Media Moves… TheMediaOnline’s weekly round up. Edwards new social media ed at eNCA.com, Ramela takes over afternoon TV slot. ONELAN measures up with Quividi. Starcom MediaVest Group) appoints client managing director. Ten months, 20 new jobs: Not bad for the TV industry. DESTINY MAN bids farewell to editor Kojo Baffoe. Melissa Attree to join Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town. Hero appoints Warren van Rensburg as creative director. Expand a Sign appoint new research and development manager. Shopper-centric ACDOCOSA appoints head of marketing. DUO scores a perfect 10 in best year yet. StarSat announces strategic partnership with DISCOP 2014. Primedia Outdoor raises the BEE bar. ONELAN measures up with Quividi.
Who’s moved where
Edwards new social media ed at eNCA.com, Ramela takes over afternoon TV slot
Accomplished radio and television anchor Dudu Ramela will take over from Gareth Edwards as the new anchor for the 4pm to 6pm Afternoon News show. Edwards moves to the eNCA Online team as social media editor.
Ramela has worked as a freelancer for eNCA for nearly three years. “We are delighted that Dudu is joining our permanent team. She distinguished herself during the Nelson Mandela memorial coverage and the national elections with her maturity, intelligence and a keen interest in current affairs,” says channel news director Mapi Mhlangu.
Anchoring the afternoon show is a dream come true for her. “From a small office on campus radio to Moneyweb and to one of the biggest media houses in South Africa, it is an honor and responsibility I look forward to embracing”.
Edwards wanted to take a step in a new direction. “Having worked in the TV space for six years I am looking forward to the new challenge of bringing digital and TV closer together,” he said.
Edwards won’t be lost to TV screens completely. He will still appear on eNCA on various shows tracking how news stories are developing online. He will also be stepping in as a guest on headline shows as required.
Starcom MediaVest Group) appoints client managing director
Alexander Kunz has been appointed as the client managing director for Starcom MediaVest Group (@SMG_SouthAfrica) South Africa and Africa. He works alongside managing director Ravi Bhaya and CEO Aaron van Schaik.
Kunz has spent four years within the SMG Group, most recently in London as the EMEA account director for Sasmung and prior to that with SMG Austria.
“The power of the whole team equals more than the sum of its individual parts! I have always loved to be part of a newly created team and believe that the opportunities in the South African and African markets are extremely exciting. I look forward to making a real difference for our clients in these markets,” he says.
Ten months, 20 new jobs: Not bad for the TV industry
Okuhle Media (OM) have officially completed their recruitment drive for 2014, or so they hope. Over the past few months, OM have employed five new people, promoted nine more and transferred four from within its stable workforce.
This massive recruitment phase kicked off in January with the employment of 17-crew to Okuhle’s new baby, the first ever fixed, HD studio in Cape Town.
Okuhle, known for TV shows such as the seven-year old, daily live show, Hectic Nine-9 on SABC 2 and award winning, Sarah Grahams’ Bitten, along with Kasilicous and Born Frees on e.tv have had a busy year. “We are proud and privileged to be able to contribute so significantly to providing job opportunities in our industry and province,” said Paula Brown, CEO of Okuhle Media.
“While it’s exciting times with new faces to bring a fresh new approach and ideas, in our industry, the challenge is always finding the balance between ensuring the sustainability of the organisation, securing consistent business to generate consistent revenue and the risks that go with this,” she said.
DESTINY MAN bids farewell to editor Kojo Baffoe
After four years at the helm of DESTINY MAN, Kojo Baffoe is bowing out to pursue other business interests. Under his editorship, DESTINY MAN has grown from being an alternate-monthly publication to a monthly one.
“I’d like to thank Kojo for his contribution to DESTINY MAN and to Ndalo Media as a whole. We wish him success in all his future endeavors,” said Ndalo Media CEO Khanyi Dhlomo.
“After four extremely rewarding years, I’m leaving the magazine, but want to thank everyone with whom I’ve engaged during that period,” says Baffoe. “It’s truly been a major milestone in my life and a special time. I’m grateful for having been able to contribute to the magazine, my community and our society.”
ESTINY Man’s Senior Features Editor, Mzolisi Witbooi will be Acting Editor until a new editor is appointed.
Melissa Attree to join Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town
Digital marketing expert, Melissa Attree, is set to join Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town (O&M CT) as its director of content strategy.
Luca Gallarelli, managing director of O&M CT, said the post was created especially for Attree to ensure she could “bring her vast experience, huge passion and extraordinary talents into the agency”.
He described the appointment as “another important pioneering step by O&M towards delivering the really integrated, flexible and multi-platform work that clients should expect – her role will be to create and connect strategies to smart, tangible outcomes in whatever form they can be best executed”.
Attree has been working as a freelance creative digital and marketing consultant in Cape Town after being creative director at Cerebra between 2012 and 2014. She kick-started her career as a copywriter before managing the local strategic transformation of the Kérastase brand for L’Oreal and then providing the social media strategy for 5FM for four years.
Attree has worked on many major brands including ABSA, Adidas, Big Blue, MasterCard, Nando’s, Nedbank, SAA, SAB, Toyota, Vodacom and Woolworths.
Hero appoints Warren van Rensburg as creative director
Hero, an integrated and mid-sized marketing communications company, has appointed Warren van Rensburg as new creative director of Hero Cape Town.
Van Rensburg is no stranger to the business and brings with him a wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise, having worked in the advertising industry for more the 15 years. He has worked on various prestigious brands such as Lucky Strike, Cell C, Hunter’s, Red Bull, J&B and Smirnoff. He has received recognition at the D&AD awards, aimed at celebrating the finest creative work in the world.
