The Media Online’s weekly round up of people, account and business moves in media.
This week’s BIG move: Book your tickets for the much-anticipated Pamro media conference
The Pan African Media Research Organisation (Pamro), the industry forum for businesses operating in the media research, measurement and analytical space, is hosting its 23rd annual conference on 24 October in Cape Town
The much-anticipated conference will see like-minded media owners, marketers, brand managers and advertising executives exchange meaningful research methodologies by consolidating meaningful data available.
Themed, Elevating Media Measurement and Evaluation in a Resilient Africa, this two-day event will be a hybrid affair, after meeting virtually only for two years. In-person attendees will convene at the Radisson Blu Waterfront Conference Centre in Cape Town.
During the conference experts will share their successes, challenges and failures in a quest to help delegates learn from one another, to build better strategies for doing business in Africa. The conference allows the sharing of invaluable insights from leading players, assisting in improving the industry as a whole.
Conference sessions will encompass a variety of formats including panel discussions, case studies, presentation of papers and outcomes from media audience research activities.
Register for the conference and get an opportunity to rub shoulders with industry heads at our networking session on 23 October.
People moves
Lana Marais appointed regional director for emerging markets, dentsu Africa
Lana Marais, former new business and client director, has taken on a new role as regional director, emerging markets for dentsu Africa. With 14 years’ experience within dentsu, Marais has played an integral part in the expansion of dentsu across the African continent, delivering exceptional results which has seen her fast became one of dentsu Africa’s youngest directors in 2016.
She will take on the responsibility of driving profitable growth and operational excellence across a number of dentsu Africa’s emerging markets, with key focus on Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Uganda, Senegal, Cote Ivoire and Cameroon, reporting into dentsu SSA regional CEO, Dawn Rowlands.
Commenting on her new role, Marais said: “I am incredibly excited to step-change how we drive growth across Africa, creating a unique culture of integration across the region, and collaboratively build the success of dentsu Africa with the very talented teams in these markets – simplifying complexity and chasing big ambitions.”
Mazars in South Africa appoints Anoop Ninan as CEO
With the mandate for the term of its co-CEO occupancy culminating at the end of August, Mazars in South Africa has appointed Anoop Ninan as its sole CEO.
Ninan has been with the firm for 16 years and since 2018, has acted as co-CEO alongside Michelle Olckers. Olckers will continue to hold a key position on the executive committee and remains managing director at the Mazars Cape Town office.
Asked about his role, Ninan said that he was excited to lead Mazars into the next chapter of the firm’s evolution. “It’s an exciting phase to be involved in, with so many positive opportunities that we can build on. As one of South Africa’s top auditing firms, our goal is to advance the strategy of the business while keeping our focus firmly fixed on our people and service delivery, as well as technology and innovation.”
Laila Harrak Joins CNN International
Laila Harrak is joining CNN International as an anchor at the network’s headquarters in Atlanta. She will anchor Europe morning editions of CNN Newsroom on Saturday and Sunday as well as weekday news programs.
Harrak comes to CNN International from Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, where she spent nine years as an anchor for the network’s Berlin-based world news broadcasts. Most recently she played a pivotal part in its extensive coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, interviewing decision-makers, activists and humanitarians while also focusing on Germany’s response to the war.
Before joining Deutsche Welle, Harrak spent 10 years with the Associated Press, covering the European Union, NATO, war crime tribunals in The Hague, and major stories across the Middle East, West Africa, and in Kosovo.
Born and raised in The Netherlands, Harrak spent part of her childhood in Tangier, Morocco. She speaks English, Dutch, Arabic, French, German and conversational Italian.
Business moves
Nedbank enters the metaverse
As the digital economic voyage into the metaverse starts to accelerate, major players in trade and industry are poised to develop custom experiences in this digitally enhanced world, which is being heralded as the future of ecommerce. Leading financial institution Nedbank has collaborated with Africarare, Africa’s first metaverse, and secured a 12×12 village in Ubuntuland on which to establish its presence as the first African financial services organisation to enter the metaverse.
This forms part of the financial services group’s strategy to lead in digital, go beyond banking, discover new marketing platforms and leverage new technology to better serve its customers and stay at the forefront through forward-thinking solutions.
The Nedbank village with a focus on customer value and services, will contain numerous experiences ranging from virtual gaming, a sports lounge and more.
Nedbank joins global players such as DBS Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan, and Fidelity Investment who have partnered with metaverses globally. Africarare, Africa’s first metaverse is highly sought-after by companies and individuals wishing to capitalize on the multiple opportunities presented by the metaverse. The early settlers in Ubuntuland include MTN, World Data Lab, and M&C Saatchi Abel.
