The Media Online’s weekly round up of people, account and business moves in media.
This week’s BIG move: It’s official, the Daily Dispatch is South Africa’s best-performing daily newspaper
In a market where many predicted the decline of print, in terms of year-on-year growth, the Daily Dispatch is the only national daily newspaper in the country that has achieved growth for three quarters in a row, according to SA’s Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC).
The Eastern Cape daily turned 150 last year and celebrated that history with a gala event to showcase its proud century-and-a-half partnership with the people of the province.
The Eastern Cape is in our blood,” said editor Cheri-Ann James. “The people of this province are what make every day worthwhile. We have a duty to uplift them and to expose those dragging them down.
“The heart of the Daily Dispatch beats in unison with our readers.”
While its ABC-certified circulation may rival that of national papers, the Daily Dispatch remains focused on our community.
From standing up to apartheid under the editorship of Donald Woods to making international headlines by breaking stories such as the Enyobeni tragedy and Shell’s attempts at seismic blasting for natural oil and gas exploration off the Wild Coast, the Dispatch will always stand up for the people of the province.
Eastern Cape general manager for Daily Dispatch’s parent company, Arena Holdings, Ryan Megaw, said: “In September 2022 the Daily Dispatch celebrated 150 years of publishing, and the recent circulation growth shows the Dispatch is still as relevant and engaging as ever. The stories we have covered in the past year have shown our key role in society.
“When you add our engaging journalism to the increase in print circulation and to our growing digital DispatchLIVE subscriber base, you have a compelling argument that the Daily Dispatch provides the best solution for advertisers to reach the local Eastern Cape market.”
People moves
Tractor appoints Mali Motsumi-Garrido as its new sales director
Tractor Media Holdings has appointed Mali Motsumi-Garrido as its new sales director, effective 1 March 2023.
Motsumi-Garrido, who holds a degree in communications from the University of South Africa, was previously with South Africa’s premier broadcaster DStv for almost five and a half years, fulfilling the role of regional sales manager and leading a team of eight sales executives.
Prior to joining DStv, Motsumi-Garrido worked at multi-channel sales house Mediamark before being promoted a few short months later to the role of portfolio sales manager. She has also occupied various media sales positions during the course of her career, including roles at Caxton Magazines and Primedia Broadcasting.
Motsumi-Garrido replaces Tractor’s former Sales Director Lizelle McConnell, who immigrated to the United Kingdom at the beginning of 2023. Motsumi-Garrido is to lead Tractor’s sales team and will be based at the media owner’s Johannesburg office.
Said Motsumi-Garrido, I am in awe of the strides that the outdoor media industry has made in getting digital firmly off the ground, driving a demand that stakeholders are keen to invest in. I am built for the changes we will continue to see as a pioneer in the out of home (OOH) space and feel blessed to yet again be in a position where I can hold our clients’ hands as we build the future of outdoor media together.”
EssenceMediacom appoints Shaneel Singh as COO
Almost exactly three years ago, Shaneel Singh joined the MediaCom SA team as Managing Partner. His impressive business acumen, inspiring leadership skills, and mastery of all things digital in the media world saw him promoted within only one year of his appointment to Chief Product & Growth Officer. In this role, he spearheaded the local agency’s suite of services in line with the global vision of becoming a customer-centric agency, as well as identifying new growth areas for clients and securing new business.
The combination of Shaneel’s practical background as an accomplished marketing expert, balanced with his big-picture thinking led to numerous local and international account wins while in this role.
Last month, when MediaCom announced that they would be rebranding as EssenceMediacom, part of the process involved identifying those rare individuals that have the natural ability to disrupt old models across media, creative, data and technology.
Not surprisingly, Singh was recognised as a person with the expertise, passion, and extra-mile mentality to help charter new growth paths for the next 5 – 10 years and build the agency of the future.
Dreams set to come true with SA’s Deal or No Deal … and Katelgo Maboe as host
Things are about to get a lot more exciting for SABC viewers as Katlego Maboe, readies to host a hot new television show, Deal or No Deal, South Africa.
