Author: Mark

Gone are the days when a newspaper publisher just offered newspapers! Thanks to technology, changing media consumption behaviour and the nature of business, newsprint has to adapt. And it has.  

Caxton Local Media is so much more than just newspapers. “We’re constantly changing and adapting, we’re not just a newsprint company anymore – we’re everything local media!” says Jaco Koekemoer, MD of Caxton Local Media & Coldset Printing. “Caxton Local Media are also specialists in social media campaigns, digital display advertising and even an events ‘builder’ within local towns.”

The recent Great Benoni Bakeoff is an excellent example of a local event managed by Caxton Local Media.  The local newspaper, The Benoni City Times, teamed up with a school in its community, sold tables to vendors, assisted with event logistics and provided pre and post event coverage.

Local media is the perfect medium to advertise similar community based events. “We provide the opportunity for local people to connect and also promote local employment. For example, at this event we made use of local sound engineers and of course our Benoni based journalists helped create a full 360 degree localised event. This recipe can be replicated in any community.”

Local printed content is effectively supplemented with digital. “The digital environment and era has provided us with so much more opportunity to engage with our communities,” explains Irma Green, Group Editor, Caxton Local Media. “We can reach people so much faster because of all the platforms we have at our disposal. In addition to that, we are a trusted medium that provides immediacy, coupled with authentic and credible reporting.”

#DidYouKnow that Caxton Local Media is now the second biggest digital publisher in South Africa? Immediate news is extremely relevant to a local community and because of this relevance the publisher now boasts over 6.5 million unique visitors. Combine that with 3.5 million households where local newspapers are delivered and advertisers and brands have access to significant reach!

Consumers go to their local newspapers and websites for local news. Retailers have branches in many of the same areas. Besides the engagement, the ability to connect residents with retailers and other businesses in a localised manner is one the biggest advantages that this advertising platform has.

In a recent Nielsen research programme* that the Publisher Research Council (PRC) made available to the industry, it was clear that reading platforms (digital and print) provides the best Return on Investment for every Rand spent – better even than Television and Radio! “The Print and Digital combination is a potent permutation, especially when there is strong evidence delivered by a truly robust survey,” says Koekemoer.

“We are a multiplatform media company for local communities,” concludes Koekemoer. “Caxton is no longer just a newsprint company, we’re local media and we’re constantly adapting – offering advertisers newspapers, social media campaigns, digital display advertising and even local events managed by our teams on the ground within that community.

There has never been a more exciting time for the publishing and newsprint industries, it’s just up to us to take it to the next level and take full advantage of it.”

*http://www.prc.za.com/2018/10/17/digital-and-print-combined-consistently-deliver-the-greatest-roi/

On the back of announcing its 2018/19 committee, the Advertising Media Association of South Africa (AMASA) has confirmed the appointment of committee member Memoria Masilela as Vice Chairperson, serving alongside Wayne Bishop as Chairperson.

Wayne says: “We are absolutely thrilled to announce Memoria as this year’s new Vice Chair. She has brought energy and passion to both the organisation and the industry and it is just reward for someone so dedicated to the progression of others. I think I can speak for the entire committee in congratulating Memoria and wishing her every success in her new role. Her commitment to education and transformation in this industry is also truly commendable.”

Initially joining the committee in 2016, Memoria heads the Gordon Patterson AMASA Learnership Programme (GPALP).

“Our joined purpose is to bring the next generation of excellence into existence,” she says.  “We cannot afford to keep complaining about a lack of new talent, when we have an immediate opportunity to address that issue.  AMASA is the solution to drive skills and development of the media and advertising industry.

My plan as the Vice Chair is to ensure that AMASA becomes the brand that does not wait for the future to happen, but one that boldly brings the future to the present, to ensure the success of our industry,” she says. “I want to continue to inspire the industry to prioritise on mentoring and grooming young minds.  I believe that those of us with experience have a responsibility to impart knowledge to young minds, because we can no longer complain about a lack of talent when we have not made an effort to groom new talent.”

Memoria goes on to say that “The prevalent advertising media industry practice is to recycle existing skills, instead of grooming fresh talent.  The main reason why AMASA exists in the first place is to address the very issue of talent in the industry.  Through our Education and GP-ALP portfolio we are able to provide the industry with new people, who are trained and groomed by industry experts.”

