The Media Online’s weekly round up of people, account and business moves in media.
This week’s BIG move: Ads24 opens up a new advertising world for media agencies and owners
The media sector continues to operate within a faltering economy which led to an 8% drop in total advertising spend in 2020 over 2019. Google and Facebook have aggressively grown their share of market spend and ADvTECH continues to disrupt the way we transact, deliver and measure the efficacy of advertising campaigns. Against this backdrop media owners have had to dig deep, keep staff motivated, agency relationships strong, and deliver new products that meet high client expectations.
A prime example of tackling these challenges has resulted in innovation from Media24, who some years back, took stock of their array of media assets and began developing a multi-platform sales strategy to address the needs of agencies and clients. This move focused on the power of multi-platforms to ensure reach while the more recent development of Advertiser Funded Programmes (AFPs) offers the market an innovative and collaborative approach to creating content that is both trustworthy and impactful.
Ads24 has made deep and meaningful changes to how and what they sell and how they deliver against client expectations. Armed with an offering of multi-platforms across brands and AFPs, the sales team is finding doors are opening and agencies and clients enthuse about the opportunity to reach mass markets using multiple touch points, plus the prospect of working with Ads24 and their Content Hub to create messaging that will appear across trusted media environments.
Tian Liebenberg, business development manager: inland and AFP, has a decade of experience in selling Ads24 brands, says: “This allows us to have a conversation with agencies and their clients that goes way beyond circulation and a single platform sale, to a discussion around reaching communities using multiple touch points and exceeding reach expectations. And to do this without being prescriptive, the nuance lies in our listening skills.”
The multi-platform offering covers four segments, Local, Mass, Afrikaans and Sunday audiences, and over 30 platforms across Television, Print, Digital and Content Marketing, while Advertising Funded Platforms (AFPs) offer a collaborative approach to suit client objectives and budgets. With an emphasis on maintaining content credibility and using the best skills to deliver projects, media strategists and planners are looping in clients and other agencies such as PR and Digital.
Samantha Africa, business development manager coastal and digital, is upbeat: “Our full-service integrated solutions which are omni-platform and across brands, now include AFPs which set us apart from Google and Facebook, clients see the value in a multifaceted approach, and appreciate the fact that our content is trusted and will resonate with communities. In addition to reach, frequency and impact we can illustrate how brands care and give back, with content that touches the heart strings of our mass audiences. We make the sales process easy by involving all interested parties – from us to agency to client and back – and we offer compelling content across trusted environments. “
People moves
From ‘caged’ to becoming ‘Free Range Humans’, two SA women share journey in new global series
Free Range Humans,an original, digital content series from Corona Studios, is airing on YouTube. The series follows eight extraordinary people – including two South Africans – who left their unfulfilling indoor lives to follow their passions and live an authentic, purpose-driven life close to nature.
The launch of Free Range Humans showed Clifford Young being released from a giant glass box where he had spent 15 hours a day for five days, living his life indoors and online, symbolic of a “caged” modern lifestyle. The other actors, Amahle Mtengenya and Nina Erasmus, who were also “boxed” in similar circumstances in Sandton City and Fourways Mall, respectively, were also released.
Starring Mzansi’s first black free diving instructor, Zandile Ndhlovu, and Cape foodie forager, Roushanna Gray, in Free Range Humansboth share how they disconnected from their previous careers and turned their passions into a fulfilling, outdoor, lifestyle.
“Most of us spend 90% of our lives indoors and online, missing out on so much that life has to offer. Lately this has been felt even more keenly and has caused people to question their way of life. It’s resulted in a global phenomenon where people want to find ways to disconnect from routine and reconnect with nature while living their lives & passions with purpose. The first season of Free Range Humans is about eight people who have done just that,” says Corona Africa Marketing Manager, Melanie Nicholson.
All eight episodes of Free Range Humans from Corona Studios can be viewed on Corona’s YouTube channel and other social platforms starting today at coronaafrica.com and YouTube.com/Corona.
Local female firefighter featured in global film, shatters gender stereotypes
Content marketing specialists, Fell + Co, have celebrated the global launch of ‘Her Way’, a short film for Salomon’s International WMN campaign.
Taking just over a year to produce, while navigating cross-border Covid-19 challenges, the film celebrates three incredible and humble women from South Africa, New Zealand and the United States of America. From completely different cultures and backgrounds, these women are brought together through one common trait – their determination to do things their way.
Born in the small town of Beaufort West, South Africa, Vuyiseka Arendse began volunteering as a firefighter when she was 19. Now 26, the single mother and family breadwinner works for the NCC in Cape Town as a member of the Juliet Crew, the first-ever all-female firefighting team in the country, protecting local landmarks from wildfires in the Western Cape region.
