Spark Media is happy to announce that as from the 1st March 2019, the company will be separating its digital and print sales divisions into two distinct entities.
The newspaper sales division will retain the Spark Media name, and will house booking, production, sales, marketing services, research (ROOTS etc.) and other market intelligence needed to build effective media strategies.
Gill Randall will lead Spark Media as CEO, along with industry veterans Olav Westphal as Sales Director, Debbie McIntyre as Marketing Services and Research Director, Diane Albertus heads up Advertising Operations Director and Celeste Blake as Finance Director.
The digital sales business will be rebranded as Spark-Hive Digital, and will continue to represent Caxton’s well-known and extensive online assets.
Current Spark Joint CEO, Marc du Plessis, will initially oversee Spark-Hive Digital’s leadership team, including Parmeshan Moodliar as GM Sales; Kristin Louw as GM Operations and Ashleigh Footit in the capacity GM Programmatic and Data.
Marc will then be taking on further responsibilities within the Caxton-CTP group. We congratulate him on this recognition and thank him for his exceptional contribution to Spark Media.
The media environment is deepening in its complexity, rendering the traditional separation of print and digital strategies artificial, at best. Consequently, media planners and strategists are expected to have a thorough grasp of all the channels within the media mix.
To help planners navigate this highly integrated landscape, we believe that the onus lies with the media owner to offer specialised knowledge about how their channels can provide real value within a broader approach.
To state it succinctly, we strongly believe a more focused approach to the representation of our varied channels will best serve the interests of all stakeholders.
We are excited to implement this next step in Spark’s evolution as a premier commercial channel provider, and look forward to building on existing and new relationships with our valuable clients.
In the latest research commissioned by the Publisher Research Council (PRC), conducted using the global Touchpoints model developed by TNS Kantar Germany that measures a total of 23 consumer touchpoints, print advertising cracks the top 10 in the automotive category, placing second, clipped only by Television, in the ‘Paid For’ touchpoints.
“It is the responsibility of the PRC, through numerous investigations and research, to provide irrefutable proof that READING, whether online or on paper, delivers the highest brand cognition and recall. This we have consistently proved over the past two years, that the written word delivers the highest Return on Investment (ROI), whether used independently or in conjunction with TV,” says Pete Langschmidt, consultant to the PRC.
On 21 February 2019, Chris Moerdyk asks the question “Just how far have South African newspapers fallen?” Gill Randall, Joint CEO of SPARK Media, gives her thoughts. 
“The OMC’s vision is, and continues to be, being an organisation that brings stature and credibility to the medium through strategic and collaborative marketing efforts,” says OMC’s General Manager Trish Guilford. “We have a research currency that is robust, accurate and designed for our local market, delivering value and meeting a host of OOH planning and strategy needs.”
During the presentation, OOH media owners, media agencies and marketers witnessed first-hand just how integral this data and software will become in their daily planning. With the unveiling of the enhanced Optimiser tool, which demonstrated how OOH can be based on both budget and set criteria aligning the software to the user’s needs, that delivers efficiencies and better planning. Further projects and initiatives that the OMC had been busy with over the past year were shared with the audience.International guest speaker James Whitmore, Managing Director of Route in the UK, outlined his organisation’s history, its structure and scope. He emphasised that it is through TRUST and collaboration that Route has been able to deliver robust and detailed OOH audience measurement. He also outlined how Route is funded, with both media owners and media agencies contributing towards the research. The industry has committed to a cycle of six-year funding periods, which ensures a stable financial base that gives the organisation the freedom and independence to plan and think ahead. He concluded with a number of case studies. These demonstrate how audience data can be used to illustrate how OOH improves advertising results for clients, whether as a single medium or as part of a combination of media.
Following the presentation, he said: “New technology means that automation is a serious consideration for all media; if not now, then in the very near future. If this is to work properly and in the best interests of advertisers, it is vital that the data inputs are objective and robust. Joint industry currencies – audience measurement bodies – are having their moment in the sun. It is increasingly evident that strong, independent research is paramount for the health of media owners, agencies and advertisers. Without it we fear a future of confusion, inefficiency, ignorance and mistrust.”
The research, in this release, contains a fused, rolling, robust and sizable sample of over 45 000 people.
“It is only by creating accountability for our valuable client’s media spend and with trust in the data and methodologies, that the OOH industry can and will grow. The ever-improving ROAD research and Quantum software will go a long way in achieving this,” concludes Guilford.
In March, Emerald Resort & Casino will be bringing legendary musician Steve Hofmeyr and local Vereeniging songwriter and singer Refentse Morake, as a combined powerhouse duo in the first ever Afrikaans in die Vaal concert.
“Ons is besonder verheug om hierdie twee kunstenaars op dieselfde verhoog, vir die plaaslike Afrikaanse gemeenskap, te plaas,” says Leolize Naidoo, Emerald Resort & Casino’s Events & Entertainment Manager.
Lerato Senne, Insights Strategist at The MediaShop says that with the rise of technology and more advanced cellphones, human behaviour is becoming more anti-social than ever with a ‘present yet absent’ type of behaviour.
There’s no doubt that technology is changing how we communicate these days. We’re constantly multitasking while losing the essence of face-to-face interactions and paying less attention to details. This behaviour is affecting how we relate to each other – and it’s not just in the workplace but in our homes as well.
Caxton Magazine’s Living & Loving brand, one of South Africa’s favourite and most trusted authorities on pregnancy and motherhood, has expanded its consumer touchpoints to include a new online video series aimed at moms and moms-to-be. 
Nfinity CEO Ken Varejes says: “The Out of Home industry has always been a brilliant platform for innovation and a particular passion of mine. I’m so pleased to be introducing the latest player in this space and we’re confident that it’s going to be a great disruptor.”