*The Media Online’s weekly round up of people, account and business moves in media.
This week’s BIG move: RAPT Creative wins business in Europe, opens offices in the UK and Ukraine
On the back of substantial new business won in Europe at the end of 2020, RAPT Creative has opened satellite offices in the United Kingdom (London) and Ukraine (Kiev). RAPT’s presence in Europe will be overseen by the agency’s head of strategy & consumer insight, Genevieve van Vuuren, who is based in London.
A strategic, innovative and executional through-the-line agency specialising in concept development, digital, point-of-sale, PR, live event production and activation, RAPT was appointed by the Export and Licence division of Molson Coors Beverage Company (MCB) as the experiential, activation and concept creative agency for Miller Genuine Draft, Coors Lager and Staropromen in Europe, Africa and parts of Asia.
From inception, the agency has had a vision of being a proudly South African company that takes on the world in its own backyard.
“We are really pleased with the MCB win, as it gives us a toe in the door for future work in Europe and Asia,” said RAPT managing director, Garreth van Vuuren. “The agency was founded on the philosophy of being the ‘anti-agency agency’ and flipped the way client-agency relationships history work … a philosophy rooted in wanting to do cool shit with cool people.”
Business moves
Long-standing partners, Mastercard and Uber extend their partnership
Uber’s long-term partnership with Mastercard continues to grow with a new strategic initiative focusing on digital payments and advancing financial inclusions which will be facilitated by Mastercard across the Middle East and Africa (MEA).
As a regional first, the partnership with Mastercard will enable Uber to drive digitisation across their business operations, leveraging Mastercard’s single infrastructure to meet all types of payments needs across Uber Rides, Uber Eats, Uber Pass, and Uber for Business.
It is intended that the partnership will boost cashless payments, drive digital payment acceptance, reward loyalty, while supporting Uber’s continued social impact collaboration.
The Economy 2021 report released by Mastercard notes that the economic impact of COVID-19 has introduced permanent changes in digital consumer spending habits, growth of online banking, fintech disruption and opportunities to boost financial inclusion.
Through the partnership, both companies can bridge the financial inclusion gap through a broad range of efforts.
gfknewron 2.0: exciting new features to boost product revenue and take market share
Up to now, brands have had to spend 80% of their time sorting through the reams of market data, leaving just 20% of their time for the critical decision-making off the back of that data. gfknewron has flipped that around. Driven by powerful AI that is continuously validated by GfK’s experts, it gives instant access to GfK’s independent, predictive analytics for tech consumer goods across 27 countries – and counting. Clients are using gfknewron to cut through the market noise and find signals that show what is coming.
The latest features in a continuing path of upgrades now help GfK’s clients improve their marketing and trade spend, and inject a significantly improved KPI-driven drumbeat into their commercial organizations.
Peter Feld, GfK’s CEO, said: “gfknewron 2.0 is a milestone in our transformation into a provider of AI-enabled intelligence ‘at your fingertips’, together with consultancy, within tech consumer goods. Over the past two years, we have worked hand in hand with our clients to create a revolutionary tool ready to propel growth for our clients. Launching at a time when worldwide disruption has torn up normal market patterns, many of our top clients are already using it to see what’s coming and move fast in taking decisions for sustainable business growth.”
BIC partners with Teko Modise for Flex 2 shaver launch
BIC partnered with former football star and sports analyst, Teko Modise, to launch its new Flex 2 shaver in South Africa. As part of this partnership, the renowned football star will become the face of the new two-blade shaver and an ambassador of the brand.
The brand chose to partner with Teko for the launch of its new razor as he is someone who is always on the go and needs the right razor to match his pace.
Teko recently tried the BIC Flex 2 razor and was pleasantly surprised by the results. “I am very excited to be partnering with BIC on the launch of their new razor. I’ve seldom used different brands and my skin didn’t always have the best reaction. I have put the BIC Flex 2 blades to the test and I am very impressed with how it performed. I believe that shaving should not be a tiresome experience and the right shaver can leave skin feeling smooth giving men the confidence they need to go out and achieve their dreams.”
Further Together: Vodacom celebrates collaborative power of technology and human ambition
As the world transitions to recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vodacom is celebrating what the human spirit can achieve when combined with technology. With the announcement of a new brand tagline, ‘Further Together’ it places the emphasis on how – through partnerships and collaboration – it is possible to connect everyone to the digital economy so that no one is left behind, says Balesh Sharma, managing director Vodacom South Africa.
‘Further Together’ echoes Vodacom’s Africa.Connected stakeholder engagement approach, which identifies public-private partnerships as a key cornerstone of continued success in the digitalisation of the continent. Strong collaboration will build a future that is fair, inclusive and sustainable.
Boomtown’s new campaign for Maxeco celebrates 30 years – 10-million pairs – of iconic safety footwear
South Africa’s iconic safety footwear brand, Maxeco, celebrates 30 years – and 10-million pairs – of protecting the country’s hardworking workforce with a new campaign from Nelson Mandela Bay agency, Boomtown.