The concept evolved from the 2019 Salomon WMN campaign, whereby women were displaying their defiance of common stereotypes. This year’s campaign focuses on sharing real stories of women who simply lived as though these stereotypes did not exist. Capturing this in a documentary style was crucial in relaying an authentic message that women could truly get behind.
Royal Flush for Sandi Burger as she bids farewell to Wild Coast Sun after 35 years
Three generations of guests have come through the doors of the Wild Coast Sun on the Eastern Cape border since Sandi Burger started working at the Resort in 1986, and it’s these faces that the PR and promotions manager will miss most when she retires at the end of April 2021.
“First the fathers came, they brought their sons, and now come with their grandsons. Our regular clients make Wild Coast Sun like a big family, and it’s like a reunion on an on-going basis,” Burger said.
Her journey with the Resort started in 1986 as promotions secretary. “I came from an advertising agency in Johannesburg but was already familiar with the area as my family had a holiday home on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal,” Burger explained.
With such a long work history at the property, Burger has held various roles, including promotions coordinator, working for the convention centre and also inside the casino as MVG and Gaming Promotions Manager, before becoming the complex promotions manager, and later, the marketing manager.
Business moves
AdFreeway launches Advertising Cohorts in South Africa
Digitalpioneers, Kevin Bermeister (think Skype and Kazaa) and Johannes (Jo) Booysen (Yonder), have partnered to launch what they believe is the next evolution in digital advertising – AdFreeway. AdFreeway is a platform that rewards everyone in the digital advertising journey.
For the first time, audience ethics are addressed in a model where data is directly acquired from the consumer and doesn’t belong to the platform.
Combining the best of both worlds, AdFreeway has created a user cohort paradigm where audiences who engage with online advertising – by means of a thumbs up or down vote – are rewarded for their input and the performance value they bring, through a universal cohort to global advertising campaigns. These rewards are redeemed (after registration) via the AdFreeway platform and come in various different guises – cash, product, free airtime, substantial discounts etc.
The SA know-how that powers fundraising at the 125th Boston Marathon
When GivenGain, a global leader in cross-border crowdfunding for non-profits, was named the official fundraising partner of the Boston Marathon recently, the team rightfully celebrated a stunning achievement 20 years in the making. The story has much for South Africans to enjoy too. GivenGain was founded by two South African entrepreneurs and maintains its most active office in Stellenbosch, supporting SA charities with the help of a growing global army of fundraisers and cutting-edge platform innovations developed in partnership with global events like the Boston Marathon.
It all started with a dream shared by brothers Johannes and Jaco van Eeden in 2001. “As the sons of a pastor we wanted to put into practice what we were taught – that it is more blessed to give than to receive,” says Johannes, co-founder and member of the GivenGain Foundation Board. “Then, when Jaco needed to send money back home from the US, where he was working as a young graduate, we knew we had the beginnings of an idea.”
Today, the GivenGain platform is registered as a non-profit foundation in Switzerland and has teams working from Stellenbosch, Villars-sur-Ollon in Switzerland, London and Detroit. Its service benefits charities in 81 countries and events in 29, supported by donors and fundraisers in 194.
Disney launches Ultimate Princess Celebration in partnership with Casual Day
The Walt Disney Company Africa has launched the Ultimate Princess Celebrationin South Africa, joining the global year-long event spotlighting the courage and kindness these Disney heroines and their stories inspire in fans of all ages.
To kick off the celebration, a new, empowering short storybook collection, will be released. Entitled Tales of Courage and Kindness, the 14 original stories feature unique illustrations by artists from around the world and demonstrate how the Disney Princesses, as well as Queens Anna and Elsa, exemplify these qualities, each in her own way. Seeking to inspire them to create a kinder world, Tales of Courage and Kindness is being gifted to kids and families and will be available for free download, beginning today through the end of August at DisneyPrincessStories.co.za.
“Disney stories are timeless, and while each Disney Princess character has her own admirable qualities, courage and kindness connect them all,” says Luke Roberts, General Manager, Consumer Products, Games and Publishing, The Walt Disney Company Africa. “We hope that Tales of Courage and Kindness, our collaboration with Casual Day as well as the many other planned initiatives in the Ultimate Princess Celebration, will help inspire audiences to celebrate and share these qualities, all helping to create a kinder world.”
Deezer’s new embeddable widget player adds instant audio to any website
Deezer has launched its new online widget player for mobile websites and desktop. Whether you’re a website publisher, artist or just looking for a new way to share music, the move makes it easy to integrate audio into online and social content. The player has been revamped with brand new features and users are able to favourite and share any tracks, podcasts, playlists and albums.