Deal or No Deal, a game show which has been a worldwide sensation will be part of the SABC’s broadcasting offering from March 2023. The game show has been described as a “game show match of nerves, instincts and raw intuition”, adding intense suspense with loads of money ready for the taking. Deal or No Deal, which has entertained and enchanted audiences across more than fifty countries, will be broadcast on SABC 1, Monday to Friday, in prime time from 7:30pm to 8pm and then again the following day on SABC 3, Mondays to Friday at 5:30pm. You will never have to miss a single exciting episode.
On behalf of the SABC, Lala Tuku, Head of Local Content, said: “We are delighted to offer this exhilarating, upbeat show to our audiences. While we will be using the winning format that has seen Deal or No Deal become a global broadcasting phenomenon, the show will feature new innovations and be distinctively South African. Every day, a contestant will have an opportunity to win up to R250 000. With an electric energy that makes dreams come true in an instant, this is television entertainment at its best”.
CNN announces Larry Madowo as new African Voices Changemakers host
CNN International Correspondent Larry Madowo will be the new host of long-running series African Voices Changemakers, which profiles outstanding individuals from across the continent.
Based in Nairobi, Madowo has covered stories around the globe since joining the network in 2021. He has highlighted coronavirus vaccine inequality, reported on flooding in Nigeria, broadcast from Expo 2020 in Dubai and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, anchored news shows from Atlanta, covered the Kenyan elections, and most recently reported from the World Economic Forum in Davos. Kenyan-born Madowo started his broadcasting career at Kenya Television Network at the age of 20.
African Voices has aired on CNN International for over a decade, with the show meeting entertainers, creatives, athletes, and members of the public who are making a difference, finding ways to impact their communities, and making cultural contributions.
Speaking about joining the programme, Madowo said, “I’m looking forward to highlighting outstanding stories and incredible people from across the continent and showing the world these remarkable African changemakers. Having featured on the show before joining CNN, this is a full circle moment for me.” His first show will air on 25th February 2023.
Nicole Walters appointed client service director at Ambani Reputation Management
Nicole Walters has been appointed as to client service director at Ambani Reputation Management.
Walters is a dynamic and results-driven professional with a career spanning over a decade. She is a natural-born leader with an ability to think beyond the confines of traditional thought.
She previously held the role of client service manager and managed a diverse portfolio of client accounts and events including the Tiger Brands Foundation, Hollard’s Daredevil Run, South African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) and the Insurance Institute of South Africa (IISA) to name a few.
In her new role, Walters will be managing and implementing campaigns that are aligned to client brand and reputation strategies across a number of local and international clients.
RocketNet onboards industry heavyweights to drive growth
Fast-growing internet service provider (ISP), RocketNet is shaking things up with the appointment of industry heavyweights to take customer service delivery and internet support to the next level.
“We have invested heavily into infrastructure and technology over the past few years to bring the best of what the fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) industry has to offer. We have a strong team and a positive culture, which has been core to growing our market share. As we expand, we will continue to attract top talent who share our values and are uncompromisingly customer-centric,” says Simon Swanepoel, CEO of RocketNet (left).
RocketNet recently appointed Lee-Roy Joyce as chief operating officer. Joyce has more than 10 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry and witnessed the first home in South Africa go live with fibre internet.
RocketNet also secured Warren Thomas as chief marketing officer (CMO) to drive sales while promoting the RocketNet brand to a broader South African audience. Thomas has more than a decade of experience within telecommunication sales and marketing.
Business moves
Integer\Hotspot living the brands for Distell’s RTD portfolio
If you bump into Di Wilson and her team in a tavern in Khayelitsha, don’t offer to buy them a drink. They’re not there for the shisa nyama and an ice-cold beverage: they’re working out how to get consumers to consider new brands in South Africa’s booming ready-to-drink (RTD) category.
