The Media Online’s weekly round up of moves in media.
This week’s BIG move: Former Primedia and Creative Spark agency heavyweight launches digital transformation consultancy
Tanja Lategan, the former CEO of Primedia Online and MD of full service digital agency Creative Spark, has launched Enlight Strategic.
A digital transformation consultancy, Enlight Strategic aims to help corporates navigate the changing business landscape, with a particular focus on marketing technologies and tools.
“There is a clear appetite for digital transformation services in South Africa,” said Lategan. “Digital transformation is no longer a choice; it simply has to be done if an organisation wants to remain competitive.”
Until now, however, most digital transformation efforts have been led by the IT department and tend to focus only on back end systems, IT infrastructure and processes.
“As a result,” Lategan pointed out, “most companies end up only partially transformed. In order for full transformation to take place, every part of the business has to be involved.”
That includes marketing, an area of the business which is often allowed to operate in a silo, with many competencies outsourced to digital agencies and media buyers.
Enter Enlight Strategic. It understands that for holistic digital transformation to take place, marketing services have to transform as well.
As a first step, the consultancy takes its clients through a digital maturity audit. “Based on the audit, we can help clients internally build up any skills they may lack and provide them with the tools and technology they need to become fully transformed,” explained Lategan.
Another thing that sets Enlight Strategic apart is that it provides clients with access to platforms and tools that are otherwise unavailable in South Africa. Enlight Strategic works with many technology suppliers to ensure that the best solutions are selected to meet the needs of a specific project or programme.
People moves
Jann Henderson joins Mickey Llew to boost agency’s growth strategy
Jann Henderson has been appointed as organic search lead and Digital Analyst at performance marketing and SEO agency, Mickey Llew, to head up and grow the organic search division. Her appointment is part of the business’s drive to scale and build on its success as the agency of choice for brands seeking an effective partner to implement organic search and content strategies.
“I’m excited to join Mickey Llew at a time when the agency is growing its portfolio and its footprint, following its recent move into Dynamic Technologies House in Melrose,” Henderson said. “The agency differentiates itself as an expert in organic search, and I look forward to building on its already established reputation, helping to create content strategies that deliver exceptional results for our clients.”
With Google certifications in Analytics, Google Ads, social media and mobile marketing, as well as specialisations in SEO, local internet marketing, mobile marketing, online marketing planning, and technical data analysis, she places a strong emphasis on continuous research and testing. While business success underpins her strong work ethic, she centres her strategic approach on optimising campaign performance to maximise clients’ return on investment.
Keith Mafu promoted to head of sales: transit for JCDecaux SA
Keith Mafu has been promoted to head of sales: transit for JCDecaux SA. He joined the JCDecaux in 2018 as a transit branding specialist and has over 10 years’ experience in sales and marketing.
Mafu is a success driven sales specialist and has worked, lived and travelled to over 25 countries. His passion for different cultures and immersive experiences inspire his interest in advertising and consumer behaviour. This becomes apparent in his highly effective sales approach that has a proven track record in lead generation, expanding sales outputs and customer engagement.
“Keith has been instrumental in growing our transit business over the last 18 months and we have every confidence in his ability to take the next step into this critical management position,” said Chris Hitchings, sales and marketing director.
Digitas Liquorice appoints Carla Worth as its deputy MD
Digitas Liquorice has appointed Carla Worth as its new deputy managing director. Worth will steer the agency through its next phase of growth while further entrenching digital innovation for brands.
Since joining Digitas Liquorice as account manager nine years ago, Worth has been instrumental in driving digital transformation for one of the agency’s largest client, Unilever.
“Carla came in with an energy that was immediately felt across the agency. Her continuous depth of insight and absolute passion for digital innovation has made her an invaluable member of the senior team and partner to her clients,“ said Miles Murphy, chief executive officer at Digitas Liquorice. “Carla has played a key role in driving business growth for the agency and possesses key abilities as a future leader in business.”
Worth will manage the Cape Town client portfolio and head up the Client Service team as well as continue to lead on accounts.
Second term of office of the B-BBEE ICT Sector Council to begin
The inaugural 16 members of the ICT Council were appointed by the Minister of Telecommunications & Postal Services on 23 September 2015 after being concurred by Cabinet. Now the second term of office of the B-BBEE ICT Sector Council is set to begin on 2 October 2019.