He plans on masterminding and executing big ideas that deliver results for clients, and aims to take creative campaigns to a new level with a strong focus on mentoring his team. “Every day is different at Hero. Nothing beats the satisfaction of cracking and executing smart ideas across multiple channels for our clients,” he said.
Expand a Sign appoint new research and development manager
Expand a Sign has welcomed Leo Aberdein as research and development manager, Aberdein has a wealth of experience having worked as design manager for BMG Hydraulics and lead design draughtsman for Defy, ThoroughTec Technologies and SA Wire Converters.
Aberdein is responsible for the research and development of the existing range of Expand a Sign products and will head up the Inflatables division in the same capacity.
“I am excited to be working with an amazing team and for an innovative company that has incredible passion. I look forward to designing and developing new products to grow the Inflatable range as well as assisting clients with their customised branding requirements,” he said.
Shopper-centric ACDOCOSA appoints head of marketing
In line with ACDOCO South Africa’s (ACDOCOSA) investment and repositioning as the first shopper-centric consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand-custodian distributor in Africa, the company has appointed Kim Herscovitz as its head of shopper and retail marketing.
Currently shopper marketing departments straddle between sales and marketing securing funding and reporting to both or either. To support ACDOCOSA’s differentiated positioning the shopper marketing department has taken the lead with consumer marketing and brand sales falling under Herscovitz.
“Traditionally where boards or senior leadership teams were led by sales and/or marketing, ACDOCOSA’s front-end leadership team comprises of Shopper, Customer and Merchandising heads, no traditional sales or marketing representation on the top-level,” explains Herscovitz, who previously spearheaded the marketing for brands such as Paul Mitchell, Canderel, Duracell, Old Spice and more in South Africa.
Who’s making moves
Primedia Outdoor raises the BEE bar
Primedia Outdoor has upped its already-strong Proudly South African standing by acquiring a Level Two B-BBEE Contributor Certification. This achievement acknowledges the company’s continued commitment to integrating previously disadvantaged people into the economy.
As a result of its new ranking, Primedia Outdoor’s clients can now claim 125% of their procurement spend with the company towards their own BEE scorecards.
“We are immensely proud to have achieved such a significant increase in our BEE rating,” says Snow Mokgalabone, HR manager at Primedia Outdoor. “Three years ago we put a strategy in place to upgrade our score and this is the fruition of that plan.”
The outdoor giant is now just a few points away from achieving the highest BEE level possible – Level One – which CEO Dave Roberts says is next on the agenda. “Any business, regardless of its size, would be wise to work steadily toward B-BBEE compliance if they hope to remain competitive,” he says. “We will now strive to improve our scores across all the BEE sectors and at the very least, maintain our current levels of compliance.”
To reach the required 95-99 points needed for a level-two accreditation, Primedia Outdoor concentrated on making improvements in all seven components on the Generic B-BBEE Scorecard.
DUO scores a perfect 10 in best year yet
Doubled revenues, a Gauteng office, a wide range of new digital offerings, a team three times the size, and an enviable client list are just some of the achievements DUO Marketing + Communications is celebrating at the end of 2014, a busy but productive year for the niche B2B tech PR and marketing agency.
“I am very proud of the strong commercial growth DUO has achieved this year. Striking a balance between winning new clients, and maintaining the high quality of service our existing client base relies on us for, has been our core focus,” said CEO, Judith Middleton.
The 10-year-old agency, which specialises in translating the business value of B2B technology products and services for local and international clients, opened an office in Johannesburg at the beginning of this year. Technology PR veteran, Dominique Pienaar, was brought on board in May as the Gauteng regional manager.
The agency has expanded its offerings to include a host of digital brand amplification strategies, which have been well received by its clients, including Huawei Enterprise South Africa, Vox Telecom and CloudGate.
StarSat announces strategic partnership with DISCOP 2014
On Digital Media’s (ODM) satellite pay-TV platform, StarSat, supported by StarTimes TV, has announced its strategic partnership at Africa’s premier multiplatform content event, DISCOP 2014, taking place from 5 to 7 November 2014, at Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg.
“DISCOP is very closely aligned to our business in terms of content development, production and distribution. We look for opportunities to collaborate with organisations who share similar objectives, so DISCOP is a very good fit for us. We are delighted to be part of this premier event,” says Sophia Zhang, CEO for ODM.
StarTimes and StarSat will be one of 300 pay-TV platforms, international sellers of finished TV content, adaptation rights and branded TV channels attending the event.
Mike Dearham, Managing Director of StarTimes Media Division will deliver the opening keynote address on 5 November at 09h30, on StarTimes’ contribution to creating a home-grown, sustainable, regulated, digital television ecosystem that will serve as a role model for the rest of the continent.
ODM StarSat is a South African satellite pay TV operator that launched five pay TV packages in the country, under the StarSat brand at the end of last year, replacing the former brand, Top TV.
ONELAN measures up with Quividi
ONELAN has enhanced its digital signage range and now offers audience measurement integration, powered by Quividi. The new audience measurement solution delivers a rich set of data to understand how passers-by engage with digital signage content. Reporting covers, for example, the number of opportunities to see, the number of real viewers, attention time and dwell time. This data can then be analysed by gender and age class.
It provides a real-time video analytics solution that helps media owners, retailers and brands to finely count and qualify their audiences. VidiCentre automatically builds an informative graphical dashboard accessible via a simple web browser to reveal trends and correlations. This enables marketing and content management teams to make informed decisions and build effective campaigns driven by validated audience data.
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