Heart FM comes of age, and identifies key individuals to push it to great new heights. Gavin Davis is the new CEO at Resolve Communications. Media24 announces senior appointments. Luthando Makiwane joins Eaton as marketing director. Liquid Telecom appoints Wellington Makamure as new Regional CEO of Southern Africa. Transit Ads awarded rights to Johannesburg’s Rea Vaya. AYO to bid for spectrum at auction. Ogilvy opens Nigeria office in the run up to its 70th anniversary. Etiket celebrates 11 years with eyes fixed firmly on the future. InMobi acquires US-based advertising and data company, Pinsight Media. African publishers meet to tackle digital revenue challenges. SBCC Conference coming up. 5FM to host big birthday party.
This week’s BIG move: Heart FM comes of age, and identifies key individuals to push it to great new heights
Heart FM has reached a milestone, celebrating twenty-one years on air. This coming of age has brought about changes as the station matures. The success of this station has been a combination of key factors; exciting content, faithful listenership and a massive focus on community outreach throughout the Western Cape. The executive committee has identified key individuals to take the station to even greater heights in the coming.
Denver Apollus has been promoted to head of radio innovation, a role which he describes as “bringing together the programming and marketing departments in a way that creates exhilarating content for our listeners, whilst delivering on key objectives for clients”. Overseeing strategic programming and marketing of the station is a natural progression for Apollus, who has worked in the broadcasting industry, particularly radio, over the past two decades.
Renowned name in radio, Vernon Carver, has been appointed as programme manager. No stranger to the airwaves, Carver has been on and off air since 2007. His illustrious career has seen him in various roles from Music Compiler to Production Engineer, On-Air presenter as well as his latest role as Music Manager. Carver has been a part of the team that has taken the station to its number one spot in the Cape and says he believes it’s down to the fact that Heart FM “speaks the language of Capetonians”.
Over the past few years Nick Feinberg has instilled a creative culture at Heart FM by appointing a pool of great talent. Feinberg steps into his new position as creative director after many years in the content space.
Managing director, Renee Redelinghuys, said these new positions are key to the station’s strategy going forward and the future of radio is exhilarating.
People moves
Gavin Davis is the new CEO at Resolve Communications
Resolve Communications has appointed Gavin Davis as its new chief executive officer, effective from 15 October.
Davis joins Resolve from Parliament, where he served as an MP on the communications, basic education and energy portfolio committees. Prior to that, Davis was director of communications at the Democratic Alliance and special advisor to the Premier of the Western Cape.
“With its extensive experience in communications and government, Resolve is excellently placed to help clients navigate South Africa’s increasingly complex regulatory and reputational challenges. I am looking forward to building on what Resolve has achieved for its clients, and leading the firm into its next phase of growth.”
Tony Leon, former Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and executive chairperson, and outgoing CEO, Nick Clelland, founded Resolve Communications was founded in 2013. Clelland remains at Resolve as a strategic advisor.
In the five years since its formation, Resolve Communications has become one of South Africa’s leading strategic communications and public affairs consultancies. Resolve’s clients are drawn from a diverse array of sectors, including agriculture, transport, information technology, financial services, retail and property.
Media24 announces senior appointments
Media24 has announced several new senior management appointments, all of them effective 1 November. The vacancies arose with the appointment of Ishmet Davidson as Media24’s CEO from 1 October after Esmaré Weideman retired at the end of September.
“I am delighted that our talent pipeline is so strong that all the appointments could be made from within Media24. I look forward to working closer with all of them and wish them only the best as together we face exciting challenges ahead,” said Davis.
Rika Swart, general manager of On the Dot (OtD) since 2016, will succeed Davis as the CEO: Media24 Print Media. She holds a higher diploma in medical technology and an MBA from the USB and joined OtD in 2008 as general manager of Imaging Data Solutions.
Clement Singh, finance manager of Media24’s News division since 2016, has been appointed general manager of this division. He is a CA (SA) and holds an MBA (cum laude) from Herriot Watt in Scotland. Singh completed his articles at PwC and worked there as audit manager on the Media24 account until 2014.