The ICT Sector comprises four ICT industry sub-sectors: Broadcasting, Information Technology, Telecommunications and Electronics.
The ICT Sector Council functions through five sub-committees;
1. Executive Committee, which comprises of the chairpersons of all the sub-committees, which is chaired by the Deputy Chairperson Councilor Pheladi Gwangwa
2. Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Committee chaired by Councilor Petronella Linders
3. Guidance and Monitoring Committee chaired by Councilor Adrian Schofield
4. Review and Amendment Committee chaired by Councilor Sara-Jane Capazario
5. Strategy, Governance, Risk & Funding Committee chaired by Councilor Lucky Masilela
The ICT Sector Council is responsible for developing, reviewing and publishing the B-BBEE Amended ICT Sector Code and monitoring its implementation.
Business moves
Red Cherry Interactive celebrates its silver anniversary with a fresh new positioning
After 25 years of building its reputation as a media and production specialist with expertise in branded content, activations, events experiential and digital campaigns, the award-winning Red Cherry Interactive is repositioning itself as a full-service advertising agency, with strategic, creative, media, digital, PR, event and activations divisions offering above and below the line solutions.
Red Cherry is a level 1 B-BBEE female-owned company, with the entire leadership team comprising dynamic women who are leaders in their fields.
New CEO, Pheladi Mphahlele, along with longstanding team members Jenna Murray-Smith, Robbyn Burger, Faye Dawood and Aliki Frantzeskos, work actively in the business, every day, to bring their first-hand knowledge of subjects across the advertising, marketing, branding and creative disciplines to clients.
Mphahlele said the new positioning is the result of the agency’s natural evolution, from a strictly media and production-oriented offering starting in the 1990s to the holistic service provider it is today.
Joburg based digital agency to focus on utilising AI tech
Boguslavsky & Co, a digital strategy agency, has evolved their service offering and capabilities to leveraging AI technologies through select technology partners along with offering data-driven customer insights utilising data visualisation tools for business intelligence purposes.
”As the digital landscape is evolving, so is our agency. We are focusing on bringing latest technology to the fore in our core service offering in order to help businesses understand their customers as part of of an overall digital strategy that results in growth, and customer acquisition,” commented Marianna Boguslavsky, digital strategist and founder of Boguslavsky & Co (above).
Boguslavsky & Co is a niche digital strategy agency based in South Africa with an international brands portfolio – global reach has included UAE, UK, Singapore, US and Slovenia.
Dept named one of Adweek’s 100 fastest growing agencies
Independent international digital agency Dept has been named in the inaugural Adweek 100: Fastest Growing Agencies list, 2019 for its 149% growth this past year. This honour is presented to a wide range of successful agencies that cover 21 different disciplines. From full-service to performance, creative consultancies to experiential, Adweek awards agencies based on their drive and dedication to the industry and recognises those that they see as having “a very bright future.”
Dept is a creativity, technology and data agency delivering end-to-end experiences for brands and businesses worldwide.
Making moves
PSA announces corporate rebrand to InfoQuest to help guide your business growth
InfoQuest, formerly known as Panel Services Africa (PSA), has undergone a process of comprehensive corporate repositioning to better suit its new, dynamic research offering as a full-research provider. The rebranding, designed by visual 8, simultaneously reflects the evolution of the mission of the business and its vision for the future.
Founded in 2005 as the first technology-enabled business to support marketers and researchers, InfoQuest pioneered longitudinal consumer panel market research services and market research in Africa across multiple platforms, both traditional and non-traditional devices, including PC, mobile, and face-to-face.
’From the very beginning, we have been able to generate reliable, consistent and actionable information, quicker and at a fraction of the cost of any alternatives, thereby helping businesses to make better marketing decisions,’ said Claire Heckrath, managing director of InfoQuest.
Following the rebranding from PSA to InfoQuest, the company now builds on its traditional services offering that includes research areas ranging from employee research through to campaign evaluations, and research methods such as New Product Sales Forecasting, predictive advertising and pack testing, panel operation, customer satisfaction surveys, hybrid methods (qualitative and quantitative) research support and brand health research.
