtown.”
Both Lwando and Lisa began at Boomtown as part of the Bayeza internship programme.
Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams welcomes appointment of Mandla Msimang to ICANN board
Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, has welcomed the appointment of Mandla Msimang (left) to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) board of directors. Msimang joins other global experts to lead this international organisation responsible for ensuring a stable, secure, and unified global Internet.
A seasoned regulatory expert with a focus on ICT regulation, public policy and competition policy, Msimang is a highly regarded professional in the ICT sector. In 2007, she founded Pygma Consulting and now serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Nozala Investments.
Ndabeni-Abrahams said she had the utmost confidence that Msimang’s “vast experience in ICT policy and regulation will add much credence to the ICANN board”.
ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation.
Business moves
Caxton Magazines evolves publishing models of two brands
Caxton Magazines has evolved the publishing strategy of two of its oldest brands, Living and Loving and Your Family, in line with the changing media environment and the way in which the modern reader is consuming niched content.
Living and Loving is to be repositioned exclusively as an online parenting information portal but through its digital platform will still provide selected areas of its quality content in print through a bumper parenting section entitled Smart Parent which will be incorporated into Your Family. These changes will come into effect from October this year with the September issue of Living and Loving being the final print edition to go on sale.
Editor Sonya Naude said: “In the last two years, our online audience has grown from strength to strength while, in line with international trends, print sales continued to shrink. Our audience is still interacting with us, but they’re doing it online on and through our social media channels. We understand that consumer media consumption habits are changing and we’re adapting with them.”
Adding credence to its decision to embrace the digital model is the news that Living and Loving has just been voted the number one ‘SA Kids and Parenting Blogs, Websites and Newsletters’. Selections were based on Google reputation and search ranking; influence on social media sites; and quality and consistency of posts by the Feedspot Blog Reader editorial team and expert reviews.
Township business magazine Spotong, continues to grow… in more ways than one!
Changes are on the horizon for Spotong, South Africa’s township trade magazine, with the introduction of a new size and an increased print run.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the demand for the magazine by the market, and so we’ve made the decision to increase the print run from 11 500 to 15 000 copies per quarter which is just over 20% growth this year alone,” said Sean Press, CEO of Contact Media & Communications, publishers of Spotong magazine.
Along with the new, increased print run the magazine will also increase in size. This decision was made to accommodate more content sectors, and thus more relevant content for the Spotong reader.
Further to the developments of the publication, Spotong will soon also host their annual Spotong Township Entrepreneur Summit.
“On 6 November, we will host our largest township entrepreneurs’ summit ever. This year we have a confirmed 1000 township traders attending the event, to be held at Walter Sisulu Square in Soweto,” said Press.
Warner Music South Africa appoints Flume as digital marketing partner
Warner Music South Africa – the local affiliate of the Warner Music Group, has partnered with digital marketing agency, Flume, to assist in bringing their artists more effectively to South African ears.
Warner Music SA represents international heavyweights such as Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, David Guetta and Michael Bublé, among others, alongside South African superstars Locnville, Mango Groove and Zahara.
“Warner has embraced digital media in a rapidly shifting environment and has seen great success in how they market their artists. We’re thrilled to be partnering with them on this journey and to add value to their already-significant successes,” said Jacques du Bruyn, MD and co-founder of Flume.
Flume will be providing Warner Music with a range of complementary digital marketing services, including creative strategy, social media content production and media buying.
King James expands its retail and shopper marketing expertise through 34° acquisition
The King James Group has acquired a majority stake in leading retail and shopper marketing agency, 34°, to bolster and further expand the Group’s expertise in this critical area of the marketing and communications mix.
With its highly skilled team and depth of experience as best-of-breed in the retail space, this four-time recipient of the AdFocus Specialist Agency of the Year award has a solid 12-year track record and an impressive client portfolio across its operations in South Africa and Kenya, including global and local brands like Coca Cola, Imperial, IEC, Lindt, Game Africa, Java and Brookside. And 34° will remain a standalone brand to continue growing this business while at the same time seamlessly integrating and collaborating with the other specialist teams under the King James Group.
DISCOP JOBURG 2019: Promoting African Co-Productions
A newly revamped and focused DISCOP JOHANNESBURG programme will see a scope that goes beyond content buying and selling.