AMASA is in an exciting next growth phase and over the next 12 months plans to launch the first Online Media Management course to cater to those who are already in the industry and want to sharpen their skills. The organisation is also planning on partnering with other industry bodies aligned with its vision to address the education issues that face our country.

Another focus and passion point for Memoria is increasing transformation in the advertising industry. “I believe that we need to unlearn what we think we know about transformation.  Every generation has its own cause and what is remarkable about our generation is that we are finally addressing the core of our current cause, diversity.  As we engage more and more on the issue of inclusion, we begin to allay existing “fears of the unknown”.

Our dream is to exist in a conscious industry that is not only concerned with advertising as a form of generating revenue, but one that uses it as a vehicle to change mind-sets and unlock consumer’s minds about how unlimited we really are. We have the capacity to lead better lives and fight against poverty and all the social ills that exists in our society.

We are not in the most influential industry by a coincidence, we are chosen for a task to challenge the status quo of our country and it all starts with making selfless and fearless choices – and I believe that as AMASA we are up to that task.”

While the print environment is alive and well, publishers still need to adapt to the changing demands of their readers. It’s with this sentiment in mind that Caxton Magazines’ people’s popular brand extension ‘bookazines’ continue to sell.

Editor Andrea Caknis says: “We compete in an industry where attention is the new currency and we need to continually capture the eyes, hearts and minds of our readers and advertisers. Over the year’s we’ve introduced several standalone brand extensions or bookazines, as we refer to them, which our readers wholly support.”

people’s first bookazine journey began with Puzzle Magazine which is now on its 155th edition. “After the launch of the successful puzzle magazine we knew it was time to continue doing what we love most: entertaining our readers. So we created Celeb Homes, launched in 2012, followed by Golden Stars in 2013,” says Andrea.

“We went on to introduce Kiddies Puzzles, and Colouring–in for grown-ups publishing eight colouring-in bookazines – we were actually the first to get in on this craze, which now has people hooked.”

Over the years people magazine has also launched an Afrikaans version of its popular weekly magazine, titled Mense, as well as a fiction magazine and a poster magazine, all of which were a huge success. The publisher’s most recent work can be found on shelves in the form of The Human Body which is full of fascinating facts, images and illustrations, and a good read for the whole family.

With a weekly readership of more than 1.4 million people and sales exceeding 38 000, people magazine offers readers a glimpse into the lives of their favourite celebrities’ lifestyles, homes, diets and gripping weekly true life stories.

Anton Botes, General Manager of Caxton Magazines adds: “people magazine is one of South Africa’s heritage brands and has been for many years. To continue having a place in South Africa’s homes, the brand needs to continually adapt and we applaud Andrea and her team for delivering every time.”

Caxton Magazines DNA

Storytelling is our business. Content is our currency. Caxton Magazines is a division of Caxton CTP Printers & Publishers and houses 12 brands in print and digital formats, primarily aimed at the women’s lifestyle segment across life stages, lifestyles and income groups. These brands are: Vrouekeur; Woman & Home; Bona; Living & Loving; People; Food & Home Entertaining; Your Family; Garden & Home; Farmer’s Weekly; Essentials; Rooi Rose and SA Country Life. Visit www.caxtonmags.co.za

Spitfire Inbound, Penquin and their clients have received a Gold and four Silver accolades at this year’s 2018 New Generation Social & Digital Media Awards.

Founded in 2012, the New Generation Social & Digital Media Awards are the largest celebrated digital media awards in the country. The awards celebrate ingenuity, with a specific focus on results and insight-based success, which makes the awards unique among those largely dominated by equal parts emotion and ideation.The awards won are:

• Suzuki SA/Penquin/Spitfire Inbound for Best marketing automation campaign (Gold)
• Initial South Africa/Spitfire Inbound – Best marketing automation campaign (Silver)
• Suzuki SA/Spitfire Inbound – Best marketing revenue campaign (Silver)
• Penquin/Spitfire Inbound – Best integrated marketing campaign (Silver)
• Penquin – Blogging excellence (Silver)

“As a fully integrated communications agency, we’re insistent on utilising the right strategy with the right mediums to meet our client’s objectives. Penquin partners with clients where the agency can show real tangible results. We don’t enter awards lightly, but we specifically entered these because our approach with our clients is a very collaborative one based on authentic results, as these awards are. The New Generation Awards are not subjective but rather based on very measurable factors which is why we place such a large importance on them,” says Penquin Managing Director Veronica Wainstein.

