The Media Online’s weekly round up of people, account and business moves in media.
This week’s BIG move: Klipdrift confirmed as the official brandy sponsor of South African rugby
Klipdrift has announced a renewed and expanded sponsorship deal with the South African Rugby Union (SARU). Under a new four-year agreement, the brand becomes the official brandy sponsor of the Springboks, Springbok Women and national Sevens teams.
Klipdrift has long been part of South African rugby culture, from braais and Test matches to championship celebrations. This next chapter reflects a deeper investment in a partnership grounded in national pride, shared values, and community spirit.
“This agreement celebrates two brands deeply woven into the fabric of South African life,” says Andrea Quaye, marketing director at HEINEKEN Beverages South Africa. “Klipdrift is about bringing people together. And few things unite South Africans like rugby. We are proud to support teams that inspire the nation on and off the field.”
Rian Oberholzer, CEO of SA Rugby, adds: “Klipdrift has been part of the rugby conversation for decades. We value their continued support and the role they play in growing the game and connecting with supporters across the country.”
The announcement comes as the Springboks prepare for the 2025 season, which kicks off on Saturday, 28 June against the Barbarians in Cape Town.
People moves
World Out of Home Organization appoints two new directors
The World Out of Home Organization has appointed two new directors: Ocean Outdoor chairman Tim Bleakley and Multiply group head of media and communication vertical Jawad Hassan. Simultaneously, Clear Channel CMO Martin Corke is rotating off the board.
Bleakley has played a pivotal role in the growth of premium digital out-of-home media owner Ocean Outdoor as both CEO and now chairman. He recently launched the MOCA movement (Make Outdoor Creative again) to highlight the need for creative innovation and fresh thinking.
Hassan played a leading role in bringing together three iconic regional brands – Media 247, Viola Communications, and BackLite Media – in the Multiply portfolio. He was also a leading force in the Group’s public listing on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) in 2021. This appointment gives WOO board representation in the Gulf Cooperation Council, which is one of the most dynamic OOH regions.
OOH Capital increases influence with new Partner
Laetitia Lim, current CEO of Quividi, has joined OOH Capital, the global out-of-home consultancy.
Lim is a seasoned executive and entrepreneur with over 20-years of international leadership experience across the tech, retail, and consumer industries. She has held senior roles in both startups and global corporations, leading large-scale transformations, scaling businesses across markets, and driving sustained growth throughout Asia and Europe.
Under her leadership at Quividi, a global leader in AI and audience measurement for digital OOH and in-store retail media, the company has powered hundreds of media networks with high-definition, first-party audience data—enhancing performance in the programmatic advertising era. At the forefront of the new wave of in-store retail media, she’s helps brands and retailers transform physical retail spaces into dynamic, data-driven marketing channels that engage shoppers at the point of purchase.
Earlier in her career, Lim spent over a decade at L’Oréal Group, where she held a series of leadership roles across France, China, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Business moves
Nederburg’s bold reset targets new generation of wine lovers
Nederburg, one of South Africa’s most awarded and internationally admired wine brands has come to market with a radical new reset intended to reach a new generation of wine lovers, as it cements ties with its substantial and loyal existing support base.
Its dynamic and multipronged new marketing campaign, designed for a new time in wine, goes live this month (June). The refreshed, warm and welcoming positioning includes an all-new look and vibrant in-store, on-consumption and online communication.
Nederburg’s move comes just as market observers worldwide are noticing the emergence of new green shoots within the global industry after some years of contraction. They are seeing the start of greater numbers of Generation Z consumers, now employed, entering the market. Young women in particular are benefitting from improved access to jobs and greater earning power.
Explains wine category leader, Kavir Gangiah: “It we are to retain and enhance our relevance and resilience and be a substantial presence when the upturn comes – as it will – it is essential to be where wine lovers will readily find us and to communicate with them in a way that resonates with their wants and needs while staying true to our long-established history and heritage.”
The brand was acquired in 2023 by HEINEKEN Beverages and is the premium crown jewel in its wine portfolio with a history going back to 1791^ and a long award-winning legacy. It is also a WWF Conservation Champion.
Calling African creative entrepreneurs to apply for creative-tech incubation programme
A partnership between The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UVU Africa via UVU Accelerate, the entrepreneurial development and incubation arm, has launched the timbuktoo Creative Hub Ideation Incubation Programme, a virtual incubator designed for early-stage creative entrepreneurs across Africa.
