Author: Mark

South Africa’s top rated media agency, The MediaShop, is committed to the development of young media practitioners within the advertising space. The agency has been running an effective internship programme for a number of years and also tries to employ all of them on a permanent basis once they have completed the programme. On 1 March they had a new intake of ten interns across their JHB, Cape Town and Durban office.

Ayanda Mda, Park Advertising’s HR Manager, says that the graduates were selected from various institutions of higher learning before going through a stringent ‘Dragon’s Den’ style immersion workshop. Here they’re given a brief to create marketing and media plan which was presented to members of the management team. “From this workshop the top ten candidates were selected to join our programme,” she explains.

“The programme is 18 months long with the first twelve months dedicated to providing training on Media Buying and Planning, Strategy, Intelligence, OOH, Campaign Management and Digital Planning. Coupled with the training there is practical on-the-job exposure in the various business units where they will get to implement what they have learnt.”

Kgaugelo Maphai, Managing Director of The MediaShop Johannesburg adds: “I’m very proud of our intern programme and the fact that our organisation invests in it. Most companies run internship programmes for 6 to 12 months just to tick the box, but we go beyond by running a full 18 month programme to ensure these graduates get the grounding they need to succeed. We also give them a stipend of R7500 which is double what is expected of us. We are proud that our programme has over the years produced many black strategists, planners and buyers in the industry who were initially trained at The MediaShop and we are happy to see them succeed in the respective agencies they now work for.

We also have many interns that have subsequently returned to us because of the great working environment we have created over the years.  Our interns are also mentored by our senior staff who take great care of them and their progress, ensuring our new team members are learning and developing and have everything they need to succeed.”

The agency has several success stories on the back of its internship programme with former interns now permanently employed excelling on client portfolios like Tiger Brands, Nedbank, Multichoice, Famous Brands & Shoprite Checkers.

“Some of our media owner partners will also participate in this programme by providing them with exposure into their operations which will assist them in getting a better understanding of this ecosystem we work in,” says Ayanda.

Kgaugelo adds: “At the end of the first 12 months, successful interns we be placed in various roles within the business, based on their performance and their areas of strength, where they will work for the remaining six months of the programme. We believe we have amassed an amazing group of graduates with various competencies and capabilities and believe we can give them the foundation to develop their career paths by supporting them and giving them as much access to knowledge and tools so they can build sustainable careers within our company and industry.

“The MediaShop is committed to growing and nurturing young talent in the South African media industry and this programme provides a vehicle for us to do that. Implementing an internship is not about ticking a box for us, we are training for the future,” says Ayanda. “We live in a country with a high rate of unemployment and we believe that in our own small way, this programme creates a solution for youth unemployment in the country and contributes to the upliftment of our people.”

The MediaShop Cape Town’s Bonita Bachmann, echoes Kgaugelo and Ayanda’s sentiments: “The MediaShop’s internship programme is an excellent learnership platform – I have found that as early as three months in, interns are refining their communication and business skills, professionalism, reasoning ability and teamwork. The early exposure to professional mentors and line managers provide career exploration and advancement opportunity with constructive feedback and support,” she says.

From the mouths of Interns:

Sinazo Jayiya: Accuracy is very important when dealing with client information, especially money. As well as treating media owners in the way you treat clients.

Nolukholo Ceza: an eye opening experience for me. I have learnt about so many different aspects of media, schedules and chaselists. And sticking to the budget!

Mbali Jonas: I have learnt about sticking to client brief, producing accurate chase lists that correspond with schedules.

Ongiwe Sibahle Mboxela: from the interview with Bonita I have learnt that not everything is about formality, it is more about being ethical and professional, these are some of the values of The MediaShop and with that attitude I have already learnt so much this past week.

Join The MediaShop on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn or visit www.themediashop.co.za

The MediaShop says “Goodbye” to Richard John Raddon Reed, who only wanted to be called Dick, and who was the founder of The MediaShop.

 “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dick Reed on 5 March 2019 in Cape Town, where he lived for many years,” says Chris Botha, Group MD at Park Advertising.