Wilson, the CEO of integrated marketing agency Integer\Hotspot, has barely had time to catch her breath since last June, when her agency was awarded the shopper marketing account for Distell’s entire ready to drink (RTD) portfolio, including Hunters, Bernini, Extreme, Vawter and Esprit.
“RTD, as a segment, is booming. Convenient packaging, easy to consume, no preparation needed, great flavour profiles – what’s not to like? The challenge is to capture shoppers’ attention in a super-crowded marketplace, and to give them the tools they need at purchase time that lead them to consider new brands,” said Wilson.
The agency had already won the Savanna account after successfully pitching during lockdown. They then pitched for the Extreme and Bernini brands in April 2022 – and to their delight, were awarded Distell’s entire RTD business based on their design and execution capabilities and ongoing results.
Salesforce announces Einstein GPT, the world’s first generative AI for CRM
Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), the global leader in CRM, has launched Einstein GPT, the world’s first generative AI CRM technology, which delivers AI-created content across every sales, service, marketing, commerce, and IT interaction, at hyperscale. With Einstein GPT, Salesforce will transform every customer experience with generative AI.
Einstein GPT will infuse Salesforce’s proprietary AI models with generative AI technology from an ecosystem of partners and real-time data from the Salesforce Data Cloud, which ingests, harmonises, and unifies all of a company’s customer data. With Einstein GPT, customers can then connect that data to OpenAI’s advanced AI models out of the box, or choose their own external model and use natural-language prompts directly within their Salesforce CRM to generate content that continuously adapts to changing customer information and needs in real
For example, Einstein GPT can generate personalised emails for salespeople to send to customers, generate specific responses for customer service professionals to more quickly answer customer questions, generate targeted content for marketers to increase campaign response rates, and auto-generate code for developers.
“The world is experiencing one of the most profound technological shifts with the rise of real-time technologies and generative AI. This comes at a pivotal moment as every company is focused on connecting with their customers in more intelligent, automated, and personalised ways,” said Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.
Outodoor Network is flipping the switch on load shedding
Over two hundred days of load-shedding are predicted this year. Businesses have been hit hard by the rolling power cuts and the digital marketing sector in particular has been impacted by the disruptions. The OOH landscape is feeling the loss of audiences during peak time travel which in turn affects advertisers who are re-looking their ad spend during the electricity crisis. It’s a challenging landscape but businesses like Outdoor Network, a Provantage company, are taking steps and adapting to ensure the impact on digital billboards is decreased.
Outdoor Network its tapping into an alternative power source to ensure that its digital billboards give advertisers the best deal and a return on investment even during load-shedding. The company is on a mission to have all rotator digital billboards across South Africa switched on even during rolling power cuts. Director at Provantage Shamy Naidu says the full-scale rollout plan is in motion and is expected to be completed before June this year. “Locations have been selected across South Africa’s major economic hubs and will be operational during peak hours to give advertisers the promised engagement,” said Naidu.
StarSat is refreshing its content offer: adding four new channels to its Super Package.
2023 has been a tough year. With the state of emergency, rising inflation and flooding, the average consumer struggles to make ends meet. Service providers should try assisting their customers in this time of need.
StarSat, for its part, will alleviate customers’ burdens in three ways, namely a price freeze for 2023, the introduction of four new channels to the Super Package, and a reward incentive for loyal Special Package subscribers who wish to upgrade to the Super Package.
StarSat, unlike some of its competitors, will keep prices for all TV bouquet offerings unchanged in 2023. “Just like all other service providers, our costs go up yearly,” says John Yan, StarSat CEO. “We at StarSat, however, have decided to absorb that cost to allow South Africans to continue to afford our rich and diverse content offer’.
StarSat will be introducing four new channels to its Super Package, which are now in their live testing phase;
WOO president Goddard paints a glowing picture for out of home in booming MENA region
“The stars are aligned,” World Out of Home Organization President Tom Goddard told delegates at WOO’s inaugural MENA Forum (Middle East and North Africa) in Dubai this week.