Minette Ferreira, general manager of the Weekly Magazines division since 2014, is the new general manager of the Lifestyle division and will retain responsibility for the Weekly Magazines division.
Ferreira holds a national diploma in journalism and has completed various executive management short courses. She joined Media24 in 2001 as a sub editor at the then newly-aunched Daily Sun.
Raj Lalbahadur, who will run Media24’s Project Management Office, holds a BComm from Unisa and an MBA from the New York Finance Institute. He joined Media24 in 2007 as a senior financial manager after holding senior positions in, among others, the petroleum and paper manufacturing industries and SARS. He was appointed CFO: Lifestyle in 2009, acted as Media24’s CFO in 2015 and was appointed general manager: Lifestyle in 2017.
Beulah van Rensburg’s responsibilities as the HR manager for News and Lifestyle has been extended to the Digital division (24.com and Careers24), with the respective HR teams reporting to her. She holds a BComm from NWU (Pukke) and joined Media24 as an HR generalist in 1998.
In addition to these appointments, Media24 announced that its chief information officer (CIO), Tobie Vermeulen, will join the company’s exco as a direct report to the CEO. He holds a BTech and obtained an MBL from Unisa.
Luthando Makiwane joins Eaton as marketing director
Eaton has appointed Luthando Makiwane as marketing director: Africa for Eaton’s Electrical Sector, based in Wadeville, South Africa as of 1 September 2018.
Makiwane will be responsible for the overall marketing, communication and product management strategy for Eaton across the continent including South Africa, Nigeria, Morocco and Kenya.
His prior experience includes various roles in other multinational companies within the electrical and power sector, including maaketing manager, product marketing manager, sales engineer, application specialist and various technical support tenures.
“I’m looking forward to settling into my new role at Eaton and being part of the company’s plans to grow the Eaton brand on the African continent,” Makiwane said.
T1 expands international leadership team and announces product offering
T1, Turner International’s digital advertising division announced earlier this year, is expanding with new hires and the launch of a suite of global products.
Fiona McKinnon is now on board as general manager, having worked with Turner over the last few months on a consultancy basis to help establish T1. McKinnon will focus on managing global operations and product development. In addition to her role with T1 she leads The Pangaea Alliance, the world’s foremost digital advertising partnership of premium publishers.
To spearhead sales and brand partnerships, T1 has brought in Krane Jeffery to lead the division, alongside Fiona, in his role as senior commercial director. An international position based in London, Jeffery is building digital partnerships for brands to engage with a global audience of 200million unique users in over 200 countries across Turner’s entertainment, kids and family, sport and esport portfolio.
Both will report to Rob Bradley, vice president, digital commercial strategy and digital advertising sales for T1 and CNN International Commercial.
In response to particularly strong immediate market interest in Turner’s sport offering, T1 has developed multiplatform worldwide sports packages across Turner’s digital properties. In addition, T1 is driving the digital commercial expansion of Turner’s esports business ELEAGUE to cater for growing international demand among brands.
Liquid Telecom appoints Wellington Makamure as new Regional CEO of Southern Africa
Pan-African telecoms group Liquid Telecom has appointed Wellington Makamure as the new regional CEO of Southern Africa, placing him in charge of four key markets in the region.
In his new role, Makamure will be directly responsible for the leadership, strategic and operational management of Liquid Telecom’s wholesale, enterprise and retail businesses throughout Zimbabwe, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Botswana.
The regional CEO of Southern Africa is a new position within Liquid Telecom, and forms part of the group’s wider digital transformation strategy. The organisation is migrating to a digitally enhanced operating model that will deliver higher levels of customer experience and ensure for long-term business sustainability.
Makamure joined Liquid Telecom in 2009 and was pivotal in the planning, set-up and build of the Liquid Telecom network and business in Zimbabwe.
Business moves
Transit Ads awarded rights to Johannesburg’s Rea Vaya
Transit Ads has been awarded the exclusive advertising rights to the Rea Vaya Rapid Transit System (BRT) 1B in Johannesburg, along specific routes. In addition to a comprehensive, national and impactful portfolio of branding opportunities, Transit Ads now offers advertisers another highly valuable engagement point, increasing audience reach by 1.7 million every month.
