The Media Online’s weekly round up of people, account and business moves in media.
This week’s BIG move: Conversation LAB Holdings launches paid media specialist agency, Media LAB
Independent agency group, Conversation LAB Holdings, has formed new digital paid media specialist operation, Media LAB, to sit alongside Conversation LAB and Power LAB in the stable.
Media LAB is a coming together of Conversation LAB media business and boutique international Google specialist agency, MJ Media. Bridgette Donnelly, co-founder of MJ Media, has been appointed managing director of the new company.
Donnelly joins two other women managing directors in the Conversation LAB group, namely newly appointed Uyanda Manana who is MD of digital agency Conversation LAB, and Megan Power, MD of Power LAB, a strategic communications, reputation management and customer experience agency.
This powerful and highly experienced trio of women will collaborate in offering a broad set of specialist skills and expertise, under one roof, to the South African and UK markets.
The new agency boasts a wide range of clients in both South Africa and UK, including Environ Skin Care (local and global digital media account), ADvTECH Group (Varsity College, Crawford Schools, Trinity House and more), aQuelle social media, Compendium Bidvest Insurance, Bloom Financial Services, Samsonite, Party Pieces eCommerce UK and a range of partner agencies in the UK that leverage Media LAB’s specialist offering.
Media LAB has extensive ecommerce and lead generation experience covering search, shopping, display and YouTube locally and globally. It is both a Google and Facebook partner agency.
Donnelly spent three years in London with leading digital agency, Jellyfish before returning to set up Jellyfish SA – the first international office of the Jellyfish Group back in 2007 – building it into a profitable paid media resource centre to support UK and US Offices. In 2011, she broke away from Jellyfish SA and formed MJ Media which she successfully co-owned for nine years.
“Bridgette is one of the most experienced Google media specialists in South Africa and a consummate entrepreneur,” said Kevin Power, group MD of Conversation LAB Holdings. “We are delighted to join forces with her and scale our media offering as we continue to hone our services in the performance marketing and eCommerce space. Her track record speaks for itself and she is the right person to lead and run our dedicated digital paid media offering.
Said Donnelly: “Launching Media LAB with the team at Conversation LAB group is hugely exciting for me. The opportunity to form a bigger operation has presented itself before, but with Conversation LAB and the exciting changes that are taking place here, it was an easy decision to make. Merges are as much about people and personalities as about skills and competencies and all boxes were ticked on this one. The opportunity to work with Uyanda and Megan, and the rest of the broader agency team, is hugely motivational.
People moves
Godfrey Mutizwa appointed chief editor for CNBC Africa
CNBC Africa has appointed veteran journalist, Godfrey Mutizwa, as its chief editor. Mutizwa takes over from Chris Bishop who after more than a decade with the ABN Group, has announced that he will be stepping down at the end of October after which he is planning on returning to the UK.
“Chris has been a great asset to our business and has served the organization in different roles including managing editor of Forbes Africa. While his departure is a great loss for our company, we wish him the very best in his future endeavours” said Roberta Naicker, group managing director of ABN Group.
Mutizwa is a familiar face at the ABN Group, as he was a former chief-editor at CNBC Africa, where he was responsible for overseeing all aspects of programming for the channel. His mandate included implementation of CNBC Africa’s editorial policies, co-ordinating the African bureaus, training and mentorship of journalists, reporters and producers. Mutizwa has covered the African business story for the past 29 years across various print and broadcast platforms, working for both regional and international media. He understands the potential of African economies and markets and has participated in key stakeholder events across the continent.
Xoli Mngambi joins Newzroom Afrika to anchor morning show
Award-winning television journalist and news anchor Xoli Mngambi will be joining Newzroom Afrika from 1 October as the host of Newsfeed AM between 9am and midday, from Mondays to Thursdays.
“There’s a really refreshing energy and passion in the way they go about their work and I love the channel’s emphasis on putting people at the heart of the story. I’m excited about the possibilities ahead, for myself and Newzroom Afrika,” Mngambi said.
Over a television career of more than a decade, Mngambi has covered business, current affairs and politics for CNBC Africa and eNCA. Along with the morning news slot, Mngambi will host a new show on Sundays between 3pm and 6pm. Newzroom Afrika’s News Director Katy Katopodis said she was thrilled to welcome Mngambi to the team.
“He is a consummate professional whose depth of experience and knowledge make him an authoritative voice on South African current affairs. We’re very happy that Xoli has chosen Newzroom Afrika as the platform for the next chapter in his stellar career,” said news director, Katopodis.
Business moves
D6 platform launches ad platform that will reach millions of parents
An innovative community-focused advertising platform has emerged as a new opportunity for South African brands and businesses to successfully reach school going children and their families.
