The Media Online’s weekly round up of moves in media.
This week’s BIG move: Leadership change at Marketing Association of South Africa
MASA has announced a change in leadership. Current CEO, Greg Garden, who has contributed significantly to MASA and its achievements, announced that at the end of his three-year term he would be handing over the baton.
To ensure continuity and business as usual, MASA said its current chairman, Sechaba Motsieloa, had accepted its request to serve at an executive level as interim CEO to bridge the gap until the appointment of a long-term CEO. The recruitment process for a new permanent CEO will commence immediately.
Garden will focus on leading the Marketing Research Foundation (MRF) and the MAPS project, while continuing to work closely with MASA into the future in full support of its purpose and goals.
MASA recently closed the year at its recent thirteenth Annual General Meeting, detailing important contributions to the marketing profession and industry. These include the completely overhauled professional marketing designations South Africa programme, the introduction of the MAPs Products and Brands research initiative to replace AMPS, and helping to safeguard marketing self-regulation through the establishment of the new Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB).
“MASA has grown in strength over the past three years,” said Garden. “We have a heavy-hitter board of top marketers made up of highly recognised individual members and corporate CMO’s – the strongest in our history. As a Professional Body and Association, we have made several significant strides in terms of key deliverables to our members and the broader marketing industry.”
People movesNew strategic appointments at Ogilvy SA
Ogilvy has appointed Neo Makhele as chief strategy officer of Ogilvy South Africa, and Mathieu Plassard as chief growth officer.
Makhele is a new breed of planner who is passionate about Africa’s potential and about social justice. In her new role, her mandate will be to fuel the agency’s modern marketing orientation. She has led a consistently strong strategy team within Ogilvy, which has delivered great work and business results for clients. Makhele is currently poised to complete her MBA at the Berlin School of Arts. In addition to her skills and experience, Makhele says her commitment to social justice and her strong spiritual foundation inform much of what she does in her work life.
New to the Ogilvy SA leadership team, but an Ogilvy veteran, Plassard will help build out Ogilvy SA’s business strategy and future offering leveraging the unique strengths of Ogilvy, the Social.Lab, Collective ID, Superunion and Geometry.
Plassard is a passionate 360° communications expert with 20 years of experience in agency management and brand stewardship.
M&C Saatchi Abel Johannesburg bolsters creative firepower with new ECD James Cloete
Multiple award-winning creative agency M&C Saatchi Abel has welcomed industry heavy hitter James Cloete into its ranks as executive creative director with a strategic handle on the Standard Bank account.
Together with group chief creative officer Neo Mashigo, Johannesburg managing partner Faheem Chaudhry and Johannesburg head of strategy, Makosha Maja-Rasethaba, he will form part of the M&C Saatchi Abel Johannesburg leadership team.
Because of the scale of the business, the agency is strategically marrying talent with specific clients. Cloete adds firepower to the Johannesburg team, supporting Johannesburg-based partner and creative director Adam Weber, who will be able to hone in creatively on specific clients.
Cloete has worked across multiple brands including Coca-Cola, MTN, SABC, ABSA, Old Mutual, Cell C, MTN, Tiger Brands, Toyota, and Nampak, among many others.
Veeam appoints Jim Kruger as chief marketing officer
Veeam Software has appointed Jim Kruger as chief marketing officer (CMO). Kruger, promoted from his previous role as senior vice president (SVP) of product & solutions marketing, will lead Veeam’s global marketing organisation and continue to strengthen the company’s brand momentum. Kruger will report to Ratmir Timashev, co-ounder and executive vice president (EVP), sales & marketing.
Kruger has more than 25 years of experience in leading all facets of marketing. In his role at Veeam, he oversaw all aspects of product and alliance solutions marketing, plus competitive, research and sales acceleration.
Tribeca PR appoints Refuwe Makhubo as account manager
Tribeca Public Relations has welcomed Refuwe Makhubo to the team as an account manager, working on an array of clients including Eaton South Africa, Peermont Group, Reuterina and Webfleet Solutions accounts.
Makhubo’s experience in corporate communications and public relations equips her admirably to manage a wide range of business-to-business and consumer clients.
“Refuwe has brought a fresh energy and a passionate determination to deliver the best possible results for Tribeca’s clients,” said Nicola Tarr, business unit director at Tribeca Public Relations. “We welcome her on board and are excited for our future together.”
Makhubo holds a Bachelor of Arts in Corporate and Marketing Communications from the University of the Free State, where she won several awards during her studies.