The six-week intensive programme will provide structured support to help creative founders validate their business concepts, develop entrepreneurial capabilities, and prepare for market entry and investment opportunities.
This virtual incubation initiative forms a key component of UNDP’s flagship timbuktoo platform — a bold pan-African initiative designed to unlock Africa’s innovation potential by investing in youth-led startups across the continent. As one of ten sector-focused hubs under the timbuktoo umbrella, the Creative Hub specifically targets the creative economy, recognising its transformative power for inclusive growth and cultural preservation.
“Africa’s creative economy represents one of our continent’s greatest untapped resources,” says Lara Rosmarin, head of entrepreneur development at UVU Accelerate. Despite incredible talent and innovation, African creatives contribute just 2.9% of global creative exports. “This programme aims to close that imagination gap by giving early-stage founders the business tools and connections they need to thrive.”
The fully virtual programme will accept 20-30 participants from ten African countries: South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Senegal, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia and Zambia. It is specifically designed for entrepreneurs at the ideation or early stage who need support transforming creative concepts into viable businesses.
Hennessy pours culture into the heart of the BAL finals
The curtain has officially closed on a historic season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), with South Africa playing proud host to its first-ever Finals. As champions Al Ahli Tripoli were crowned on the court at Pretoria’s SunBet Arena, Hennessy celebrated a different kind of victory, one that lived at the intersection of sport, culture, and community.
For Hennessy, this year’s collaboration with BAL wasn’t only about being courtside, it was about owning the cultural moment. From 6 – 14 June, the Hennessy x BAL Experience brought together the continent’s most influential voices, artists, and style icons for a week-long celebration of basketball’s rising impact across African lifestyle and identity.
At the heart of it all was the Hennessy Lounge, an elevated in-arena hospitality suite where the pulse of the game met the sophistication of the world’s leading cognac. Designed to reflect Hennessy’s elegance and spirit, the lounge became a curated experience. With custom cocktails and the best view of the court, it became the destination for tastemakers throughout the BAL Playoffs and Finals.
Cultural icons, including NBA Legend Joakim Noah, Boity Thulo, Zola Nombona, Pamela Mtanga, Scoop Makhathini, Yanga Chief and 25K, brought their energy courtside, adding to an electric atmosphere that expertly intertwined fashion, music, and sport.
Pnet’s ‘Helping Hands’ campaign offers relief to jobseekers stuck in workplace frustration
Pnet, South Africa’s leading online recruitment platform, has launched a major campaign to introduce jobseekers to its fresh visual identity. Titled ‘Helping Hands’, the campaign uses emotionally intelligent creative to highlight moments of workplace frustration, showing jobseekers that Pnet is there to help when work isn’t working for them.
Helping Hands aims to inspire jobseekers about the possibility of positive change in the career-decision moments where they feel stuck, overwhelmed or underappreciated. The witty, relatable creative uses high-reach media and context-aware placements to dramatise workplace frustrations like demanding bosses, unpaid overtime and underwhelming salaries.
The campaign aims to break through the digital clutter and drive emotional resonance with the target audience. A helping hand literally appears – seemingly from out of nowhere – throughout the campaign videos to guide struggling workers to the Pnet app, reflecting how the platform supports jobseekers in taking the next step in their careers.
“Helping Hands is inspired by real workplace challenges,” says Michelle Dobson, Head of Brand at Pnet. “Many South Africans feel stuck in jobs where they’re undervalued, overworked or failing to meet their potential. But they don’t need to. Our campaign shows frustrated workers that they have options, and that Pnet is here to help them find a better, happier, more fulfilling job, faster.”
Interledger announces second window for 2025 Digital Financial Services Grant
The Interledger Foundation has announced a second round of funding for fintech and web-based platform projects that will become part of its interoperable payments network via the Interledger Protocol (ILP) to build out its vision for an open digital economy.With projects in 40 countries, the organisation is already working with businesses to spearhead initiatives that reimagine existing financial infrastructure and introduce new money movement use cases. This year, the organisation has earmarked $5m (about R91m) for selected projects to expand on this work. Organisations can apply to participate in this initiative at the Interledger Foundation website.
