Media Moves… TheMediaOnline’s weekly round up. Meropa Communications appoints MD and new directors. National Geographic Channels announces leadership changes. Des Latham joins FrayIntermedia. New account awarded to MANGO-OMC. Brandyourcar.com and RSG partner up. Butter Knife PR to manage communications for Munaaz. SA’s latest tech startup, Anthropology, set to make its mark. Second consecutive win As ‘Best Local Food Blog’ For Anél Potgieter. Another local to judge at Cannes. 3RC launches RockingFuture PG. New mobile DSP announces exclusive Strike Ad partnership. Campbell given President’s Award at ABF Annual General Meeting. Henley Business School announces the Johnny Clegg Scholarship for the MBA in the music & creative Industries
Who’s moved where
Meropa Communications appoints MD and new directors
Meropa Communications has appointed Patrick Gearing as Managing Director with immediate effect, and has appointed four other senior members of staff as Directors.
Yolisa Pasipanodya becomes director of Meropa’s public sector practice; Joanne Botha becomes director of the private sector practice; John Boyd becomes director of the consumer and brand practice; and Maria Djordjevic becomes a director of communications and will maintain her role in Meropa’s healthcare practice in addition to being responsible for high-level strategy development across the company.
All of the new directors will become shareholders of Meropa as part of its policy of having the people who work in the business own the business. They join five other fellow directors on the Meropa board. The five existing directors are Peter Mann, chief executive; Alan Rabinowitz, financial director, Stephen Forbes, head of Meropa Cape Town, Yogin Devan, head of Meropa Durban; and Welcome Msomi, who is a non-executive Director.
“Our five new directors are all long-standing Meropa employees,” says Welcome Msomi, one of Meropa’s longest-standing directors.
National Geographic Channels announces leadership changes
The National Geographic Channels has announced several senior leadership changes at the company. Gary E Knell, president and CEO of the National Geographic Society, and Peter Rice, chairman and CEO of Fox Networks Group, made the announcements jointly.
Courteney Monroe, who has served as chief marketing officer for National Geographic Channels’ domestic networks since joining the company in January 2012, has been named CEO, National Geographic Channels US, effective 1 May.
David Hill, who currently serves as senior executive vice president of 21st Century Fox and a member of the National Geographic Channels board of directors, will now add the title ofcChairman of National Geographic Channels US, a role in which he will provide counsel to the executive and programming leadership team.
David Lyle, who has served as CEO of National Geographic Channels since 2011, will step down, handing over to Monroe and Hill.
HSF appoints Professor Charles Simpson
The Helen Suzman Foundation has announced the appointment of Professor Charles Simkins as a senior researcher at the HSF. Prof Simkins is a distinguished economist and one of the country’s leading Social Scientists.
He is a Rhodes Scholar and the recipient of a Chevening Fellowship. He was, for many years, the incumbent of the Helen Suzman Chair in Political Economy at Wits University and, more recently, the Vice President of St Augustine College.
Prof Simkins will assist the HSF in broadening and deepening its research programme.
In short: Des Latham joins FrayIntermedia
BDFM online editor Des Latham has resigned. He is joining FrayIntermedia as head of multimedia
Who’s won what
New account awarded to MANGO-OMC
MANGO-OMC have been appointed as the communications partner for the locally produced, fully orchestrated rock musical Rockville 2069 premiering on 29 August 2014 at Artscape Opera House in Cape Town.
Featuring a cast of 26 with lead singer Joseph Clark (of Queen at the Opera) and a seven-piece rock band with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, Rockville 2069 combines artists and musicians from different cultural and musical backgrounds to bring a new, sometimes discordant, always thrilling voice to the rock musical scene.
Composer Johnny Ray said MANGO-OMC has a diverse team members working on the project and “we like the array skills that they bring to the party.”
MANGO-OMC, owner Nicole Capper says, “We are really excited to be working with a South African production of this nature and scope. Rockville 2069 is carving out a new niche in the musical genre and we love being a part of it.”
Brandyourcar.com and RSG partner up
Off the back of a successful previous campaign, SABC’s Afrikaans radio station RSG has once again returned to the Brandyourcar.com‘s massive driver database to deliver its advertising message.
“RSG has recognised the natural media fit between a radio brand and branded vehicles,” says Brandyourcar.com’s MD Pieter Groenewald. “The most time spent listening to the radio is in the car, whether during peak rush hours, picking the kids up from school or other daily run arounds.”
Concentrating in RSG’s broadcast footprint, and focusing on the Afrikaans speaking population in the LSM 6-10 group, Brandyourcar.com is certainly putting the word out there that RSG should be listened to. The campaign includes a social media angle where drivers post pictures of their cars and other relevant information on their social media platforms from their personal points of view.
Butter Knife PR to manage communications for Munaaz
The Munaaz PR account has been awarded to Cape Town based agency, Butter Knife PR. The agency has been appointed to manage the communications for the Munaaz Catering Equipment group, highlighting Munaaz as South Africa’s leading service provider of choice in the Catering Equipment industry.
Butter Knife PR was formed in March 2013 and has since secured clients such as Glenfiddich, Grant’s, Hendrick’s Gin, iFix and the Cotton On Group.
Butter Knife PR Director, Leandi Jamneck, comments, “The team feels incredibly honoured to be awarded the Munaaz account and to be able to highlight the new Professional range of Catering Equipment that has arrived in South Africa from the Smeg brand”.
Who’s making moves
SA’s latest tech startup, Anthropology, set to make its mark
With over 20 years combined experience in the digital industry Melody Maker and Katherine McChesney have joined forces to specialise in consumer marketing. Anthropology was born out of a desire to see the union of big data and the insights behind their inspiring and solid consumer marketing initiatives.
