Category: The MediaShop

Andile Qokweni Business Unit Manager at The MediaShop

No better situation demonstrates the availability of content across the board than the amount of entertainment available to kids. I grew up in the 90s with an MNET decoder and I felt I had an infinite amount of youth based entertainment options. For some of our younger colleagues, if you had an MNET decoder in the 90s it meant you had access to 3 hours of entertainment per day between 3 and 5pm and this was bumped up to 5 hours on a Saturday and Sunday morning from 7am to 12pm.

Again for our younger colleagues this segment on MNET, which at the time was a standalone channel for many years, was called KTV short for Kids Television. KTV introduced us to characters such as Scooby Doo, Gummy Bears, Animaniacs etc. Even The hosts of the programming schedule have gone on to become local celebrities.

Multichoice has always been ahead of the content curve or trend locally as many years later our free to air public broadcasters joined the bandwagon with their own kiddies segments namely YOTV on SABC and etv brought us Craz-e.

The competitive advantage that Multichoice has over their direct rivals even back in the 90s was access to up to date content. In our media landscape presentation a few weeks back we spoke about the relevance of content and relevance in this context was how up to date the content we consumed on KTV was, it was always first in class. If I think back to where my love for the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes from or began, it was access to the latest cartoon shows such as the X-Men, Spiderman and finally Iron Man.

Fast forward to the mid to late 90s and the availability of Multichoice’s digital satellite service now commonly known as DSTV. This opened up a whole new world not only for the adults but for kids as well as suddenly there was access to 24 hours of content instead of the 3 hour segments on KTV or Craz-e or YoTV. Who can forget Dexter’s Lab, Edd Ed and Eddy, Courage the Cowardly Dog and many other global or international shows.

Fast forward even further and we all know now as the children of the 1990s who are now running their own households. Parents are looking for different ways to keep their kids entertained and occupied, what better way to do that than getting them occupied with relevant entertainment. The options are now limitless in terms of platform to view and content to view. Multichoice are continuing to carry the baton for all South Africans as their various bouquets carry content from Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Boomerang, Disney Junior, Disney, Disney XD and that’s just on TV. If we look outside of traditional or linear TV the likes of YouTube has a dedicated kids section and so does Netflix.

It is no longer about rushing to get home at 3PM from school or setting a clock to wake up at 7am on a Saturday or Sunday. The content must be compelling and relevant enough to stand out in an ever changing and dynamic competitive environment.

Most kids today are plugged into devices like TVs, tablets, and smartphones well before they can even ride a bike. Most kids watch what they want across all these platforms when they want to, no longer by appointment. It’s all about options now! Ensuring your content is available on the platforms that kids consume is the key to success.

Craig Wallis, Business Unit Manager at The MediaShop

In the Out of Home industry, I am always amazed at the vast number of media owners who place digital screens into a multiplicity of environments.

There must be at least 70 players in this advertising industry with around half of them playing in the very visible “billboard on the side of a road” arena, targeting us daily commuters.

As we live life outside of our homes, we quickly realise just how ubiquitous digital screens have become.

We all go to malls and walk down their passageways where we’re highly likely to encounter various digital screen formats along the way. Video walls would be the standout medium – however a closer look will reveal that there are many “smaller” screens within malls. Looking to find a shop in a mall? Well, these wayfinding units, apart from providing a solution to your query, will also provide a digital platform for advertisers to reach shoppers. Many malls also have digital screens placed along the walkway, be it on the ground or affixed from the ceiling. They’re hard to miss or ignore. And let’s not forget the big screens at mall entrances/exits and at the food courts.

Marketers, if your target audience is shoppers, then you have plenty to choose from in malls from both static and digital platforms alike.

Need to reach a commuter audience? The world’s your oyster here in Mzansi. Public transport commuters can be reached cost effectively in many formats from giant screens in taxi ranks to large TV screens in many ranks and stations in cities and towns around South Africa. How about a totally captive commuter audience? Well, here you can reach them via on-board screens in taxis and buses.

Digital screens can also be found inside of Cape Town’s bus shelters. These can be used to target the high frequency Gautrain passengers very effectively. How about reaching commuters with massive dwell times? Screens in long-distance buses are your solution.

What about the so-called “higher LSM/SEM” traveller?