And the best part is: Education wins too, as schools share in the ad-revenue. The d6 platform is used as a communication tool by more than 2 500 schools across South Africa – covering news, announcements, calendars, child-specific detail, payment facilitation and other crucial information which goes out to each schools “digital community” of parents and stakeholders.
“Audiences of parents-of-children are a crucial, niche market,” reported Willem Kitshoff. “But in these school-to-parent relationships: It’s all about trust. “Parents entrust their children to their schools, and so schools inevitably occupy extremely high levels of trust with parents. Therefore, if advertisers are endorsed by a school, parents will often display strong loyalty and affection towards the advertiser,” Kitshoff explained.
With more than a million online eyeballs focused on the d6 app, schools have a large captive audience. And that presents a healthy advertising opportunity.
Brands which have leapt to invest in this innovative advertising platform include: Outsurance, Vodacom, Woolworths, Caltex and MasterMaths – to name only a few.
For schools, the d6 advertising opportunity includes a “share-of-profit” relationship through d6 Rewards, which can develop into a healthy income stream for schools.
The Lime Envelope announces new client appointments
The Covid-19 pandemic has irreversibly changed how companies communicate and operate. That’s the word from Sarah Martin, Agency director of public relations agency, The Lime Envelope. As lockdown restrictions were implemented, businesses that traditionally relied on face-to-face interaction with clients and staff had to find new ways to operate – and fast.
The company has announced the acquisition of three new clients: Biodx is breaking boundaries by helping to evolve the future of disinfection.
Campus Party made its South African debut from in July, bringing South Africa – and the world – three days of live, on-demand conferences, with one global main stage and five topical stages.
Hawk Pumps is a manufacturing company that primarily supplies industrial high-pressure pumping and cleaning equipment. to specific customer needs.
Registry Lock now available
In 2017, the ZA Central Registry NPC (ZACR) in collaboration with the ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA), launched Domain Name Security (DNSSEC) to provide members within the domain name value chain with an assurance that a .ZA domain name address could be trusted.
In the past, concerns have been raised around the lack of adequate security measures related to the .ZA domain name system.
After a process of policy development and approvals from the local and international domain name authorities of ZADNA and ICANN respectively, the ZACR now offers this further layer of protection for the EPP-based domain names under its management.
‘Registry Lock is a function that can now be activated at the Registry level to prevent the unauthorised transfer of domain names for the following domain name extensions: co.za| net.za |org.za|web.za as well as the four gTLDs of .africa |.capetown |.durban and .joburg,’ said ZACR CEO, Lucky Masilela.
Making moves
Moving Tactics driving skills development in the Digital Signage Industry
The current economic climate makes it so much harder for the youth to get a foot in the employment door. To address this issue and create employment opportunities in the digital signage industry, Moving Tactics, a South African digital signage solutions company, has partnered with the Yes4Youth initiative that gives businesses a chance to develop work experience and create employment for the youth via a 12-month internship programme.
According to Chris Day, managing director at Moving Tactics, the company has supported this initiative for the past two years and has, to date, provided internship work opportunities for 15 youths.
“We have a variety of new learnership work opportunities available that allow us to expose the digital signage industry to the youth of South Africa and give them an opportunity to get much needed work experience in this field. It’s an excellent way to get placed in a company, make a difference and, hopefully, get a foothold in this business,” says Day.
Moving Tactics is rolling out 12 new learnerships this year in project management, business administration and software development internally and externally, to name a few.
Current intern, Vuyolwethu Singqoto, who has a certificate in Data Analytics and a Diploma in Human Resource Management, has been at Moving Tactics’ Cape Town office for the past seven months. “I have always had part-time jobs while trying to balance school full-time and work during the school holidays. The only real job I’ve had was working at my father’s Trailer Hire and manufacturing business as an office all-rounder. When I saw the advert for this internship, it ticked all my boxes.”
If you’re interested in applying for any of the learnerships at Moving Tactics, check out the website at //movingtactics.co.za/about-moving-tactics/learnerships/ or get in touch with the Yes4Youth initiative.
For the Diary
One-day interactive masterclass
Deon Binneman, the Reputation Go-to Guy is hosting a one-day, interactive masterclass called How to Market your Consulting Practice on 9 October at the Hotel Apollo in Randburg aimed at independent consultants, business developers, freelancers and professional service providers.
The theme for the masterclass is Rethink. Rewrite. Boost your Marketing Efforts of your Practice.
- Date: Friday, 9th October
- Venue: Apollo Conferencing Hotel, Randburg, Johannesburg
More info here.
