Month: March 2019

Everyone knows the brand, everyone has seen or read or perused the magazine! CAR magazine, a South African heritage brand, established over 60 years ago, has now evolved its online platform, CARmag.co.za even further to suit prevailing South African market conditions.CAR is Southern Africa’s leading multimedia automotive consumer brand and it’s growing even further by partnering with the industry to meet South Africa’s motoring demands. In the latest development, media groups like Caxton are coming together to exponentially expand the reach of the platform and make the new CARmag platform the largest and most trusted motoring product of its kind.

South Africa has one of the most competitive automotive trading environments in the world with 53 passenger car brands and 3,236 model derivatives, representing the widest choice to market-size ratio anywhere in the world. As the largest manufacturing sector in South Africa’s economy, vehicle and component production accounted for 30.1% of the country’s manufacturing output in 2017. Together Caxton, CAR magazine and other key players have come together, shared resources and knowledge to offer dealers affordable solutions and offers consumers informative options while accepting the responsibility to mend the disruption that has been caused in the market.

By adding the resources of Caxton Automotive to the strong CAR magazine brand, the new CARmag.co.za website will consist of a unique array of offerings to its users. This includes professional editorial content produced by the CAR magazine expert journalists and vehicle specialists, generic new car module offerings, special deals on new and used vehicles and dealership demo modules.

Advertising is available through highly targeted DMX Banners located on specific high traffic pages while the CAR Dealer Directory will become the most comprehensive and user-friendly automotive directory in South Africa covering all types of dealerships offering personalised profiles populated with inventory and navigation to service centres, spare parts centres and workshops.

Marc Scott, CEO at Vehicle Traders comments, “It’s been inspiring to develop this platform with our exceptional CAR magazine team. The new platform is the innovative and evolutionary product of this collaboration between forward thinking media groups and key industry role-players offering an intrinsic understanding of motoring South Africa. We have met the dealer network requirements and given the public world class content from their most loved motoring brand … CAR.”

“We believe that this platform will be the leading multimedia automotive marketplace for enthusiasts, buyers and sellers of vehicles and related products and services in South Africa, and be recognised as South Africa’s leading multimedia automotive consumer brand,” says Caxton Digital’s Group Marketing Manager, Sharlee Moriarty. “A larger audience and a holistic marketing and advertising solution can be reached by combining newspaper, magazine and online platforms under the CAR brand.”

Terence Steenkamp, Editor of CAR, further adds, “CAR has defined automotive media for more than six decades and, with this partnership, we’re excited that even more consumers will be exposed to this experienced magazine team’s insights and knowledge. That, in turn, will allow them to make informed purchasing decisions while browsing through the extensive vehicle listings under the CARmag umbrella. It’ll be a one-stop shop for all things automotive!”

This full multi-function automotive platform will highlight new cars, test them and rate them while offering the public a conduit to find great deals. It’s one website that houses only the best in quality content, vehicle listings, dealer directory and related products and services and as always – the authoritative voice in South African motoring.

The largest, most robust, quantitative community survey of urban South Africa, providing insights for marketers about people, their behaviours, activities, shopping, reading and path to purchase habits, ROOTS, launches its latest set of results in June.

The ROOTS survey provides single source information from over 27 000 randomly selected face-to-face interviews across many South African urban communities, using a proven, credible methodology while being more detailed than any other such survey in South Africa.

“Along with the inclusion of new industry metrics like SEM’s plus LSM’s, we’ve added new areas across the country, included more categories and even added questions on game- changers like Uber and Gautrain,” says Debbie McIntyre, Marketing Services and Research Director SPARK Media.

“ROOTS 2019 insights, will enable marketers and advertisers to understand who their market is, how they’ve changed, where they live and shop, how they behave and how to reach them.”

 As well as the traditional categories like Food and Groceries, Auto, Appliances, Home Accessories, Clothing, Shopping Centres, DIY, Travel, Finance and Insurance, more detail has been added on Health and Wellbeing, Buying/Renting a Home, Loyalty Cards, Mobility including ‘how’ and ‘how far’ consumers are willing to travel to shop. Other additions include connectivity, entertainment (yes, even Streaming) and even data on some life milestones too.

The real win for users is that this trendable big data set can be analysed at a combined big, broad picture level or distilled down to community by community detail providing opportunities for marketers looking for changes, differences and gaps.

“As digital technology integrates itself in all parts of life, we have included these options as they relate to peoples search, shopping, entertainment and reading behaviour too,” concludes Debbie.

“Since its inception in the 1980’s, the ROOTS research methodology provides a national snapshot that is designed to enable detailed analysis and decision making at a local level, and we are excited to continue to build on this proven data set that is so critical for marketers.