Here, there are a multitude of digital screen formats that can be used to target air travellers. Just walk into any airport in SA and you cannot miss the plethora of digital screens when you go through the security check, sit and wait to be called to board your plane, and also where you stand and wait at the carousel, twiddling your thumbs to see if your baggage was on the same plane as you.

Want to reach Business Class passengers? Here digital options can include large format screens along Business Class thoroughfares/convergence nodes. Marketers can even advertise inside select business class lounges to reach these travellers. As a brand, dwell time is on your side in this environment. And talking of dwell time; hell, in some airlines you can even advertise on screens on-board their aeroplanes.

Have you ridden in an Uber and seen the tablet-sized screens that have been fitted in some of their fleet? These screens would definitely help in avoiding the need for idle chit-chat with your friendly Uber driver.

The above commuter environments are all DOOH friendly, in fact it seems that every public space is a possible venue for DOOH nowadays. Play a round of golf? Chances are there are ads playing on the GPS screens in your golf cart, in the locker rooms and even on the units used to wash your golf clubs. Why not use the screens in the pubs to get long dwell time while golfers mull over the highs and lows of their round in the 19^th hole. It is known as the longest hole on the golf course for good reason.

You can reach more audiences at a doctor’s waiting rooms, or even at public hospitals and clinics in their waiting areas. Believe it or not, the waiting times at public hospitals are even longer than those at Home Affairs… At a pharmacy waiting for a prescription? Screens will be used to catch your eye and take your mind off of the worry of how soon you will be in your Self Payment Gap.

If you fancy a libation or three, then there is a good chance that you will find a digital advertising screen in your favourite watering hole or tavern. They can even be found in your local club (they were called disco’s in my day).

Even when you are undertaking a bit of retail therapy, you will find screens at the check-out or even through-out the store. And here I am not talking about all the in-store screens that retailers use to promote their own products.

Being bald, I have not had the need, nor the opportunity, to sit in a hair salon for many a year. If I was less folically-challenged, I could well be sitting in the chair looking at a digital screen in front of me, instead of looking in the mirror seeing my “battered old tennis ball” look being thankfully transformed into a respectable crew cut. And we all know that there is some serious dwell time undertaken by the ladies in salons.

You can even reach motorists with digital screens when you stop to fill up with fuel.

So, all you marketers out there… you can talk to your customers digitally without having to resort to placing tiny ads on their smartphones and trying to compete with the other hundreds of advertisers an algorithm is just waiting to send to irritate them.

Ubiquitous, I say.

Louise Hefer, Business Unit Manager at The MediaShop

Do you know what I love most about South Africa other than our resilience? Our diversity. I love how we can have a conversation around bananas and hear five different ways of what to eat it with from five different people. I love how cultural traditions come through when talking about raising kids and how we can literally learn something new from someone each day.

This got me thinking, not only does our power lie in our diversity but more importantly, our diversity of thought. Let’s face it, we naturally gravitate to people who look, think or are from similar backgrounds to us. Naturally, when wanting to bounce ideas off people, set up brainstorms or think of innovative solutions – we go to people that think and act the same way we do. Now, don’t get me wrong, without realising it I do the same, acting on auto pilot. So how do I expect to have creative or innovative ideas when I might as well talk to myself in the mirror and give myself a high five when I think of the best idea ever? How am I pushing boundaries this way?

Studies have shown that diversity actually enhances creativity. It encourages the search for different perspectives and insights that lead to better decision making and problem solving. It eliminates the ever dangerous and ‘silent killer’ groupthink. And best of all, it gives a competitive edge that is extremely difficult for any competitor to copy.

This being said, fostering diversity of thought doesn’t come easy. The reason why we gravitate to people that are similar to us is because we feel comfortable. You don’t have to explain your thought process or the ‘why’ behind your idea, they just get it. Conversely we take people out of their comfort zone which automatically makes them pull back into their shell.

If brands want to drive creativity and innovation, it’s going to take a lot of work and patience. Marketers will have to create an environment where people feel comfortable enough to share and are patient enough to listen and wait for those nuggets of gold that would’ve most likely be missed.