Panda appoints Tribeca as its strategic communications partner
Panda, a free-to-download app that provides access to affordable mental health and wellness support, has appointed Tribeca Public Relations (Tribeca) as its communications partner.
Tapping into its proven strategic communications capabilities, Tribeca will support Panda to reach those who need mental health support in a safe and secure environment.
The Panda app is the brainchild of Allan Sweidan, a clinical psychologist who previously co-founded and headed up the Akeso Group of Psychiatric Hospitals, and Alon Lits, former general manager and director of Uber in sub-Saharan Africa.
In addition to gaining access to a community of other app users facing similar challenges, Panda offers a library of evidence-based content and scientifically validated assessment tools that people can use to measure their mental wellbeing objectively.
ESPN Africa and KOODOO.co.za sign Boxing sponsorship
The Walt Disney Company Africa and KOODOO.co.za have announced that they have entered into a multi-event sponsorship for the ESPN Africa Boxing series. The agreement officially kicks off with the ESPN Africa Boxing 21 event that will take place in Johannesburg on 22 September 2022.
Showcasing a diverse range of the continent’s best boxing talent and sanctioned by Boxing South Africa (BSA), ESPN Africa Boxing events take place on a monthly basis on Thursday evenings. With five main fights per event, and two undercard bouts on each bill, ESPN AfricaBoxing features male and female boxing talent from across Africa. The September event is the 21st iteration of the series.
The fights are broadcast live on ESPN Africa (DStv 218, Starsat 248) catering to the immense popularity of the sport on the continent, as well as on several broadcast partners across the globe. ESPNdelivers a high-quality boxing viewing experience with premium broadcast production, accompanied by all of the fanfare behind the scenes.
Riverbed launches Hyundai Creta’s new brand campaign
Riverbed has launched the new Hyundai Creta TVC and won the work primarily because of their shared vision of enabling gender equality and creating work that has a positive impact on society.
“As a female-owned agency, we were extremely excited at the prospect of partnering with Hyundai on this campaign. It allowed us to create work that was unapologetically pro-women,” said Monalisa Zwambila, CEO and Founder at Riverbed.
The agency has always been about inspiring positive change, and the TVC does just that. Through our Deep Empathy Strategic Framework, a poignant insight was gleaned that drove the creative idea. South African women, on average, spend an additional 3.5 hours on unpaid household work –a startling reality that heightens their daily burden.
“This insight informed our TVC thematic,” said Katleho Mahapa Senior Marketing Manager at Hyundai. “As Hyundai, it was important that we worked and collaborated with a female-owned agency, as we understood the power this would bring to what we wanted to share with consumers, and we’re really pleased with the work created by Riverbed
DUO Marketing + Communications joins global Public Relations and Communications Association, PRCA
DUO Marketing + Communications, a specialist provider of public relations and digital marketing solutions to business-to-business (B2B) technology companies in Africa, has announced that it has registered as a member of the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA).
The PRCA is the world’s largest professional PR body, representing more than 35 000 public relations professionals in 82 countries worldwide.
“We are delighted to be part of a global entity that has much traction and credibility within the broader public relations industry. The time is right for South African organisations to join a global framework that exists for the betterment of the people and employers, as well as the ultimate beneficiaries of this industry – our clients,” said Judith Middleton, CEO of DUO.
By working with the PRCA, Middleton says that agencies can better equip employees with the skills that are required for modern industry requirements, beyond and above what is being taught in tertiary institutions.
MACmobile launches online training platform for FIELDForce product suite
MACmobile, leading provider of purpose-built and adaptable end-to-end cloud based FMCG value chain solutions and platforms, has launched FIELDLearning, an online Learning Management System (LMS) training platform. The LMS offers training on the entire FIELDForce suite of products, on demand on any device, with engaging video and text-based content, competency quizzes and language conversion capabilities. This significantly augments customer support, improves accessibility and cost effectiveness of training on MACmobile products and enhances learning retention.
“Historically, we have always offered face-to-face training on our products, but with Covid-19 this obviously was no longer possible. We also had other challenges, including being limited to training only one client per week per trainer, alongside the cost to our client that was associated with travelling and accommodation. Customers were waiting for longer periods to get the training they needed, so the lockdowns were a catalyst for the development of our new online LMS training portal,” said Jaco Ras, chief technology officer at MACmobile.
FIELDLearning enables users to register and enrol in courses that are relevant to them based on the modules they will be using in the various FIELDForce applications and access the training on demand.
