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Following Media Freedom Week hosted by Media Monitoring Africa last week, Chris Louw, Digital Strategist at Caxton Local Newspapers says that the rise of fake news, anonymous advertising and the influence of political leaders on the media is concerning.

As a guest on the panel discussion ‘Are we “post truth” or “post journalism, and does it really matter’ Chris said that number of questions were raised, one of them being, whether or not journalism is under threat.

“Too often the media is deemed to have ulterior motives around their reporting. Due to terminology like ‘fake news’, someone like Donald Trump can look at something that is reported and if he doesn’t like it, he says it’s fake news,” says Chris. “This phenomenon is being repeated around the world. Credibility of things are being incorrectly questioned. The people who say the media has ulterior motives often have ulterior motives themselves.”

 In recent times, brand safety has been in the spotlight, along with credible journalism. Chris feels that accountability is an important solution to this problem. “The media needs to start questioning itself more and asking itself more questions,” he says.

He reiterated that one important aspect to keep in mind is the fact that the media still acts as a fourth estate, and still holds power to account. Local media publications are one example of how the media continues to act as a fourth estate, giving citizens the platform to be heard, as local media is often a first point of contact.

 “Local media should continue speaking to what they know and that’s reporting on local issues without fear of favour. If local media can maintain a standard of quality and credibility, they will be able to stand out from the rest,” he said.

He added that the solution to the current problems faced by media requires a multi-focal approach, with innovation being an important avenue.

“One of the most important things that is not spoken enough about is that we need to innovate. The days of regurgitating are gone. We need to ensure we are more involved with our communities. People don’t feel heard and local media has a massive role to play in that sense. They are the first point of reference.”

Marc du Plessis, Joint CEO of SPARK Media agrees, “Fake news is a global problem and very difficult to identify and avoid. To combat this, an easy solution is to make use of whitelisted, trusted, known publisher market places and websites. We also agree that local media has a crucial part to play in maintaining journalistic credibility, and can confidently say that our local print and online products under the Caxton banner are doing just that.”

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 a myriad of print and digital 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’.

AdColony South Africa has been named Publisher of Year at the 2018 MMA South Africa Smarties awards which honours innovation and creativity, and measures the impact and success that mobile has on business. The company, which is part of the Nfinity Media Group, also walked away with a Bronze in the Product / Services Launch category for Debonairs Pizza in association with The MediaShop.  Sarah Utermark, SA country director for the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) said: “AdColony was awarded Publisher of The Year for its role in addressing critical issues around viewability and brand safety. Both of these impact the efficacy of campaigns as without them, brands could be promoted on publishers’ sites that are either irrelevant, or are published alongside content that promotes terror and violence.

AdColony’s win was 100% backed by the judges. It was a result of a combination of work that stood out from all the submissions, but mostly as an entry that has gone over and above efforts this year – you guys clearly stood out with the judges,” she said.

Andrew Kramer, AdColony South Africa’s Managing Director adds: “Well done to the AdColony team on this amazing accolade! Thanks too to Sarah Utermark and her panel of judges for acknowledging us. We look forward to continuing our work with the MMA to build an equitable mobile video market place for advertisers, agencies and publishers.”

Globally, AdColony is one of the largest video advertising platforms with a reach of more than 1.5 billion users. Known for its unparalleled third party verified viewability rates, exclusive Instant-Play™ HD video technology and proprietary rich media formats, AdColony is passionate about helping brands connect with consumers at scale on the most important screen in their lives.

Nfinity DNA

Headed by entrepreneur Ken Varejes as CEO, Nfinity an innovation hub 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 in the following companies: AdColony, theSALT, Whisky Live, Whizzky App, Orange Block, Reveel, theIntern-Ship, Brand a Tuk Tuk and Nfinity Digital.

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.”

 

AdColony South Africa, one of Nfinity Media’s investments and co-entrant Dentsu Redstar have won the Gold Award at the prestigious AMASA Awards in the category Best Use of Technology for its Heineken UEFA Champions League campaign.

AdColony and Dentsu Redstar collaborated with Heineken to create a high reach, innovative, impactful and engaging mobile experience for Heineken’s UCL campaign. The brand was the first to sign up with AdColony in the region and utilise its trademark Aurora technology – offering interactive video engagement.

“The client sought mass reach, engagement and innovation with measured results,” says AdColony South Africa’s Michelle Randall, Senior Account. “The campaign was created with two separate videos. Through the innovative Aurora offering consumers could literally flip between the two brand centric videos. AdColony also incorporated Haptic Technology so that when consumers switched between videos, their phones vibrated. This allowed Heineken to deliver an impactful full sensory experience in high definition quality.”

The video was watched to completion 902 965 times with 58% of those being unique users.

The Aurora interactive experience generated an engagement rate of 88,28%, and 8 620 users who completed the video, also engaged with the end card for an average of 4.2

seconds, resulting in 603 minutes of earned media.

Over and above this, Heineken, sold 67 329 H/L (Hectolitres) of beer, a year on year value growth of 424% and year on year volume growth of 610%. Heineken also saw a 2% increase in brand awareness and became the number one purchased alcohol for the full campaign period.

“We are so thrilled to have won Gold for this campaign and extend massive thanks to Cuan Bergan from Dentsu Redstar and Ilse Gräbe from Heineken for driving this campaign and of course the incredible team at AdColony who exceed expectations every day,” she says.