“Why, in a world so unsettled with a war in Europe, an energy crisis, climate change concerns, political instability and economic headwinds are forecasters so buoyant about Out of Home? Because we have so many positive dynamics driving us forward.”
According to Goddard these include:
*Credible audience metrics which build trust and confidence and facilitate a common trading language
*Automation which is now becoming a major growth stimulus
*Programmatic, facilitated by automation, which taps into mushrooming omnichannel trading
*Creatives falling back in love with Out of Home as the digital tide ebbs
*The return of spectacular one-off special builds
*A growing desire for 24/7 media channels
*The huge impact of anamorphic technology enabling highest resolution images on wide digital screens
MENA, he said, was a region that “is not only bucking the global economic downturn but actually booming” thanks to factors including a young well-educated workforce and the United Arab Emirates’ open door policy and business-as-usual stance throughout the recent pandemic.
“MENA’s unique geographical location, with easy access to so many large markets, is really staring to tell,” he continued, with OOH; especially DOOH, very well-placed to benefit from the ever-growing number of exciting physical locations with consequent marketing and creative opportunities.”
“There is nowhere better to make a gigantic statement about OOH,” he said, pointing to a stunning example from Qatar for the recent FIFA World Cup.
As always, there remains work to done, and Goddard highlighted the need to grow the industry at sector level in an ever-more competitive global media market. The most effective way, he said, was to increase industry collaboration at all levels and shift focus from internal competition to sector level activity.
HOT 102.7FM adds value to radio industry with latest academy graduates
Johannesburg-based commercial radio station HOT 102.7FM is celebrating its ‘Class of 2022’, following the graduation of the station’s latest HOT Radio Academy intake at a ceremony at HOT House in North Riding.
The eight-week course culminated in 39 graduates leaving with a solid grounding in the basics of radio and in a position to take their first steps in a possible radio career, with the industry in South Africa set to benefit from more young entrants in the market and a wider pool of talent from which to choose.
The course was run by experienced radio practitioners Tim Zunckel and Grant Nash, who put the Class of 2022 through their paces and provided them with the ideal introduction to an industry that has so many different parts to it, with so many different areas of opportunities for aspiring radio industry members.
“It’s not just out of a sense of duty to play a role in improving our industry that we host the HOT Radio Academy,” said Lloyd Madurai, MD. “We believe it’s incredibly important to hold out a helping hand to the next generation of radio talent in this country. That’s the basis on which the HOT Radio Academy was founded and it will continue to offer invaluable training and a foot-hold to hundreds of people who otherwise would not have had any opportunity to enter the competitive world of radio.”
The HOT Radio Academy provides free radio training to deserving applicants and is the station’s commitment to the industry to provide radio training to students, with a view to expanding the skills and knowledge base within the industry.
Making moves
The Durban FilmMart Institute announces project selection for DFM ACCESS 2023
The Durban FilmMart Institute has announced its project selection for DFM ACCESS 2023. DFM Access is a 12-week development platform for entry-level producers.
It provides a nurturing framework for participants with existing long-form or episodic independent film projects to improve their project packages and pitching skills for the global marketplace.
With support from the National Film and Video Foundation PESP funding, 23 South African projects were selected to participate in the weekly plenary sessions and one-on-mentorship. The programme will focus on topics such as story development, legal aspects of film production and financing, international co-production, distribution and pitching.
“DFM Access is an important development platform for emerging producers,” said DFMI director Magdalene Reddy. “Many filmmakers are either unable to access film markets or not equipped to do so. This programme was created to ensure filmmakers have the tools to participate effectively in local and international markets.”
At the end of the 12-week programme all 23 projects will pitch to an independent panel of industry professionals who will select 3 projects to pitch in the 14th annual Durban FilmMart as an official project.
The 14th Durban FilmMart will take place on 21-24 July 2023 in Durban. Delegate registration will open in late April 2023.
