The Media Online’s weekly round up of people, account and business moves in media.
This week’s BIG move: Meltwater now provides print and broadcast content, monitoring and tracking to the African market
If 2020 has proven one thing for marketers, it’s that Covid-19 rapidly accelerated the need for digital innovation and strategies. It is now, more than ever, paramount to the success of any business that effective tracking of marketing KPIs is in place.
With that in mind, Meltwater, a leader in media intelligence, will now provide print and broadcast content, monitoring and tracking to the African market. This now allows Meltwater to provide a complete 360-degree solution that covers 1 150 print and 70 broadcast sources in Southern Africa.
Meltwater not only provides sentiment data analysis for brands, but it also offers ad tracking for both print and broadcast content, and behind the paywall content.
It now has the capability to help brands track their ad placements for both print and broadcast to ensure that advertorials are placed correctly and with the right content. And with the help of the company’s world-class sentiment analysis, gauging the reactions of audiences to digital ads and product placements allows brands to engage in the conversation and react accordingly.
For a free demo of the Meltwater platform and ad monitoring capabilities, click here.
People moves
Abundant Media Group welcomes Sifiso Hlope
A strategist and social media junkie with a penchant for quick wit. The Abundant Media Group has welcomed Sifiso Hlope as its digital Strategist.
He started his digital obsession at the age of 15 when he capitalised on the algorithmic flaws of social media platforms where he could build top ranking pages and accounts for his peers and later start-ups as well as prominent figures.
He was attracted to the commercial side of digital when he received gigs to promote events using his catalog of influencers. Hlope forfeited his sports scholarship after he heard a radio advert about an all-new Bcom Degree in Digital Marketing that was being introduced by Vega School, which he completed after securing sponsorship.
During his time at tertiary he made extra cash doing the A&R of influencers, which is how he discovered his sales knack. He completed his degree along with a Principals of Innovation certificate as well as a Gamification certificate. He was one of two graduates selected for an e-commerce learnership at Kaya FM. He opted for a switch to agency to practice under the mentorship of the leading digital thought leaders and strategists in the country.
He eventually began his own freelance digital agency and then scored a gig at Econet’s Kwese TV as it launched, and it wasn’t long before he was scooped up by MSG Group Broadcasting where he worked as a digital sales strategist mainly building the digital platforms and developing digital product propositions for POWER 98.7 & Capricorn FM.
“When people ask me what’s the ROI of Social, I ask them… what’s the ROI of Trust, and what’s the ROI of Loyalty. The answer, when used to build relationships the results will be… longer lifetime value of a customer, larger average order value, and increased frequency of purchase. All measurable and all lead to increased sales and profits…
Yes, I’m big fan of ecommerce, ebusiness, emarketing and selected other words beginning with e.”
A Very Bonang Year to broadcast on SABC 1
A new two part special, A Very Bonang Year – which follows SA’s biggest media personality, Bonang Matheba, on her global adventures – will broadcast on SABC 1 in August, giving fans a unique insight into what was Bonang’s most powerful year yet.
Complete with exclusive content, in A Very Bonang Year, fans get to join Bonang on her ‘global expansion’ as she journeys from Prague to London, Manchester, New York and Los Angeles and back to SA, getting an insider glimpse into her daily life and being upfront at larger-than-life events.
“I’m so excited to have a special on SABC 1. It’ll be very different from Being Bonang because even if viewers have followed my journey, the show goes beyond social media with a behind-the-scenes look into a new chapter in my business career & life. I am taking viewers into my confidence,” said Bonang.
WASPA welcomes Dhavelin Chetty to board
South Africa’s Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association (WASPA) has welcomed Dhavelin Chetty to its board following the recent resignation of Doris Mogotsi due to business commitments.
South Africa’s non-profit mobile content and applications industry representative body said Chetty joins WASPA to head up its Membership Portfolio at a critical junction.
According to WASPA general manager Ilonka Badenhorst: “Mobile content and applications truly demonstrated their value as South Africa sought ways to battle the Coronavirus pandemic. Mobile has enabled millions to stay at home while using the apps developed by WASPs and others to continue working, studying and more.
“Attracting new high-level talent like Dhavelin will help WASPA continue to evangelise the mobile medium as key to safeguarding South Africa’s future, while also growing WASPA’s member base,” Ms Badenhorst said.
Kagiso Trust announces new chairperson
Mankone Ntsaba has been announced as the new chairperson for Kagiso Trust.
Ntsaba has been with the Board of Kagiso Trust since 2009 and has served as Deputy Chair of the Board and Chair of the Programmes Committee for the last six years. She served as a member of the Board of Kagiso Tiso Holdings (KTH), Kagiso Africa Investments (KAI) and the advisory Board of Kagiso Shanduka Trust (KST).