Mediology rings the changes with two new appointments
Media and online marketing agency, Mediology has appointed Julie Dunstan as business unit director on the Momentum Group.
As lead consultant on the insurance portfolio, Dunstan will spearhead the client relationship and drive creative media strategies with her team. She will also be instrumental in developing the agency’s strategic capacity, equally in upskilling the planning team and expanding the insights division as well as being central in the renewed focus on strengthening media owner relationships and being active in broader industry development.
For more, click here.
Nombulelo Yena has been appointed as strategic planner at media and online marketing agency, Mediology.
Yena, who will work closely with Mediology’s key strategist and business unit director, Julie Dunstan, will be tasked with implementation and planning across the Momentum portfolio. She will ensure that client briefs are seamlessly and consistently interpreted by the advertising, public relations and client teams.
For more, click here.
Business moves
Seedstars World partners with African Development Bank to propel youth startups and jobs
Seedstars World, a Swiss-based startup competition in emerging markets, and the African Development Bank have announced a strategic partnership to implement its innovative ‘job creation track’ model to support youth employment and entrepreneurship in Africa.
The partnership is in line with the Bank’s entrepreneurship and innovation lab under its Jobs for Youth in Africa (JfYA) strategy. The aim is to create 25 million jobs and equip 50 million young people with skills to enhance their employability and entrepreneurial success by 2025. The strategy will support countries to stimulate entrepreneurship, youth employment and economic development with a focus on young women.
As part of the ‘job creation track’, Seedstars World is adding the criterion “the potential for job creation” in selecting the local competition winners. The African Development Bank will select and award the startup demonstrating the most potential for sustainable job creation with three months’ access to the Seedstars investment readiness program.
The Bank will also be the main partner for the remaining local bootcamps, as well as a two-day private bootcamp during the Seedstars Africa Summit on 2-5 December, 2019 with an emphasis on improving gender balance across all activities.
Royal HaskoningDHV appoints Tribeca Public Relations
Royal HaskoningDHV, an international consulting, engineering and technology company, has appointed Tribeca Public Relations as its South African public relations and communications partner, following a competitive pitch process.
The company delivers services in aviation, energy, infrastructure, mining, maritime, transport, asset management as well as urban and rural development.
Tribeca will manage all communications activities on behalf of Royal HaskoningDHV including strategy development, content creation, media relations and issues management.
Webtickets streamlines user experience with site relaunch
The widespread use of international digital platforms such as Uber means South African consumers compare their customer experience on local platforms to the best internationally, said Jonathan Wayne, co-owner of Webtickets.
It is for this reason the online ticketing business Webtickets has relaunched its website with a host of new features based on international best practice while incorporating a healthy dose of local flavour, he says.
Co-owner, Christy Turner, said while they wanted to give the site a fresh new look, a significant increase in mobile traffic demanded that they streamline the user experience to be sleek and seamless. “We also wanted to harness the behavioural and transactional data of our two-million registered customers,” he said.
Webtickets has a repository of 10 years’ worth of customer purchase data and browsing behaviour, that is also location-based because of the platform’s integration with Google Maps. “This allows us to now serve content to our customers that is uniquely curated to their tastes, behaviour and location,” said Turner.
Harnessing the power of collected data to personalise the service based on customers’ behaviour and preferences, as well as displaying popular events that other customers have purchased, has immediately resulted in a significantly higher conversion to sales for the casual visitor on Webtickets.
Making moves
Cartoon Network and TNT make their way to MultiChoice’s GOtv!
WarnerMedia Africa is expanding its entertainment offering by introducing Cartoon Network and TNT on MultiChoice’s digital terrestrial television (DTT) platform, GOtv.
As of 12 November, GOtv subscribers across English-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa can look forward to a line-up of quirky and iconic kids’ entertainment, as well as Hollywood blockbusters for the entire family! Cartoon Network and TNT already have a proven record in South Africa, ranking third and fourth respectively, as the most-watched pay-TV channels in South Africa in September 2019.
Cartoon Network, known for titles such as Ben 10, Craig of the Creek, Teen Titans Go! and The Amazing World of Gumball, will add unexpected and imaginative viewing experiences to GOtv. In addition, along with new episodes of top-performing shows, Cartoon Network will launch an exclusive original production, Victor and Valentino, to celebrate the holiday season making GOtv the kids’ gateway to non-stop fun, laughter and adventure.