Maxeco’s owner, Lemaitre, is a pioneer of South Africa’s safety footwear industry. In 1991, it used its first direct injection moulding machine to create Maxeco, the first double-density PU1 safety boot to be manufactured in the country.
“Since then, Maxeco has gone on to become South Africa’s number one selling safety footwear brand. Across construction sites, mines, farms and factories, almost 10 million pairs have helped realise the dream of a stronger South Africa by protecting the millions of workers who built it. That’s no small feat,” punned Boomtown’s CEO, Glen Meier.
“The campaign asks the question ‘Is Maxeco the most beautiful shoe in the country?’ To look at it, the answer is obviously ‘no’, because safety footwear and style don’t often go hand in hand. However, given Maxeco’s pioneering spirit, there’s more to it than meets the eye,” Meier explained.
The Unlimited reveals new corporate identity
To change is to undergo transformation. As a brand that looks into the future, aiming to unlimit people’s lives, The Unlimited realised that their corporate identity was not an accurate reflection of who they are. This philosophy of being unlimited even extends to the very nature of their business: The Unlimited is unconstrained by a product category.
Integrated brand and communications group Joe Public United’s strategic brand design team, Joe Public Shift, was tasked to create a new identity that would capture the essence of a brand as captivating, arresting and disruptive as The Unlimited.
“We knew we had to think outside the box and take a completely unconventional approach to this rebranding project. The new brand identity needed to be built off the principles behind this business – whose representation pays homage to the core reason they exist – to unlimit people’s lives long into the future while always challenging the status quo. We got it right,” commented Terri-Leigh Cassel, Joe Public Shift’s managing partner.
Emerging from Joe Public’s Cape Town agency, The Unlimited’s new identity is a perfect representation of who they are. The new font is bold, unapologetic and uncompromising, it reflects The Unlimited’s authentic challenger narrative of being completely ‘un’. All the weights and styles have been merged into one variable font, making it completely unique and allows The Unlimited to express however and whatever they feel.
TCS Embarks on a new brand direction
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a global IT services, consulting & business solutions organisation, has unveiled a new brand statement, ‘Building on Belief’, to articulate its mission and relationship with customers as it embarks on its next decade of transformation-led growth.
The new brand vision encapsulates the active and collaborative role that TCS plays in partnering with customers over the long term, leveraging its contextual knowledge, investments in research and innovation, and technology expertise to help them grow, and achieve their purpose-led transformation goals. It also reflects TCS’ own belief that it, along with its customers, can harness collective knowledge to innovate in ways that result in better futures for individuals, communities and the planet.
Making moves
Canon South Africa pledges support for Yes4youth
The YES initiative is the perfect embodiment of Canon’s corporate philosophy of Kyosei and the spirit of cooperation, said Canon South Africa’s human resources director, Christine Masinga.
Thanks to the Youth Employment Service (YES), which was launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018, business is now becoming the most powerful driver of transformation and growth for the great reset. By creating critical work experience for young people around the country, it’s already resulted in over 50 000 work experiences for previously unemployed youths and deployed over R2.8 billion into the economy.
“The YES initiative is important to Canon,” said HR director, Christine Masinga. “As an organisation, one of our core drivers is sustainability. A programme like YES promotes skills development and youth employment, which ultimately helps to alleviate poverty and unemployment. It’s an inspiring initiative that’s meant to drive long-term economic and societal change.”
As part of its annual pledge, Canon South Africa has partnered with LFP Training for the implementation of the YES programme. This year, 33 youths have been selected to receive the training and support to start them on their journey towards building a successful career and better future.
Invitation to submit proposals for the NFVF/Netflix Micro Budget Films Project.
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport Arts and Culture and Netflix, in association with Indigenous Film Distribution, are calling for micro-budget film proposals. This collaboration looks to create new opportunities for emerging filmmakers in the local film industry after many productions have had to cancel or postpone due to Covid-19 and the nationwide lockdown. The aim of this fund is to help alleviate the pressure filmmakers face to raise funding and will assist in the alleviation of low job creation currently faced by the sector.
This partnership will fund 6 micro-budget feature films at 100% of the production budgets. Specific attention will be paid to creatives who have at least two short films and venturing into their first and second time as feature writers, directors and producers. Preference will be given to compelling, character-driven narratives in genres that are original and demonstrate a filmmaker’s unique vision. Films should also be culturally-authentic with a global appeal.
All projects should be at final stages of development. Applications will close on 07 May 2021.
Kindly email all application queries to Applications@nfvf.co.za and all content queries to Refiloe Hlabioa at refiloeh@nfvf.co.za or Nadine Cloete at nadinec@nfvf.co.za
*This column was edited to remove two appointments. 10.45am on 6 May 2021.