“It’s an absolute honour to have won amongst esteemed agencies like Joe Public and Flow Communications and to have our clients Suzuki and Initial in the spotlight with brands like  Surf, Steers, Vodacom and Shield.”

Sister agency Spitfire Inbound is an innovative digital inbound marketing agency headed by Managing Director Darren Leishman. “We’re so pleased to have won five New Generation Awards, which follows the two Golds we received last year,” he says. “Our approach with all clients is to agree upfront on measurable objectives and benchmarks and in doing so our client’s successes become our successes.”

“Winning New Generation awards that are judged on innovation, creativity, strategy, content, results and sales affirms that our unique approach and client relationships that have been built on a solid foundation over the years, is certainly on the right track,” says Veronica. “We’re looking forward to breaking more boundaries in 2019.”

Find out more about Penquin on their website www.penquin.co.za or Spitfire Inbound Marketing at www.spitfireinbound.com

Caxton Magazines is calling on readers to #WalkForAPurpose together with thousands of Joburgers who will take to the streets with woman&home and Bona magazines in a spectacular show of pink to raise awareness of breast cancer, in the 2018 Avon Justine iThemba Walkathon this coming Sunday, 21 October.

 Now in its 13th year, the iThemba (Zulu for hope) Walkathon highlights the plight of women diagnosed with breast cancer, and sees survivors, families and friends of sufferers, and other supporters, come together in a show of solidarity and camaraderie.

 This year, organisers expect a record-breaking number of women, men, kids and their furry friends to arrive at Marks Park Sports Club in Emmarentia, where they’ll walk a 5km or 8km route to #WalkForAPurpose

 Last year’s event held in October 2017, was the biggest one yet, with a record 29 500 walkers clad in pink and white striding through the streets. Many walkers don special outfits for the day, and part of the fun is seeing the sea of pink tulle tutus, fairy wings, feather boas worn by participants!

 Helping to spread the word about the event are partners woman&home and Bona magazines. With one in 26 women being diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, woman&home and Bona’s readers are the perfect audience to spread the message to.

 woman&home’s 10 point-plan and tips for walking:

1. Always warm up and stretch before a walk and stretch and cool down after one.
2. Use good posture. Walk tall, look forward, gazing about six metres ahead. Your chin should be level and your head up. Keep your chest raised and shoulders relaxed.
3. Bend your arms at a slightly less than 90-degree angle. Cup your hands gently. Swing your arms front to back (not side to side – arms should not cross your body). Do not swing elbows higher than your breastbone. Swing your arms faster and your feet will automatically follow the pace.
4. Tighten your abs and buttocks. Flatten your back and tilt your pelvis slightly forward.
5. Pretend you are walking along a straight line. Resist the urge to elongate your steps though. If you want to go faster, take smaller, faster steps.
6. Concentrate on landing on your heel, rolling through the step and pushing off with your toes. Use the natural spring of your calf muscles to propel you forward.
7. Pick up more speed by taking shorter steps. Aim towards walking 6km to 8km an hour. Start off by walking 1,6km as fast as you comfortably can. Then use how you feel afterwards to decide how fast you can progress. Build stamina with a short distance at a fast speed midweek and a longer, slower walk at weekends.
8. Breathe naturally. As you walk, take deep, rhythmic breaths to get the maximum amount of oxygen through your system. Walk fast enough that your breathing is increased yet you are not out of breath.
9. If you can say a sentence but can’t sing a whole song, you are walking at the right intensity to be burning off just over 800 kilojoules in half an hour on the flat, or 1255 kilojoules uphill.
10. Avoid mistakes made by walkers. Do not over stride. Do not use too vigorous arm movements, look at the ground, hunch your shoulders or wear or carry weights. For safety, try to always walk with at least one other person.

 “This is the perfect example as to how our magazines can partner with brands to host events and that are completely relevant to its readership,” says Anton Botes, General Manager of Caxton Magazines. “We’re proud to be associated with the Justine Avon brand and applaud their drive in the education, awareness and screening of breast cancer in South Africa.”