In line with DISCOP Market’s vision to promote the commerce and co-production of multi-screen entertainment content across Africa, the upcoming edition, to be held from 20 to 22 November, will put a strong emphasis on African television projects in development, partnerships with South Africa, the booming animation sector, and the export of content produced on the continent.
“Not since the invention of television has Africa exercised such an influence on the creation of original multiscreen content,” said Patrick Zuchowicki, President of DISCOP, who added, “This year’s DISCOP JOHANNESBURG will see three times more projects with cross-border potential brought to the market by African producers than in 2018.”
With many high-profile international TV series being shot in South Africa, a tutorial track will put under the spotlight the country’s rebates system and examine the benefits available through coproduction treaties that exist between South Africa and The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada and Australia.
&Innovation is repositioning under the new name DYDX.
Rebranding to DYDX signifies a change in the pace of growth for &Innovation as they expand the global team of consultants and clients with three core offerings: Product and Service Design; Culture and Future of Work; and Digital Sales Optimisation. The practices help clients with digital transformation, both to gain new clients and revenue models and to improve internal ways of working.
Founded in 2014 by Nevo Hadas and later joined by Geoff Cohen and Templar Wales, the business expanded rapidly to work with global and South African clients such as Vodacom, Woolworths, Travelex, Old Mutual, Pam Golding Properties, Honoris United Universities, Daily Mail, Ericsson, Sage, Visa, Smollan, Spice, Phillip Morris, MTN, Uber and many others.
“Over the past five years we have been fortunate enough to partner with clients on large projects through word of mouth, but mostly stayed under the radar,” Hadas concluded. “Now we’re looking to accelerate our growth into Europe and across the African continent.”
Making moves
Twelve new categories included in the 21st Sunday Times Top Brands Survey
Now in its 21st year, the annual Sunday Times Top Brands Survey has expanded with the addition of 12 new categories across both the Business and Consumer sections of the survey. The survey, conducted by research firm Kantar on behalf of the Sunday Times, is considered a leading barometer of consumer sentiment towards brands in South Africa.
The new categories are in response to industry demands for such measurements, and reflect the increased integration of technology-based services in the lives of South Africans, said Eben Gewers, head of advertising at Tiso Blackstar Group.
Samu Makhatini, account director at Kantar said: “The most notable additions this year are technology and digital services brands, proving that access to digital platforms and the technology that enables this no longer hums in the background of consumers’ daily lives, but is fast becoming the loud soundtrack.”
The new categories included in the 21st Sunday Times Top Brands Survey are:
Business:
- Hotels
- Courier Companies
- Fibre-to-the-Business Providers
- International Airlines
Consumer:
- Craft Beer
- Fibre-to-the-Home Providers
- Hot Beverages
- Household Cleaning
- Laundry Care
- Online Banking
- Paid Streaming Service
- Social Networks
The results of the survey will be announced at the Sunday Times Top Brands Awards which take place in Johannesburg on 19 September. The results will also be published in the Sunday Times Top Brands supplement on 22 September 2019.
For the Diary
Marketing works. Work it.
Brand strategist and advertising commentator, Andy Rice, who is the opening speaker at the Nedbank IMC Conference 2020, believes that for too long marketing hasn’t been seen as an integral part of business.
“Companies have tended to be operations, logistics or finance centric with very few putting their brand first. It takes a real visionary and entrepreneurial spirit to lead a company that is brand centric, meaning they genuinely put the brand first from day one,” Rice said.
Also presenting at the conference, Mathe Okaba, CEO for the Association for Communication and Advertising, said marketing had also been seen as a cost centre by the business for eons. “Marketers weren’t validating the profession by indicating their business acumen and agility. CEO’s want to see marketing’s impact on the bottom line. Marketers need to demonstrate to them that marketing delivers” said Mathe.
“A marketing strategy driven by your brand’s purpose should be the first item on the Board meeting agenda. At the Nedbank IMC 2020, happening on 19 March at The Galleria in Sandton, our line-up of 20 top speakers will be showing that marketing works. If you work it.” Added Dale Hefer, CEO of the IMC.
Book your spot at the Nedbank IMC 2020 with early bird tickets available right now.