Shamy Naidu, executive at Transit Ads, believes that the exclusive rights will have a significant impact on reach and ROI. “Transit Ads already has exclusive media rights to the MyCiTi buses in Cape Town and now, with the addition of the rights to the BRT in Johannesburg, we can offer a wider footprint and another key engagement point that is extremely impactful, highly visible and offers excellent daily frequency,” he said.
“One of the key elements to ensuring that advertising investment receives excellent return in terms of awareness, assimilation and response to call to action is to consistently bring new opportunities to the table. Opportunities that are in line with, and take advantage of, consumer growth, urbanisation, infrastructure development and socio-economic shifts. With the addition of Rea Vaya into our extensive portfolio, we are doing exactly that,” he added.
AYO to bid for spectrum at auction
AYO has welcomed the announcement by the minister of telecommunications and postal services, Siyabonga Cwele, and ICASA, to auction badges of radio frequencies as well as the licensing of spectrum in the 700MHz, 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands, early next year.
AYO has announced its intention to bid for the spectrum. In addition, the company announced its strategy to deepen empowerment and broaden accessibility to bandwidth. In line with AYO’s strategic objective to support smaller black ICT companies, AYO will invite smaller black SMMEs in the ICT and telecommunications sector to partner with it in the auction for these licenses.
AYO will also invite black ICT companies who want to form part of the consortium for the radio frequencies but who also want to utilise the radio frequencies for their businesses. In addition, AYO will also enter into partnerships with existing global multinational partners for the bidding process.
AYO recently concluded transactions with various black businesses including acquiring 51% equity in Sizwe IT as well as a fintech tie-up with Vunani Capital.
Ogilvy opens Nigeria office in the run up to its 70th anniversary
Ogilvy Africa, a wholly owned subsidiary of WPP Scangroup Pls, has announced the opening of its new office in Lagos, Nigeria. Ogilvy Nigeria becomes the integrated communications’ firm 24th office in sub-Saharan Africa. It represents the strategic expansion of the Ogilvy brand across Africa.
Speaking at the newly opened office, Mathieu Plassard, chief executive officer of Ogilvy, Africa said the office in Nigeria would enable the firm to create a cohesive creative communications solutions team and further strengthen the agency’s ability to offer clients in Nigeria focused attention.
Announcing the changes, Bharat Thakrar, CEO of WPP-Scangroup, said the opening of Ogilvy Nigeria was confirmation of the group’s commitment to enhance its communication services offering for clients across the region. The Ogilvy brand was previously represented in Nigeria under Prima Garnet Communications Limited. An amicable out of court settlement between Ogilvy & Mather Africa BV and Prima Garnet Communications reached in December 2017 paved the way for the opening of Ogilvy Nigeria.
The office will be headed by Fiona Uwagwu who, until her appointment as managing director, Ogilvy Nigeria, was managing partner for Customer Engagement in the Ogilvy office in Nairobi. Uwagwu previously worked in Ogilvy, United Kingdom.
Taxify appoints Tribeca PR to drive business growth
Ride-hailing service Taxify has appointed Tribeca Public Relations as its communications partner in South Africa after a competitive pitch process.
Tribeca will assist the ride-hailing service to communicate effectively with rider, driver and regulator stakeholders as it looks to grow across South Africa.
“Tribeca has already demonstrated its strategic approach and skill in positioning Taxify as a platform that enables progress through entrepreneurship,” said Gareth Taylor, Taxify’s country manager for South Africa.
“It’s quickly become very apparent to us that the emphasis that Tribeca places on the role of entrepreneurship within its own business aligns closely with our own commitment to facilitate employment through small enterprise development,” adds Taylor.
Taxify started operating in South Africa in 2016 in Johannesburg, and now operates in eight South African cities including Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Polokwane and East London.
InMobi acquires US-based advertising and data company, Pinsight Media
InMobi, a global provider of enterprise platforms for marketers, has announced the acquisition of Pinsight Media, the mobile data and advertising company formerly wholly owned by Sprint. This all-stock deal is part of a broader strategic partnership between InMobi and Sprint across devices, data, media and marketing.