Ntsaba takes over from Reverend Frank Chikane, whose term has come to an end. “It is an honour to take over from one of the founding members of Kagiso Trust,” said Ntsaba, “And I look forward to leading a phenomenal board as we work through these difficult times globally. Kagiso Trust is one of South Africa’s leading development agencies working towards a prosperous, peaceful, equitable and just society. Over the past 35 years, we have invested over R2 billion in development and implemented over 1 831 programmes. I look forward to reaching more milestones.”
Mpho Letsholonyane shares love and cheer
Supersport and Power Lunch host Mpho Letsholonyane is partnering with some of South Africa’s most recognisable brands to help spread cheer during lockdown. The campaign, dubbed #LevelsOfHappy will be a month old this week, using her 250 000 strong Instagram page following to share the adoration and joyfulness.
“Being on talk radio has given me somewhat of a front-row seat to the difficulties that people face daily as a result of Covid-19, as people are not able to work or fully fend for their families. All the while trying to keep safe. As a result, I’ve received countless emails and calls from those seeking some form of assistance.
“We’ve had a very difficult past few months as a country. I may not be unable to assist everyone, but this is my way of spreading a little bit of happiness where I can. If I can put a smile on at least one person’s face, I would have done my bit,” she said.
In the coming weeks, fans of the broadcaster can look forward to more giveaways from variety of brands including Unilever, LeCreuset, Openview and Castle while she is also calling on brands to aid her in the cause that will put smiles on thousands of South Africans.
Twelve Facebook leaders from South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya selected as part of the Facebook Community Accelerator Programme
As part of the global Facebook Community Leadership initiative launched in 2018, the Community Accelerator programme invests in leaders who are building communities around the world including bringing people together, offering encouragement, and driving change. Following the call for applications in March 2020, 77 community leaders from around the world were chosen, with 12 selected from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Commenting, Kezia Anim-Addo, Head of Communications for Sub-Saharan Africa said: “We know community leaders can do amazing things when they have adequate support from others, tools to get the job done, funding to grow and belief in themselves. The Facebook Community Accelerator will enable these great communities to make an even greater positive impact in the world, and we hope that through the support of the programme these communities will have extraordinary impact, even in extraordinary times.”
Community leaders selected from across Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa as part of the Facebook Community Accelerator include:
Hauwa Ojeifo, She Writes Woman (Nigeria), Bright Shiitemii, Mental360 (Kenya), Lauren Dallas, Future Females (South Africa) – Tony Onuk, The Root Hub(Nigeria) – Roothub was started in 2014 to provide a safe space for youths to build their ideas, grow their businesses, and access support, Esther Mwikalii, Metta NBO (Kenya) – founded in 2015 as an entrepreneurs’ network with the goal of bringing together founders, policy makers and investors to collaborate, Refilwe Nkomo, Visual Arts Network South Africa (South Africa), Eyitayo Ogunmola, Utiva (Nigeria), Naadiya Moosajee, WomEng (South Africa), Abiodun Adereni, Helpmum (Nigeria), Dillion Phiri, Creative Nestlings (South Africa) – Rufaro Mudimu, Enke (South Africa), Tariro Bure, MINDS (South Africa)
Business moves
Viu South Africa and Discovery announce strategic partnership to entertain South Africans
Viu, a leading pan-regional OTT video service from PCCW Media Group with more than 41 million monthly active users*, has announced its new international content offering for Viu Premium subscribers in South Africa.
Viu South Africa has partnered with Discovery, a leading real-life entertainment company, to bring Discovery’s TLC content to South Africa’s Viu Premium subscribers. Viu Premium subscribers can now access their favourite international reality shows including hit shows such as Cake Boss, 90-Day Fiancé, 90-Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days, Body Bizarre, Dr. Pimple Popper, My 600-Lb Life, and Sister Wives.
Ryan Solovei, Country Manager of Viu South Africa, said, “We take great pride in delivering highly relevant content in the form of local premium shows, international hits and our very own Viu Original productions to entertain our fellow South Africans. With TLC content now as a part of the Viu offering, we are confident that our audiences will have more reasons to keep coming back. We are thankful for the support we have received from audiences as well as our partners in the past year since our launch in the country. This inspires us to keep upping our efforts to delight the South African audience through Viu.”
Sting Content Production creating agile content for the ever-changing landscape
TBWA\South Africa has announced the launch of Sting Content Production, a creative unit which will focus exclusively on agile video production to cater to the growing demand for fast, cost-effective and high-quality video content. In the past two years, Africa has seen explosive growth in consumption of video content with the rise of short video platforms and faster connectivity.