A Deloitte 2013 report called Diversity’s New Frontier states, “Diversity of thought goes beyond the affirmation of equality…Diversity of thought can bring an organisation three key benefits: 1. Diverse thinkers help guard against groupthink and expert overconfidence, 2. Diverse thinkers help increase the scale of new insights, and 3. Diverse thinkers help organisations identify individuals who can best tackle their most pressing problems.”

So my challenge to you, to brands (and myself) is to drive diversity of thought. To not operate on auto pilot and put some effort into approaching different people with different backgrounds and gain insights you might’ve never had before. It’s going to require effort and patience, but everyone will be better off for it.. promise.

In closing, a quote that sums it up perfectly. Please feel free to replace the word ‘society’ with ‘company’.

“Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without.” William Sloane Coffin

Jarred Mailer-Lyons, Head of Digital at The MediaShop

Science fiction movies and novels did an amazing job of creating and dramatizing encounters with Artificial Intelligence – but did it prepare us for the real world of AI? Unfortunately not…

Most people probably still envision AI in the form a robot straight out of The Jetsons if you were lucky enough to have watched a couple episodes in your youth. If you didn’t, then I’m sure you can recall our very own South African filmed Chappie? Of course, the unpredictable nature of self-improving machines lends itself well to fictional stories but is it really something that tech companies are investing in?

Not really – well, not physical robots at this stage that are going to cook you a decent meal at least! But I do know that machine learning is on the cards and of course it’s no surprise when it comes to the likes of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Facebook. These tech giants, some more so than others, are heavily invested in the acquisition of companies that have built their empires on machine learning before being snatched up by one of the big players.

Machine learning is all about moving forward, and whether we like it or not, it will play an essential role in our technological future. The largest and best companies in the world already know this, and they’re heavily invested.

But what does this mean for us as advertisers – will we have a role to play in digital advertising in the coming years?

I mean let’s give machine learning the credit it deserves. Up until now we have all consumed content through traditional and digital means – all the while knowing that we’re bound to be served a random untargeted, irrelevant ad along the way. It was unfortunately a relationship we had to accept in the past, unless we had invested in premium rated services or some sort of ad blocker. But, it’s no surprise that we became increasingly intolerant and immune to this form of disruptive and sometimes untargeted advertising.

Some of the big players have identified this problem and saw the need for change in order to continue to grow and hold on to their current and loyal audiences. A prime example back in 2018 was when Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would be changing its news feed algorithm to prioritise content to focus more on friends, family and groups and promised us less exposure to public content like posts from businesses, brands and media. It was a step in the right direction but of course Facebook is built on its commercial offering so how to you adapt the algorithm to the changing needs of individual consumers?

Companies build AI that delivers on customisation – a buzzword that stuck a couple years back. Now that ads are delivered through a medium marketed on the promise that it would be personalised to us, mass ads don’t cut it anymore. Consumers don’t only want to be heard – they expect to be heard, understood, respected and not just fed mass advertising – especially when it comes to the social space. In fact, according to SalesForce’s Connected Consumer Report, 51% of consumers expect that by 2020 companies will anticipate their needs and make relevant suggestions before making contact.

I mean how does a giant tech company like Facebook even begin to understand an individual consumer’s needs before they have even made up their own mind… well that’s machine learning for you and that’s what makes us better marketers. These algorithms will allow us to better refine our targeting based on individual needs, interests and characteristics.

What we do need to remember though is that technology has a way of outpacing our ability to understand what is actually going on – and that’s definitely the case with machine learning. So much like some of the major tech companies making advances in AI and machine learning, what are you doing to continually learn about your consumers? Don’t let your brand become a distant memory.

Chris Botha, Group Managing Director of Park Advertising

Maria Ramos appointed CEO of Park Advertising Group (NOT REALLY…)

A similar news headline recently caught my eye: “Maria Ramos tipped to head up Eskom unbundling”. WHAT? I naively thought to myself. A bank CEO is going to manage the unbundling of a state owned enterprise? What does she know about electricity generation?

While Maria has a massively impressive CV, electricity generation and the unbundling thereof, is a different kettle of fish all together. Oh how narrow minded I am sometimes. While time will tell how successful Ms Ramos will be at this exercise, my reaction in itself caused me to think a bit more about the advertising and marketing industry’s approach to leadership.