Pinsight Media is a mobile data and brand intelligence company that works with leading US telcos and advertisers across verticals including consumer goods, retail, entertainment and finance. It offers a comprehensive suite of advertising products and services that help businesses uncover new audiences, discover new market opportunities and define more effective customer engagement strategies.
“Sprint’s partnership with InMobi goes beyond this acquisition. We have been looking for a strategic partner that can deliver the latest digital marketing and mobile advertising technologies, besides having a deep appreciation of regulatory, privacy, and data concerns,” said Rob Roy, Chief Digital Officer at Sprint. “This partnership provides Sprint with an innovative partner for driving our marketing success.”
Making moves
The MediaShop and Tiger Brands gain SA insights
With help from the SABC commercial enterprises, The MediaShop held an immersion recently with their long-standing client, Tiger Brands, to round off Heritage month. The objective of the day was to demonstrate the differences in each of the provinces in South Africa.
The event was well attended by marketers from Tiger Brands, who took the time to get a better understanding of consumers living in the different provinces within South Africa and how the relevant SABC radio stations served the communities within each of those geographic areas.
“We wanted to highlight the nuances of each of the provinces and the role that radio stations play in connecting with those audiences, which essentially make up the majority of Tiger Brands’ target market,” said Kgaugelo Maphai, managing director of The MediaShop Johannesburg.
SABC radio demonstrated that they broadcast to their audiences in the vernacular languages that their listeners speak in and understand, in the respective provinces.
Etiket celebrates 11 years with eyes fixed firmly on the future
Following its 11th birthday celebration in September, creative consultancy, ETIKET, is all set to tackle future challenges in the creative industry by continuing to improve its business offering, model and structure.
“Perhaps the most important thing that we’ve learnt over the past 11 years, is that any business – and that includes us – can only keep going if it keeps on changing for the better. Change keeps us on our toes. However challenging, change brings progress,” said CEO, Janhendrik Oosthuizen:
On the client front, 2018 has been an adventurous year for ETIKET. “We were fortunate to welcome new partners on board and forge mutually beneficial relationships.
“While we already have long-standing partnerships with FNB and Scorpion Legal Protection, we have been fortunate to partner with Old Mutual SA (OMSA) as well, becoming a preferred BTL supplier.
ETIKET has also been fortunate to partner with MetroFibre Networks, one of the leading fibre infrastructure developers in South Africa, to create an ISP brand targeting young adults looking for fibre connectivity at home.
Get ready to ‘Market the Future’ with a world class line-up of speakers
The IMM Graduate School is partnering with Nedbank to present Marketing the Future, a half-day conference focusing on the latest trends and challenges confronting the marketing space.
Trend analyst, Dion Chang and leaders from South Africa’s marketing industry, Pepe Marais and Jay Badza will talk at the event, which takes place on Thursday 25 October in Johannesburg.
Chang will address the Second Wave of Disruption, and the skills and mindset required to pivot. Chang is one of South Africa’s most highly regarded trends analysts, having gained a wealth of insight into the relationship between brands, consumers and communication channels during his 20 years plus in the world of media. His mantra, which he promotes both personally and through his trends analysis company, Flux Trends, is “trends as business strategy”.
Pepe Marais will present a talk entitled Breakthrough creative advertising and communication, drawing in part on his recently published book, Growing Greatness.
Finally, Jay Badza is the founder and head honcho of boutique brand marketing communications consultancy, Orchard On 25. His presentation tackles The death of the brand ambassador and rise of influencer marketing, a subject currently at the centre of many debates.
When: Thursday 25 October from 9:00 to 13:00 at the
Where: Nedbank Auditorium, Rivonia Campus, 135 Rivonia Road, Sandown, Johannesburg.
For more information, please send an email to events@immgsm.ac.za.
“Don’t be chicken, check ‘em”
Sovereign Foods has rolled out an in-store and on-pack awareness campaign on its Country Range to encourage people to not be chicken and check ‘em.
A proactive concept created by Boomtown for Sovereign Foods, the campaign is a CSI drive where the popular food brand will donate R2 per pack sold to PinkDrive.