SAMRO distributes over R13 million in accumulated royalties to members after tracing them to update their banking details
The Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) has successfully disbursed more than R13 million in royalties which had remained unallocated due to some members’ banking details not being updated.
The royalties were distributed between the inception of the SAMRO project to reach out to members to update their banking details in April 2021. The programme saw SAMRO embark on a momentous task of contacting thousands of members through TransUnion and via direct communication to request that they update their banking details. A list of affected members was also published on the organisation’s website. The initiative is ongoing and SAMRO continues to appeal to members to ensure that their information is up to date so that royalties can be efficiently transferred.
Making moves
Daily Maverick’s The Gathering 2022 is back
Daily Maverick’s flagship event, The Gathering, is back in November 2022.
A leader in future-shaping conversations, The Gathering brings together panels of experts across politics, business and civil society who are all looking at what each of us need to and can do to build the South Africa we all want and deserve.
It’s time for hope. It’s time for action. It’s time for solutions.
Join Daily Maverick journalists, editors and guests as we unpack all we need to be part of the solutions our country needs.
Date: 24 November 2022
Time: 9am-6pm
Venue: Cape Town International Convention Centre
Tickets: R250 (exclusive to Maverick Insiders, R500 General Access)
Promo code: GATHERINGMI2022
If you aren’t able to join us in person on the day, the entire event will be streamed live with an immersive experience for our online audience.
Register hereto be a part of The Gathering 2022 from wherever you are in the world.
Which South African corporate has the biggest balls?
The challenge is on. Which South African corporate is the ballsiest? Which company will encourage as many of their male employees as possible to get behind a cause that raises awareness about male cancers? It’s official – the search is on for the business that enters the most participants into the ultimate “run with a difference that makes a difference” – the 2022 Hollard Daredevil Run.
There are no bigger bragging rights than those that come with being the company that raises the most funds and who dares the most at the Daredevil Run. Whether you gather with thousands of other men and boys at Zoo Lake in Johannesburg or run from wherever your company is situated countrywide, this event (held on Friday 30 September this year) sees men dressed only in a purple speedo running 5km to raise awareness about prostate and testicular cancer.
Screening for prostate cancer can mean early detection and treatment before the cancer spreads to other areas of the body. With 1 in 6 men being diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime, and with black African men being at an even higher risk of getting prostate cancer than any other race group (some research suggests it may be as high as 1 on 4 for African men), awareness about cancers that affect males is vital to save lives.
Entries cost R160 each and include your race pack and purple speedo which will be couriered directly to you. All proceeds from the Hollard Daredevil Run go to CANSA and the Prostate Cancer Foundation of South Africa. For more information, go to www.daredevilrun.com, follow Daredevil Run on Facebook and register on webtickets. Entries close on 23 September 2022.
Nat Nakasa’s grave restored
The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) – with the help of the Nat Nakasa Awards sponsors, Sanlam – has announced the completion of the restoration of Nat Nakasa’s grave.
In January, it was discovered that the grave, together with those of others – such as slain Bafana Bafana goalkeeper, Senzo Meyiwa – had been vandalised.
SANEF and Sanlam undertook to restore Nakasa’s grave. The tombstone was initially unveiled in August 2014, following efforts by the Department of Arts and Culture and SANEF’s council member Mary Papayya, to bring Nakasa’s remains back home from New York where he died in July 1965.
SAMRO teams up with eAr Academy to offer members free online music courses
The Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) has teamed up with the eAr Academy to offer a limited number of SAMRO members a three-month online music course.
There are many opportunities to study music, but most of these come with certain restrictions. Traditional institutional education can be financially, academically or geographically inaccessible, while online options are often under-structured, over-gamified or simply one-dimensional.
The eAr Academy is a new music school that is home-grown and raises the bar for online music education. The Academy’s exceptional and accessible courses are unique in that they cover seven different instruments as well as all the various features of music such as theory, sight-reading and ear training. They offer innovative Shedding Sessions – unique online practice sessions with access to expert teachers – allowing students to learn at their own pace.
Own a piece of Africa’s heritage with the new Rhino coin from the South African Mint
September is Heritage Month, and we also celebrate World Rhino Day on 22 September. True to its claim as the purveyor of South Africa’s heritage, the South African Mint recently launched the Big 5 Series ll Rhino coin collection, in time to give our customers an opportunity to own a unique and long-lasting celebration of these precious parts of the country’s wildlife heritage.
The subtle new design on the obverse features the Rhino’s distinctive horn as the focus point of the coin, filling up more than half the surface. The beauty of this design, coupled with the value of the precious metal and the association with Africa’s most famous animals, have placed the collection among the most popular collector’s items.