Look at every big advertising and media agency in South Africa and you will find one thing in common when it comes to their senior management profile – they are people who, for the most part, grew up in the industry and in all likelihood practised the trade at some point, and then got promoted to leadership. Brett Morris (CEO of FCB) is a copywriter by trade. Alistair Mokoena (CEO of Ogilvy) has a marketing background by trade. Most media agency leaders (including myself) come from media strategy / media owner / marketing backgrounds. We are not ex-lawyers, ex-bankers or ex-doctors.

I find that strange. Surely to lead a marketing business, you don’t really need to have a marketing background. You need to be able to lead people. You need vision to grow a business and have the ability to see the opportunity that others don’t. Sure, industry experience helps, but it is not the be-all and end-all.

How are leaders in our industry chosen? Often, the position goes to someone who is ‘likeable’ and a natural ‘people’s person’. Oh, and often very good at their job. But is that the real qualities that we need in a leader? I don’t think so.

As some of you will know – I am a rugby fanatic. A not so well known gentleman Steve Tew is one of my heroes. He is the CEO of New Zealand Rugby. Steve took over the reins in NZ in 2007 after the country got knocked out of the Rugby World Cup by France. He was not a provincial rugby player. He had never coached a provincial rugby team. So why is he my hero?

1. He led NZ rugby to become the most dominant force in sport winning every single trophy and world cup since he took over.

2. He signed broadcast deals that have massively improved the profitability of NZ rugby and helped the country retain some of their best talent.

3. He created a structure where all players are centrally contracted, ensuring that NZ Rugby always has their best players, playing for the best union, and are centrally managed and controlled.

Interestingly, he appointed Steve Hansen as NZ rugby coach (a man who only played a small handful of provincial games). The rest is history. Their success is unrivalled not only in rugby, but in any sport. Jake White was one of South Africa’s best rugby coaches who similarly never played any provincial rugby of significance.

Back to advertising Chris….

I would love to know what Maria Ramos would do, should she be appointed Group MD of Park Advertising (owners of The MediaShop and Meta Media). Some might assume that just because she has never spent a day in a media agency, she would not be able to do an amazing job.  Well quite the opposite might in fact be true. The fact that she doesn’t know our legacy issues should count in her favour. The fact that she doesn’t know what agency commission is might well lead her to structuring a far more common sense approach to agency remuneration. She is clearly a strong leader, a strategic visionary, and a vastly intelligent leader. I would personally love to see what she does after spending a few weeks in our business.

I think the boards of major media and creative agencies need to relook how they appoint their leaders. Knowing the ins and outs of our industry, I believe, can be taught in a few months. But real leadership instinct is something that no amount of years can develop if you don’t have it. I challenge everybody to cast the net wider.

Andrew Dabbs, Digital Media Strategist at The MediaShop

Over the Easter period, I was fortunate enough to travel and see my 95 year old granny in the beautiful county of Sussex. Only there for a short stay and sticking to a 95 year old’s schedule, I grabbed a newspaper one morning with my cup of tea. There were two very interesting articles on Facebook and Google, not something we get a lot of back home. The underlying theme was that of content safety. Here are some of my thoughts…..

 The world of AI and content have a long way to go.

Facebook has come under extreme scrutiny over the last few years and even more so following the latest global terrorist attacks. Mark Zuckerburg has pledged to hire an army of content moderators to clean up the content on their platforms including WhatsApp and Instagram. Why? Because Facebook has been blamed for everything from provoking genocide to undermining democracy and abetting suicide.

We keep hearing about artificial intelligence (AI), but why does one of the world’s largest internet giants with profits of $4.5bn need to hire 30 000 moderators for content? We are clearly leaps and bounds away from what the actual possibilities are, and it is imperative to remember that the code for AI is only as strong as its input. Consumers also have various perceptions in terms of what’s offensive, so it will be interesting to see how the clean-up goes, although it appears it may be easier to change the interface of the newsfeed (vertical) to the Stories format, to try and clean up the content! There will be more to say on that at a later stage.

 Chrome encryption, a new Google threat to children.

Google has been in talks for ages regarding the reformatting of Chrome, changing the algorithm to remove cookies and to have their own encryption. These steps however will make it harder to block harmful material including everything from pornography to terrorist propaganda. The new version will bypass most parental control systems and undermine attempts to increase internet safety which is also reliant on broadband providers identifying harmful or age inappropriate material. An encrypted browser makes it impossible for companies to detect and filter out offensive or illegal material.