“The first drive of its kind for Sovereign Foods, the connection with its product and the cause makes for talkability and positive engagement,” remarks the creative behind the campaign, Meagan Viljoen. “To be able to understand a client, its consumer and know we can have fun with a campaign that makes a difference to a special cause is incredibly satisfying.”
Running in-store with point of sale touch-points, customers who purchase Country Range fresh chicken breasts receive a pink ribbon and a thank you card at the till. Supported by a digital campaign and radio promotion “Don’t be chicken, check them” will run throughout October in Eastern Cape Spars.
Digital activism key to galvanising communities
“Cell phones have become a critical tool to change lives in communities.” This was highlighted by community activists at the launch of the Ubumbano Voice Community Project in Johannesburg today.
Bobby Marie of the Bench Marks Foundation facilitated a panel discussion on the value of digital media in promoting social change. He said: “We have not understood fully how significant cell phones are in driving change in communities. An app like this has massive potential to bring communities’ voice into the mainstream”
The app is a platform for interaction, learning and exchange ideas among local and various stakeholders.
The app can be downloaded from the Play Store as “Ubumbano Voice”.
The Ubumbano Community Voice website and application is a platform for community activists in Southern Africa to share stories of their struggles for dignity and justice, and for journalists and others to get direct access to those stories. It is supported by the ACT Alliance, a global coalition of faith-based organisations.
For the Diary
African publishers meet to tackle digital revenue challenges
Join this prestigious continent-wide gathering to explore new digital revenue models and how best to engage loyal readers.
“Trustworthy, quality news has a value. African publishers might not migrate subscribers from print to digital overnight – but now is the time to prepare. And we can do that by creating healthy and profitable relationships with our most loyal users,” said WAN-IFRA Director for Europe and Africa, Nick Tjaardstra.
Conference speakers will be led by subscription and membership-marketing expert Joss Cripps who has more than 20 years’ experience in acquiring and retaining customers in the media, e-commerce and not for profit sectors.
When: Friday, November 23, 2018
Where: Capital on the Park Hotel, Sandton, South Africa
5FM celebrates birthday
On Saturday, 27 October, 5FM is hosting their official birthday party at Taboo nightclub in Sandton, Johannesburg. Listeners have an opportunity to win tickets to the party across all the shows and if they’re unlucky, can still buy some at the door on the day for R200. There is a huge prize up for grabs for one lucky listener – a R500 000 tax free savings account with Easy Equities. Listeners can simply tune in to the various weekday shows for how they can win this incredible prize. The winner will be announced at Taboo on the night.
Party-goers can expect 5FM DJs, including, Nicole da Silva, Das Kapital, Ryan the DJ, Thando Thabethe, Nick Hamman, DJ Loyd, Kid Fonque and Xyla on the decks as well as lots of intermittent surprises during the night.
For more information on our events, please visit www.5fm.co.za
SBCC Conference coming up
The Centre for Communication Impact is hosting the first SBCC (Social and Behaviour Change Communication) conference in Southern Africa, with an exciting line-up of panellists over the three day conference.
Conference dates: 30 October – 01 November 2018
Venue: Destiny Hotel & Conference Centre, Kempton Park, South Africa
Website: www.communicationforchange.co.za
The programme speakers include:
- Executive Director for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP), Susan Krenn
- Co-organiser of the #TotalShutdown Intersectional Womxn’s Gender Non-Conforming Folk Movement, Loyiso V Saliso
- Executive director of Corruption Watch, David Lewis
- CEO of the Soulcity Institute, Lebogang Ramafoko
- Lecturer at The Wits School of Education and The University of Johannesburg, Lynn Joffe
- Senior Creative and Head of SoulXonnect, Nosipho Ginindza
- SAMA award winner, Khuzani Mpungose
- Award-winning producer (of Jab! on SABC2) and Director at Community Media Trust, Lucille Blankenberg and many more!
For more information, please visit our website at www.communicationforchange.co.za or Tsitsi Makina Tel: 012 366 9300, E-mail: tsitsi@ccisa.org.za