Watch this space, #ROOTS2019 is coming!”

For more on SPARK Media, visit our website and follow us on social media @sparkmediasa.

SPARK Media

Established in 2015, SPARK Media, a division of CTP Ltd, are experts in retail and location based marketing solutions. The company owns and represents an arsenal of print products that deliver locally relevant, effective audiences for advertising clients. SPARK Media are Strategic Partners in Audience Research and Knowledge and offer ‘Insights that Ignite’.

In an exciting new venture for its stable of media companies, The Nfinity Group, headed by media entrepreneur Ken Varejes enters the Television and Radio broadcast spheres. The company is proud to announce a new partnership with an innovative consumer engagement broadcaster in the form of the Brand Game Shows and its creator Craig Clay-Smith. Nfinity and Clay-Smith share a common vision and passion for media innovation and the Big Brand TV Show together with a new radio extension, The Lucky Listener Radio Show are unique media, with interactive brand focused television and radio game shows, that are synergistically supported with print, and/or online and social media platforms.

 To reach a total cross section of the South African consumer market, The Big Brand TV Show enters the DSTV Bouquet family, featuring six shows a week, two each across the MNET, Mzansi Magic and KykNet channels. Lucky Listener launches on East Coast Radio and Jacaranda, where collectively the two shows will give away over R4-million in cash prizes annually. “We see these interactive, broadcast brands as a perfect fit for our strategic sales mix and vision for unique media solutions that we already offer,” says Ken Varejes, Group CEO of Nfinity Media.

The partnership allows Nfinity Media to leverage their unique sales expertise to deliver highly effective and value-based media packages to the market. The incredible value proposition of the show engages consumers across the entire viewer or listener spectrum when the on-air presenter asks a viewer or listener, targeted, brand or value-centric questions. Correct answers are rewarded with cash whilst simultaneously consumers are educated on the key intrinsic values or sales propositions of a variety of brands.

“The Big Brand TV and Lucky Listener shows make perfect sense at Nfinity as cross-over support for a brand’s traditional media mix, providing engagement, feedback and market intelligence,” says Ken. “The first consumer interaction with the brand for TV is weekly across some of the biggest print titles in South Africa; Huisgenoot, You and Drum, initiating a two-way communication stream.” On radio the shows are driven through the station’s own web site while both platforms are supported through online and intensive social media campaigns.

The Brand Game Show will be represented in Johannesburg’s Nfinity offices by Justin van Alphen, an experienced New Business Sales Developer with more than a decade of experience. Justin has been named Portfolio Sales Manager of the year 2016-2017, Media24 Sales Manager 2016-2017 and Sales Innovator of the year 2016-2017.

“We welcome our latest partnership with Craig and Justin and we know that we have a solid and innovative offering that brands haven’t truly maximised yet on TV and radio,” says Ken.

 Nfinity DNA

Headed by entrepreneur Ken Varejes as CEO, Nfinity is the latest innovation hub to land in the media, marketing and eventing fields. Nfinity is poised as a space for entrepreneurs to grow and better their businesses under the guidance of Ken and his growing management team, each a specialist in their own field. Nfinity currently has established shareholding and presence including in the following companies: AdColony, theSALT, Reveel, Whisky Live, Whizzky App, Orange Block, , theIntern-Ship, Brand a Tuk Tuk, Nfinity Digital and Brand Game Shows.

Hot on the heels of winning Best South African Blog of the Year, founder of South Africa’s Good Things Guy has been named the category winner of ‘Social Enterprise and Philanthropy’ and the fourth most influential South African in the ‘100 Most Influential Young South Africans’ poll.

The survey, conducted by leading international PR and ratings agency Avance Media, recognises remarkable contributions made by individuals towards their respective fields which have impacted other young South Africans and beyond.“It’s moments like these that remind me that I am on the right path,” says Brent. “Good Things Guy feels like a gift that was given to me to help South Africans see our beautiful country with new eyes and I am thankful for each and every one of our readers!”

First launched in 2016 by Avance Media, the 100 Most Influential Young South Africans has previously been won by comedian and TV personality Trevor Noah (2016) and Ndlozi (2017). This year, Caster Semenya was the first woman to be awarded the coveted title as the Most Influential Young South African for 2018.

Good Things Guy was created by Brent in 2015 to promote South Africa’s good news and to share inspirational stories. The site has evolved to become a global, multi-platform company that shares unique content to over a million readers each month.

“I believe that there is always a good news story to tell and I’m honoured to be recognised as an inspirational South African amongst amazing individuals who have excelled in their fields of business, lifestyle, sport and entertainment. All this in the first quarter of the year! I’m looking forward to sharing many more good things throughout 2019.”

The Good Things Guy can be found at www.goodthingsguy.com, on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.