We already face limited sight of advertising spend and user information, so an encryption on the browser would ultimately result in less transparency and flexibility to work with on Google. This will leave advertisers powerless and customers helpless on the internet giant’s interpretation and ability to provide information. With a blemished track record in content interpretation, is encrypting the browser just a step too far in removing any third party verification.

 What’s the takeout?

We often turn towards Facebook and Google when advertising in South Africa because of the size of their audiences. They have amazing user demographics, location information and ad formats to reach our audiences.

However, could we be sacrificing reach for context? Is there value in having advertising on a platform where your friend marks himself safe in the Durban floods, a death of a beloved pet or another tagged post from that annoying couple who is always letting you know what they are eating out?

Transparency should be key to change an algorithm that could affect customers and ultimately benefit your own business. On the 8^th May a meeting will be held by the National Cyber Security Centre to determine the risks posed by this change to Chrome.

Ultimately we need to do what’s right for our brands, operating in a safe environment, next to certified relevant content and with trusted open partners. With all that’s happened in recent times, maybe life behind the walled gardens is not as pleasant as one is meant to believe.

Maggie Pronto, Media Strategist at The MediaShop

Personalisation in advertising communication is a key part of the consumer journey. Consumers want a unique connection in exchange for their time, but they’re also concerned about how brands use their data. Or are they?

Research from “The State of the Connected Consumer” by Salesforce, indicates that consumer’s attitudes about how their data is being used is changing.

Salesforce surveyed more than 7000 consumers to understand what drives them, and what they have discovered is that personalisation is not only expected but demanded.

When consumers evaluate purchases, they equally rank personalisation and reputation. In fact more than 52% will not hesitate to switch brands if they don’t receive the customisation they expect.

Once they have chosen a specific brand, 62% want personalised product recommendations and discounts – like Netflix for retail.

As long as there are real benefits, a brand’s customers will likely become repeat buyers with 40% of consumers (Segment’s research) saying that they have purchased something more expensive than they planned because of their experience. It’s like when I receive my tailor made Pick n Pay vouchers – you never leave the shops with what you planned to!

According to Evergage’s Study on Personalisation, there are a wide range of benefits to personalisation with results from marketers provided based on their programmes:

• Realised a measurable lift in business results (88%) – with 53% reporting a lift greater than 10%, and 10% reporting a lift greater than 30%
• Increased conversion rates (63%)
• Improved overall customer experience (61%)
• Increased visitor engagement (57%)

These results would surely encourage marketers to prioritise personalisation, understanding that budget is a key barrier. Where would a brand start and how would they use it? Findings indicate the following:

• Channels for personalisation – Marketers are using personalisation in email campaigns (72%), as well as on their company’s website (57%), mobile site (28%), web app (20%) and mobile app (18%).
• Personalisation criteria – Marketers report personalising based on visitor location (60%), demographics (56%), pages/content viewed (54%), campaign source (50%) and previous behaviour (48%).
• Machine learning on the rise – Among marketers applying just rule-based personalisation, one in three (32%) plan to use machine-learning-driven personalisation next year.
• More personalisation staff – 59% of marketers say their organisations have personnel focused on personalisation, 38% say it’s a full-time responsibility for those individuals.

We have come a long way – from broad to more individual based communication. With all the messaging that our consumers have to sift through – more relevant and tailor made messaging makes for more ‘stoppable’ moments and from what we have seen, brands really need to inspire consumers to make a purchase.

Jedd Cokayne, Business Unit Manager at The MediaShop

I am not sure about you, but there is an underlying feeling that the world’s equilibrium is not quite balanced at the moment. I think this is abundantly evident in South Africa’s downturn in consumer confidence due to the current economic situation, the fact that we’re in an election year, the fuel price going up, Eskom leaving us in the dark and just a general lull in the market place.

Because of these general unease consumers tend to go into their shell and spending slows which turns most marketers grey overnight. Budgets are not met, targets have to be adjusted and explanations have to be had with stakeholders either nationally or internationally – that’s never a fun moment.