Sting, based in Johannesburg will operate as an independent unit backed by TBWA\ with the ability to create video content at speed from creative ideation through to production. As part of the TBWA\ collective, Sting will also be able to leverage the agencies’ strategic and creative collective in an agile and pragmatic way for clients.
Raphael Gavin will lead the content production unit as the executive producer. “I’m thrilled at the opportunity to head TBWA\’s content production unit,” he said. “Brands today are competing with everything in modern culture for attention, and they need content that is timely, culturally relevant, on brand and in-tune. That’s what Sting, an agile film making collective built to produce creative and engaging content at the speed of culture, will deliver. The studio will add to the creative strength that makes the TBWA\South Africa collective so unique.”
SchoolMedia secures rights to distribute international brand masks
As the epidemic that we are currently faced with unfolds, the wide use of fabric masks has been declared compulsory for all South Africans when leaving their homes or coming into contact with others.
Champion, a well-known, sought after, international clothing brand specialising in sportswear, is heeding to the call by producing high quality, triple layered face masks. Home grown youth marketing agency SchoolMedia has secured full distribution rights of these masks in South Africa.
“As a company active in the youth market, much of our business is centred around activations. Of course, this is impossible now. Among other actions we have taken to pivot the business and our offerings, this is one such move. We wanted to bring a dynamic to the market that perhaps others are not doing at the moment. A face mask that not only protects but also brings joy to people – particularly the youth – and what better way than a cool branded item. The youth after all do love a good clothing brand,” said Khethi Ngwenya, entrepreneur and CEO of SchoolMedia.
The masks can be purchased through the Champion pop up store.
AMPlify signs industry heavyweights DJ Cuppy and Shimza
AMPlify, the recently launched Arts & Entertainment division of Eclipse Communications, has added renowned Nigerian DJ, producer and philanthropist, DJ Cuppy and local homegrown star Shimza to their burgeoning and prestigious client list. The team will be working with DJ Cuppy on her upcoming global album launch, and a special project with Shimza.
Said head of new business at AMPlify, Kate Thompson-Duwe, “We are so excited to have just launched AMPlify and already have two artists of this calibre on our books. We have huge plans for both artists, so watch this space!”
Data collection app transforming business efficiency & readiness
SafeCol Light is new app-based solution that aims to transfigure the way businesses are able to capture, store and analyse important data during the screening process on every individual, employee and visitor to a business on a daily basis.
A total of seven regulations drive employers to take specific precautionary measures to monitor and mitigate any and all risk.
With predications of singular screenings having to remain in place for at least the next 12 to 18 months, businesses need to adopt and implement efficient, fast and accurate record-keeping systems that are complaint to legislation while being sustainable for long-term use.
The SafeCol app was built to reform the health and safety industry, transferring all paper-heavy checks into a safe and secure cloud-hosted system that is easily accessible and fast to use. In previous months, the developers of SafeCol were able to accurately predict the sudden need for tools that enable data capturing in the face of a looming uncertain future.
The app is free to download on the AppStore and PlayStore, suitable for Apple and Android devices. It is hosted and developed in the UK making it accessible and usable acr
Making moves
Tsebo Solutions Group and WantedTech team up to bridge the digital divide for offline learners
Tsebo Solutions Group has become one of the first South African corporate donors to give a gadget via the new online technology donation platform, WantedTech.org, with 27 laptops and 13 desktop PCs donated in an initiative championed by Tsebo’s IT Department.
WantedTech is a social enterprise with a digital platform that allows private and corporate donors to connect directly with tech savvy applicants to donate computers that can help scholars and students access online resources and flourish academically in an increasingly digital world.
The used but fully functioning devices are distributed based on the specific needs and aspirations of each applicant as well as their geographic location. By matching donors with applicants who are nearby, WantedTech offers a more direct way around many of the issues that have traditionally come with distribution and logistics in underserved communities.
The WantedTech platform allows corporate donors to choose who they donate to. Tsebo, selected learners in Grade 11 and 12, as well as first year university, college and TVET students for their laptop donations. In addition, desktop computers were distributed to young applicants in charity and education from underserviced communities throughout South Africa.
For the Diary
Africa Internet Summit, 2020 to take place online
The Africa Internet Summit, 2020 (AIS’20)is set to take place online on 14-18 September 2020. This is the first time the annual meeting is held online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The meeting was scheduled to take place in the Democratic Republic of Congo in June 2020.
The Africa Internet Summit, 2020will provide a platform for technocrats, government and business to discuss policies, trends and challenges in growing Internet for sustainable development in Africa and the Indian Ocean Region. The registration and meeting platform details for the event will be shared soon.