While an increasingly digitised global economy has resulted in a consumer cross-border e-commerce market that is alone estimated to be worth $2.49 trillion in 2025, there are still formidable barriers standing in the way of free-flowing domestic and cross-border transactions.
Interledger Foundation has set out to change this with millions invested into building an open digital financial ecosystem. This work revolves around breaking down–or working around–barriers that stand between connecting people, devices and ultimately, money movement.
WPP and Vercel expand partnership to accelerate AI-powered digital experience craft
WPP and Vercel, the complete platform for the web, have announced an expansion of their global strategic partnership to bring Vercel’s pioneering AI technologies – v0 and AI SDK – to WPP teams and their clients.
This first-of-its-kind partnership will bring the creativity and agility of vibe coding – a style of programming that uses natural language prompts to assist with the coding process – to WPP teams worldwide, accelerating digital experience design and enabling more people to create at the moment of inspiration through simple text prompts and AI applications.
With Vercel’s AI tools, creatives at WPP can now design, prototype, test and deploy digital experiences at speed. Users provide v0 – an AI-powered tool to help developers create digital elements – with a text-based description of a desired production-grade component, website or complete application. Teams will also have access to AI SDK, an open-source library that provides developers with the tools they need to build AI-powered products and agents.
Hayo launches National Mobile Registry platform
Hayo, a global innovator in digital solutions, has launched its National Mobile Registry (NMR) platform to help governments in emerging markets to regulate imports and ensure a controlled entry process for mobile devices.
The solution identifies and addresses illegal imports, facilitating tax enforcement and boosting tax revenue. This helps governments to bring their national mobile ecosystems under control and implement systems that enhance compliance, protect citizens, and unlock sustainable public revenue.
“Our National Mobile Registry platform enables governments to improve visibility across their country’s mobile ecosystem, capturing new revenue, and ultimately creating a safer and fairer digital landscape,” said Feraz Ahmed, CEO at Hayo.
Making moves
Focus on the South African Film Industry at DFM 2025
The Durban FilmMart remains a gateway to the African and global film industry for local film professionals. The 2025 industry programme dedicates significant focus to South African cinema through its comprehensive ‘SA in Focus’ stream, bringing together the nation’s most influential industry bodies, guilds and creative professionals to address the current state and future of the local audio-visual sector.
“South African cinema stands at a pivotal moment where our local industry expertise must be strengthened and celebrated,” said the Durban FimMart Institute Director Magdalene Reddy. “The ‘SA in Focus’ stream recognises that sustainable growth in African filmmaking begins with a robust foundation in our home market.
“By bringing together our guilds and industry leaders, DFM fosters the collaborative partnerships essential for our sector’s advancement. Through this programming stream, DFM 2025 demonstrates an unwavering commitment to strengthening South African cinema from within, recognising that a thriving local industry forms the foundation for successful international collaboration and growth.”
The cornerstone SA in Focus: State of the South African Audio-Visual Industry session assembles key industry stakeholders including representatives from the National Film and Video Foundation, South African Broadcasting Corporation, Industrial Development Corporation and provincial film commissions to engage with industry organisations to review strategic opportunities for the future.
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OCC champions honoured for keeping Chair Challenge ‘25 on the road
When event organiser extraordinaire Alewijn Dippenaar takes up the mic, his audience knows they’re in for a treat. This was the case again on Monday morning 2 June, when businesses and individuals involved in keeping alive the Outeniqua Chair Challenge (OCC) dream gathered at The Apprentice for a memorable Breakfast of Champions bash.
In attendance were a majority of sponsors that collaborated and contributed funds, goods and services to ensure that OCC ‘25 could be staged for the 21st time on 15 March 2025. Also present to share stories and accolades were representatives of local, regional and provincial government bodies that play a pivotal role in the event’s continued success.
Among the day’s many speakers, George councillor Melvin Roelfse may have said it best when claiming that the event’s impact could hardly be expressed in a mere few sentences. “The OCC celebrates adversity and overcoming challenges, and its impact on our town and country, as well as on a global scale, is simply immeasurable.
Eden Sport Council chair Desmond Speelman pointed out that “the event does not happen in isolation” and this sentiment was echoed by Juan Neethling from DECAS, who clearly remembers when late OCC founder Esther Watson first came pitching the idea of a wheelchair race in George, back in 2002. “Today, there are 40 major events for us to consider, but the OCC is always first to be allocated funding,” he said.