“We really have a desire to look at each client objectively and holistically, regardless of the medium, to ensure channel appropriate marketing initiatives as opposed to the approach of forcing round pegs into square holes,” says McChesney.
Underpinned by propriety software, Anthropology uses real-time data to guide all their campaigns; whether it be an overarching digital strategy or direct marketing campaign.
“The name Anthropology is no coincidence, we want to make it our mission to constantly study and evaluate consumer data, interactions and trends. Meaningful marketing has to be born out of really understanding who you are speaking to and what makes them tick.
New mobile DSP announces exclusive Strike Ad partnership
New kid on the mobile block MaxAxion launched this year at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with an offering allowing advertisers access to mobile traffic throughout Africa in the form of display, SMS and USSD inventory.
Already having access to a bouquet of owned mobile properties, 3rd party publisher traffic and an official reseller of RAMP (Real African Media Partners) SMS and USSD traffic across 33 African territories, MaxAxion has announced the exclusive Africa partnership with global mobile DSP Strike Ad.
“We’re very pleased to announce this partnership with MaxAxion. Programmatic mobile advertising represents a huge growth opportunity in the African market with over 80% of South Africans alone using mobile as their primary means to access the internet.” said Gavin Stirrat, COO StrikeAd. “We look forward to bringing our global expertise and technology together with MaxAxion’s local knowledge to truly capitalise on this opportunity.”
Second consecutive win as ‘Best Local Food Blog’ For Anél Potgieter
Food blogger Anél Potgieter was awarded for the second year in a row for her popular blog, lifeisazoobiscuit.com, when she successfully defended her title for ‘best local food blog’ at the prestigious 2014 Eat Out Zonnebloem Produce Awards this past weekend. It is the first time in the history of the awards that a food blogger has won the award consecutively.
Apart from her blog, Anél is also a regular face on SABC3’s breakfast show, Expresso, she has a weekly food column in the Afrikaans newspaper Rapport, was a contestant on Masterchef South Africa and won the SABC2 reality television show Dinner Divas.
3RC launches RockingFuture PG
3RC has launched a new education expo platform for both leaners and their parents, one that allows brands, corporates and tertiary institutions to reach this sought-after consumer market.
Think about it: the total number of matrics writing in 2013 was close to 590 000. There are only 120 000 places at public universities in South Africa. What happens to the other 470 000 matriculants?
With this reality in mind 3RC has launched RockingFuture PG, a career expo platform that enlightens both learners and parents on the myriad options available after matric. From colleges and youth-focused corporates to getting bursaries and becoming an entrepreneur, RockingFuture PG exposes matriculants and their parents to the other opportunities available. The platform in turn allows brands, tertiary institutions and corporates to reach this sought-after consumer segment.
Another local to judge at Cannes
The 2014 juries that have been chosen for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity have so far been a huge tribute to the South African industry with a large local representation. Now, another homegrown legend joins the ranks for the international festival, which kicks off from 15 to 21 June, in the form of Mark Tomlinson.
Tomlinson, who has a range of experience under his belt, will be serving on the mobile jury, a position South Africa was chosen to fill. With his accounts including Pernod Ricard, Toyota, Cell C and Investec, Tomlinson joins a diverse group of judges who have already been appointed to represent South Africa at Cannes Lions this year. This includes Kirk Gainsford for Film, Mariana O’Kelly for Press, Brett Morris for Outdoor, Erica Gunning for Media, Bridget Johnson for the Direct category, Adam Livesey for the Promo & Activation category, Sulet Jansen for the Design category and Vanessa Pearson for Radio.
Campbell given President’s Award at ABF Annual General Meeting
The ABF President’s Award was handed to Chirene Campbell from Owlhurst Communications for their continued support and dedication to the ABF and honorary life membership was awarded to Chris Brewer for his contribution to the ABF at the organisations 44th AGM. It was held FCB’s offices in Sandton. The executive committee conducted all affairs within a short space of time, with the publicly released annual report reflecting a more promising year ahead.
The ABF thanked the industry for their support throughout the year, saying the recession has been really tough on the industry and the continued survival of the ABF is absolutely dependent on contributions and support at fundraising events. Certificates of appreciation were handed out to select executive committee members who assisted the ABF above and beyond the call of duty.
Henley Business School announces the Johnny Clegg Scholarship for the MBA in the music & creative Industries
Johnny Clegg, one of South Africa’s most inspiring and celebrated artists, and the Henley Business School have entered into a collaboration to offer a scholarship in the business school’s recently launched MBA in the Music & Creative Industries.
The Johnny Clegg Scholarship will be awarded to an applicant who has demonstrated a commitment to the creative industries, a keen interest in professionalising the sector, and an understanding of the critical intersection of creativity and business savvy that results in a vibrant, successful commercial enterprise.
The first of its kind, the MBA has been hailed as a timely initiative for the creative industries. In an environment where creatives’ labour and output are often regarded as passion projects, and often not given due professional recognition, the MBA offers creative workers and arts practitioners a tailor-made business qualification that addresses the unique scenario that the creative industries present. The scholarship recognizes the vital contribution that the creative industries make towards the future prosperity of Africa.
The scholarship covers all the R220 000 tuition costs of the MBA programme. Representing the best of both worlds, the Music & Creative Industries MBA programme comprises Henley’s core MBA, with the music and creative industry sector section allocated additional time to contextualise and discuss industry-specific issues. In keeping with Henley Business School’s commitment to offering a ‘family-and life-friendly MBA’, the principles of flexible learning apply to the Music & Creative Industries MBA, ensuring a study experience that in step with the realities of most candidates’ lives as full-time businesspeople and professionals.
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