This slowdown in consumer spending makes every marketer relook their service and product offering as consumer’s expectations of them change and demand more for their hard earned cash. Just as brands thought they had their marketing offering down to a fine art, comes a punch out of nowhere, lands perfectly on the sweet spot and you find yourself flat on your ass on the canvas for the obligatory eight counts, if you are lucky, or the ten which ends the fight.Right now it is vitally important for us to understand what the changes are in consumer’s expectations, how we work around them or modify our offerings to suit their needs, while still continuing to grow in the market.

Access to information has changed the consumer’s behaviour at never seen before levels. The more information they have, the more it influences their expectations and gives them the ability to evaluate products and services simultaneously to find the right choice for their needs at the right price.

Expectations can be measured in two ways, explicitly or implicitly. Explicitly means that consumers have certain mental targets in mind for a product’s or service’s performance eg, 30 minutes to deliver food, 60 minutes for a haircut etc. Implicit expectations reflect established norms on performance of one brand vs another brand.

We can go one step further into marketing terms to start determining how we need to change our marketing offering to meet those expectations in a very tough year ahead.

1. Static performance expectations – evaluation of the consumer in terms of accessibility, customisation, dependability, accuracy and performance.
2. Dynamic Performance Expectations – how the product or service is expected to evolve over time, changes required in service to support it into the future.
3. Technological expectations – evolving technology changes in the product or service category to stay ahead of competitors
4. Interpersonal expectations – relationship between the consumer and the product or service provider revolving around the ability to solve problems, ongoing communication and general client service.
5. Situational expectations – How do you influence pre-purchase expectations and measure post purchase satisfaction?

Consumers continue to demand proactive service, personalised interactions and connected experiences, so what are we as brands doing to satisfy those expectations? Consumers demand a seamless experience with a brand and therefore departments within a company can no longer trade in silos, inter-departmental communication is key.

The ripple effect of a single bad experience or a missed customer experience goes way beyond a lost sale. 57% of customers justify a move to a competitor who provides a better experience and that meets or exceeds their expectations. As we know, this has a direct effect on the bottom line.

This year is going to be about the law of attrition and the brands that move with the ebb and flow of the market and the change in the consumer’s expectations will continue to grow in a very tough market. Personalise marketing efforts, adapt customer service to suit the ongoing needs and constantly change the communication to reflect the brand’s desire but always remain true to it.

2019 will remain a watershed year in the history of SA for a number of reasons but it will also be interesting to see how marketers adapt to remain relevant and meet those ever evolving consumer expectations.

Prince Ndlovu, Media Strategist at The MediaShop

eGaming has been a massive sports and leisure pastime around the world, even creating instant millionaires and businesses in the process. All this has been driven by easy access to the internet. Tournaments around the world are commanding around 172,000 fans that attend these online events and around 60 million people watching a tournament via online streaming services.

eGamers are generally gaming lovers between the ages of 18-30, predominantly residing in metropolitan areas.

Bringing it locally, South Africa is no different. With fibre and internet access becoming more and more accessible in the country, we have started to tap into gaming communities around the world. It has become a way of life for many South African gamers who are earning a living from eGaming. Brands and businesses are noticing this trend, leading to increased investment into this platform. For example, brands like East Coast Radio and Jacaranda FM have partnered with eGaming platform Mega8.

The increased affordability of smartphones can be seen as another of the reasons that eGaming has taken off so quickly in South Africa. Telecommunication companies like MTN have tapped into the gaming culture and see it as an important part of their digital service offerings. The cellular provider has developed a platform called MTN Gamer+, which provides smartphone gamers with a world full of games to explore for a small subscription fee.

SuperSport even has a dedicated channel to eGaming. This allows electronic sports to be accessible all over the country to drive interest into this growing culture. The channel is called Ginx eport on channel 240 on DStv bouquet. It showcases the latest tournaments, game reviews and upcoming gaming trends. Between January and February 2019, it had a viewership of 2,174,000 viewers. The consumer profile is 76% black, 63% male, 52% age 15-34 and fall into the upper class (SEM 9-10) of the population.

There are a number of current gaming tournaments and expo’s such as Rage, Icon, Geek Fest and Rush that take place around South Africa which introduce eGaming to all gaming lovers. Sports teams like Orlando Pirates have also started a team competing in eGaming tournaments locally and abroad in FIFA tournament, reiterating the growing popularity of this pastime.

These are macro-communities worth billions of Rands that can no longer be ignored.

Wanna play?

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.

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