“Working with the Heineken brand on this campaign has highlighted the way forward for many of our campaigns. Reaching an effective mass audience and capturing people’s attention is the foundation of successful advertising.

As a brand AdColony doesn’t sell advertising but rather partners with brands to deliver exceptional campaign results and offer world class technologies to implement innovations such as Aurora. The results so far have been incredible, and we look forward to implementing many more innovative campaigns for our clients.”

The winners are out! At the AMASA Awards gala event held at the Hilton Sandton last night, sports management consultancy Playmakers was named the inaugural Agency of the Year and overall Roger Garlick Award winner!

 “We extend massive congratulations to the team at Playmakers who impressed the judges with their #CokeScoreChallenge.

The campaign offered unparalleled excellence in media strategy, media planning and the creative and innovative use of their chosen media platforms,” says AMASA Chairperson Wayne Bishop. “As the agency with the most number of Highly Commended, Golds and overall Grand Prix, Playmakers were also crowned Agency of the Year.”

The winners are:

Ignition Awards (students)
Departments of Strategic Communication & Graphic Design, University of Johannesburg – Lion Matches	Gold
Departments of Strategic Communication & Graphic Design, University of Johannesburg – Ama Kip Kip	Highly Commended
Best Branded Content Campaign
Ogilvy Huggies The World’s First Baby Marathon	Gold
OMD Standard Bank Your Next Million	Highly Commended
Best Contribution by a Media Owner
Tiso Black Star Nando’s #Rightmyname	Gold
Mediamark Foshini Sebenza Girl	Highly Commended
Best Experiential / Event
Ogilvy Carling Black Label – #NoExcuse	Gold
Playmakers – Captivate Brand Activations Jaguar Landrover Two Icons	Highly Commended
Best Integrated: Financial
Vizeum & King James / NMP Sanlam 2 Minute Shower Song	Gold
OMD Standard Bank Joy of Jazz	Highly Commended
Best Integrated: FMCG
Ogilvy Carling Black Label – No Excuses	Gold
Dentsu Aegis Network, Loxyion Conexyion & Greater Than, Russian Bear Vodka #IAMNEXT	Highly Commended
Best Integrated: Media
Retroviral, JCDecaux & Afrokaans M-Net Survivor billboard	Gold
Best Integrated: Retail
The MediaShop Nando’s #RightMyName	Gold
Best Integrated: Other consumer goods
Levergy New Balance #BeProteas	Highly Commended
Best Integrated: B2B
Demographica Nedbank Seat At the Table	Highly Commended
Best Online
Ogilvy Huggies Kids Marathon Campaign	Gold
The MediaShop Cell C Skip to the Best Bits	Gold
Best Social Media
Brand Truth FNB Budget Speech	Highly Commended
Levergy New Balance #BeProteas	Highly Commended
Best Pro Bono/Cause Related
AdReach Heartlines Beyond the River	Highly Commended
Best Sponsorship
Playmakers #CokeScoreChallenge	Gold
Levergy New Balance #BeProteas	Highly Commended
Best Trade Marketing
Mediamark Black Friday #WTBF	Gold
Best Use of a Small Budget
MediaCom & Arc Interactive Royco Let’s Eat with Siphokazi	Gold
Best Use of Mobile
TMI A Havaianas Summer	Highly Commended
Best Use of Technology
AdColony South Africa & Red Star  Heineken South Africa – UEFA Champions League	Gold
Best Tactical Use of Media
The MediaShop Cell C Skip to the Best Bits	Gold
Red Star Soweto Gold Launch	Gold
MediaCom & Arc Interactive Royco Let’s Eat with Siphokazi	Highly Commended

AMASA would like to extend a massive thank you to the all the awards contributors, the committee, judges and sponsors who made the awards happen. This year’s sponsors were AdColony, Els Event Architects, Emedia Sales, Gumtree, Kaya FM, Kantar Millward Brown Mediamark, The MediaShop, US Engage, Mediamark and Cinevation.

A large media company recently published an expose on fake news websites and advertisers that mistakenly landed up advertising on these platforms. SPARK Media’s solution to online advertisers is practical while offering solutions and ideas to help brands be safe and stay safe.

“While fake news is a global problem and very difficult to identify and avoid, we want to offer practical, safe and efficient solutions to our clients,” says Marc du Plessis, Joint CEO of SPARK Media. “When buying programmatically, one simple step is to make use of whitelisted, trusted, known publisher market places and websites.”

Programmatic advertising buying is certainly the most scalable and efficient way to buy media in today’s world, but it does come with certain risks when buying in the open market. SPARK Media has access to an array of inventory on over 100 credible SA publisher websites. These websites vary in genre from breaking news, community news, national news as well as a variety of lifestyle categories.

Companies that inadvertently advertise on fake news type of sites automatically associate themselves with the content and ethos of the site, which can be extremely harmful and detrimental to a brand. Many of these sites exist only by publishing inflammatory content including racism, hate speech, sexism and general intolerance.

It seems that, through GDN (Google Display Network) and the buying of programmatic advertising it certainly is possible for brands to land up on unintended sites. Advertisers are encouraged to use the services of companies like SPARK Media that offer managed solutions which allows for the buying of trusted and reputable online ad inventory.

“We offer advertisers a trusted space,” concludes du Plessis. “When that is layered with the power of data, we are talking about unprecedented advertising effectiveness. Our data management platform evaluates key website audiences across the 100+ credible publisher sites to which we have access.

Don’t support fake news sites, even by accident!”

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 a myriad of print and digital 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’.