Dick served the advertising industry for many years and was regarded as a doyen by many in the marketing and media industry. He broke new ground for the advertising industry by creating The MediaShop in 1987 and then as a media independent in 1988. The company has since become an internationally awarded agency, based on many of the values that Dick instilled in the business during those early days.

“All those years ago Dick had a vision for the future of advertising in this country and created the amazing The MediaShop as a result,” says Sean Clarke, Operations Director. “I’m sure that you are proud of your achievements, the company that you founded and what it has become. We continue to grow, a force to be reckoned with, adhering to the key values that you deemed non-negotiable.

Thank you for the opportunity that you gave me and for being a friend, not just a business partner.”

“Rest in peace Dick, your legacy lives on in this company and the industry and from each and every person (past and present) at The MediaShop we offer our condolences to Margaret his wife, Marion, Tessa and Carrie, his three children and several grandchildren,” concludes Kgaugelo Maphai, Managing Director for The MediaShop.

Join The MediaShop on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn or visit www.themediashop.co.za

Yvette Gengan, Digital Media Manager at The MediaShop

If you are anything like me then blogging is no Friday night ‘Netflix and chill’ for you either. I over think the whole process. In fact, I pondered for days for a blog topic I felt had real purpose.

After a while, I realized that in my endless search I actually came across a handful of popular things to write about. These things are bound to be beneficial to someone out there who is also crawling online spaces for valuable topics. So in my attempt to save you from ever ending up in the deep dark holes of online searching, here are a few types of possible articles and topics that seem to be successful in the blogging space.

In no order of importance:

Politics! Oh the angles you could take. I mean this stuff literally writes itself. You could be serious, funny, meme driven or even more political (elections and all that) but just be prepared for some serious engagement and opinions. When I say load, you say shedding…

How-to guides – this is one of the highest search queries on Google. There is so much content and a lot of it offers so much value. This type of blog would work for most industries. Finance (how to plan), Banking (how to save), Media (how to spend all the money) – these are just some examples of where this type of blog could go.

Recipes – okay this one sent me into deep hunger and an hour and a half of video time… If you are lucky enough to ride the recipe wagon go for it. You can focus on health, different types of diets, grease (is it good, is it bad), POTATOES, and other equally important ingredients like BACON. It turns out Huffington Post has a whole section dedicated to bacon! Oh, the fun we could have.

Thank You, Next. Blogging about the personal stuff, and sharing things from your personal life in the form of storytelling would fall into this category. Now, being in digital media I have had to do my share of content calendars over the years and the one thing that was always a challenge for me was finding an emotional connection with an audience. It is hard and rare to find. Coca Cola and Nandos are examples of brands that have achieved this really well.

However, the focus is not just on big brands anymore but rather the smaller more personal brands. This would include people that have done exceptionally well in sharing their personal life with others online. Think sharing journeys of motherhood, fatherhood, cooking, baking, fitness, recovery, depression etc.

The main idea here is to evoke some sort of emotion. Joy, anger, sorrow, sympathy – it’s entirely up to you. Whatever the emotion chosen, make sure that it ‘gets people going’.

Reviews – this is the type of blog that I personally love. I value a review from a fellow neighbour, shopper, traveller, or driver. I think the important thing is ensuring you set yourself up as credible first, earn trust and credibility and then have at it. This is one of the biggest revenue streams for most bloggers and great for driving traffic to your blog.

Historic things – this came up a lot. I personally just love history. There is something so mysterious about a time and place or person that has lived and had so many memories before you. There are blogs dedicated to never before seen pictures, and about people never heard of before. My personal best are the weird types of practices that existed decades ago.

Travel – this one needs no explanation. There is so much material filled with beauty that evokes exhilaration for a great blog. I seriously need to get out more. For a second I thought of starting a blog of all the places I have NOT visited. Here I will leave you to venture into the travel blogger sphere on your own without me giving away too much. Seriously! The Norway Mountains await you…

Happy Blogging!