“Whether you’re an artist promoting an album, or a die-hard music lover that wants to share an amazing track, our customised widgets are designed to help you get heard. All you need to follow is our simple three-step process to embed any widget of your choice. The only hard part is deciding what you want to share and preview,” said Nicolas Pinoteau, Director of Partnership Solutions at Deezer.
To start including the widget into your articles, blogs and posts, simply head to widget.deezer.com.
LMX collaborates with CAASie.co to accelerate adoption of automated and audience-driven OOH
Location Media Xchange (LMX), the supply-side arm of the Moving Walls Group, has announced their partnership with CAASie.co, an Australian-built online ad platform, to accelerate the adoption of automated audience-driven Out-of-Home (OOH).
The collaboration brings together two of the most innovative companies in the OOH space, bringing end-to-end OOH of home buying experience to SME and agencies. LMX will enable CAASie.co’s self-serve OOH marketplace and provide advertisers with global access to an inventory of more than 35 000 screens across Southeast Asia.
The outdoor advertising industry was heavily impacted by Covid-related lockdowns, driving one of the oldest ad formats into the digital age. It has nudged stakeholders into adopting data and technology platforms that help link media spends to outcomes, which is a standard for its online counterpart.
VRJAM & Winter Music Conference announce the WMCV new music showcase
VRJAM and Winter Music Conference have announced a partnership that will offer DJs and producers from across the globe the opportunity to perform as part of WMC’s prestigious WMCV New Music Showcase, a platform for both established and emerging to present their music to the world.
Globally recognised electronic music culture platform EDM.com have joined as the official media partners for the WMCV Music Programme and will be working closely with the WMCV team to help bring The New Music Showcase to life.
As a part of the first ever digital edition of Winter Music Conference, which takes place on 20th and 21st May; a fascinating array of live music performances from some of the world’s hottest artists and labels will be streamed live to the web using next generation VR technology provided by VRJAM.
VRJAM’s VR music venue and content platform, 5th Dimension, will be used as the official (virtual) venue for the WMCV New Music Showcase, which goes live over two days via Twitch and inside VR
Making moves
A billion ways to save endangered colour
Endangered Colour is an OPPO campaign supporting National Geographic Society and its wildlife conservation efforts along with a content series created by Joel Sartore, National Geographic photographer. Through a series of images and short films captured on the OPPO Find X3 Pro, audiences can experience nature from a new perspective and discover a world full of unimaginable colour.
Each Endangered Colour episode focuses on a single colour – red, green, or blue; and celebrates nine species at risk of extinction. From the brilliant fur of the red panda to the bright blue skin of the poison dart frog, it is hard to imagine life without these spectacular colour. The rate of species extinction is alarming, and we are fast-losing these incredible scenes in the wild. Through raw and unfiltered, billion-colour footage, Endangered Colour brings the true colour and textures of nature to life with 100 percent accuracy, preserving them far into the future.
OPPO supports National Geographic’s mission to protect the health of the planet. As part of the Endangered Colour campaign, OPPO will donate USD $500,000 to National Geographic Society to help support the National Geographic Society’s wildlife conservation efforts at large including Photo Ark* and the Photo Ark EDGE Fellowship*.
Channeling your CSI spend through the MAMAS
There is no doubt thatCorporate Social Investment (CSI) has become an intrinsic part of today’s business environment. A well planned, thorough, and effective CSI programme can not only result in tremendous lasting impact for communities around South Africa but is also a key component and critical differentiator for any company.
According to the Trialogue Business in Society Handbook released in November 2020, South African companies spent an estimated R10.7 billion on CSI in the 2020 financial year.
Many companies might not have the capacity to manage their CSI spend in-house and might also be unaware of the option to collaborate with reputable CSI Agencies such as MAMAS Alliance, who can manage the whole CSI process from start to finish.
“We welcome corporate South Africa to engage with us, to work with us to better the lives of our children and youth while providing a service to take care of all your CSI logistics. This truly is a winning partnership, with the ultimate winner being a South African child in need,” says Magali Malherbe, managing director of MAMAS Alliance.
What makes this organisation unique is that it works at no cost, with a guarantee to all companies that 100% of the funds invested in a CSI project go directly to the intended NGO, and subsequently the intended beneficiary. The ability of MAMAS Alliance to work at no cost is possible because the costs are borne by Children’s Fund MAMAS, a Dutch charity that has been co-funding dozens of childcare organisations across South Africa since 2000.
