Kids ad regulations need monitoring
[Sashma Sharma] South African marketers are currently grappling with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) of SA's recently published Food and Beverage Code - the objective of which is to regulate the advertising of food and beverage products in general, and in particular, the advertising of such products to children under 12. While the ASA's aim is to protect the advertising industry from disrepute or damage public confidence in it, the driver of similar, but somewhat more draconian measures in the UK has been the increasing onset of childhood obesity.

SA Paralympics team puts the SA on global map
South Africa's Paralympics team has positively contributed in putting the country in the global public eye with their sterling performance and 21 gold medals won at the 13th Paralympics games held in Beijing in the past weeks, according to the International Marketing Council (IMC).

Getting to know Kgalema Motlanthe
Only a few months ago, just about half of the South African voting population had never heard of Kgalema Motlanthe or indicated that they did not know enough about him to express an opinion on him. His imminent appointment as President of the country will no doubt change this scenario as he will be far more in the public eye in the months to come.

SA's new President pledges full support to 2010
South Africa's newly elected President Kgalema Motlanthe and ANC President Jacob Zuma last week, 26 September, personally reassured FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter of the South African government's full support for next year's FIFA Confederations Cup and the first FIFA World Cup on African soil, to be held from 11 June to 11 July 2010 in South Africa.

‘Adopt a Nation' school campaign kicks off
The 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa (SALOC), in partnership with the national Departments of Education and Sport and Recreation, has kicked off the special school campaign “Adopt a Nation”, targeting over 12 million scholars from over 30 000 schools throughout the country.

2010 FIFA World Cup Mascot unveiled
[Issa Sikiti da Silva] A star has been born. Zakumi, the 14-year-old 'green-maned' young leopard who was unveiled last night, Monday, 22 September 2008, as the official mascot of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, has added an extra flavour to 2010 fever. And he is said to be looking forward to welcoming all fans travelling to South Africa with open arms. The unveiling ceremony took place at the SABC TV's Renaissance Centre in Auckland Park, Johannesburg. [video; poll]

Eurobest Advertising Festival announce 2008 juries
LONDON: The organisers of the 21st Eurobest Awards, Europe's leading creative advertising competition for TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor, Radio, Interactive, Direct, Sales Promotion, Media, Integrated and also new for this year, Design, have announced this year's complete juries. The 21st Eurobest awards, honouring European creative excellence across all major disciplines will now form part of the 1st Eurobest Advertising Festival.

Universal McCann's Diederik Breijer is EMEA president
Graham Duff, EMEA IPG Mediabrands President has announced the appointment of Diederik Breijer as Universal McCann EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) President. Breijer is a recognised and respected industry leader in the Netherlands.


JWT launch PC game to bolster fight against abuse of women
As a pro-bono campaign for People Opposing Woman Abuse (POWA), JWT Johannesburg creative duo, James Wylie and Chris Wellard, lead by creative director David Strappini, partnered with digital animation company Animate, to develop a PC game entitled ‘Beat Down'. The game highlights the defencelessness of abused women and illustrates the harsh reality one in four women face daily in South Africa.


Grey EMEA Euro Effie grand slam
BRUSSELS: Grey EMEA landed Agency Network of the Year for the fourth consecutive year at the EACA Euro Effie awards ceremony held in Brussels recently, after scooping four trophies in three categories: FMCG, pharmaceutical & healthcare, and automotive. Grey Copenhagen and Coca-Cola zero took a Gold award for the holistic communications campaign “As it should be”.


Chew on this... new magazine
There's a new creative magazine on the cybershelf to showcase the work of those in the fashion, design, photography and styling arena. What is unique is that the new brand uses social media applications to involve readers in chosing - and being - the content.

Creative Circle results for August 2008
The Creative Circle results for August 2008 are out and, according to chairperson Molefi Thulo, with an entire magazine category being pushed out to the following month due to an insufficient number of entries, it was certainly the quickest Ad of the Month any of the judges had ever judged.

Insight Communications tops 2008 Lagos Advertising & Ideas Festival Awards again - Insight Communications
As Nigeria's foremost advertising agency, Insight Communications, in its tradition of continually being a trend-setter, a leader and source of inspiration to other marketing communication agencies, has again come out tops in the 2008 Lagos Advertising & Ideas Festival (LAIF) Awards, sweeping 11 awards from different categories.


Masters & Savant Worldwide's animated SABC Arts Alive campaign - Masters & Savant
To celebrate the Arts Alive September month, SABC turned to animation studio Masters & Savant Worldwide to produce the promos that would be aired during the month.


Discover the effect media has on its audience with AMASA and Randall Abrahams at the October Meeting - AMASA
Join AMASA on the 8th October for their next meeting where guest speaker Randall Abrahams will present on 'The effect of media on the audience' which will focus on the overall levels of media coverage and they play a cumulative role in affecting consciousness and behaviour.

McCann back on the awards circuit... with Gold at Pendoring 2008 - McCann Worldgroup
After a three-year no-show on the awards circuit, McCann South Africa has struck Gold and Silver at the 2008 Pendoring Awards for their client SABC's Afrikaans radio station, RSG.


High Definition brings the true brilliance of animation to life - Masters & Savant
With the launch of South Africa's High Definition (HDTV) redefining the way we watch television, and with all our broadcasters getting ready to start broadcasting in time for 2010, HDTV also has exciting news for animation, as it will unveil the true brilliance behind animation - something that standard definition has been incapable of showing.


The Gate communications agency offers unique and integrated services - The Gate
The Gate - South Africa, is an integrated communications agency and subsidiary of Media Square plc, which is listed on London's Alternative Investment Market. With an office in Johannesburg, it is a growing international brand.

First in franchise expertise - Artifact Advertising
Artifact Advertising offers unique knowledge and input in terms of being franchise specialists and is a supplier member of the Franchise Association of South Africa.

A launch with a Twist
What if a story you were following online ended with a radical twist that came to life on the streets of your city? That's exactly how South Africans were introduced to Twist, the new contemporary fashion brand from Woolworths.


Top international awards for Alliance Group
INDIA: This week, at the 17th International Asian Brand Summit held in Mumbai, India, Ronen Jackson, marketing director of South Africa's leading asset sales and services company, the Alliance Group, scooped the 2008 Young Marketing Professional of the Year, as well as the Brand Leadership Award.


Why brand values can be so destructive - Context Brand Consultants
Perceptions define an individual's reality - making it essential to manage how a brand is perceived. Brand values play a critical role in managing brand perceptions. There are pitfalls, however. Here is an actual case study detailing the consequences of badly managed brand values - and the solution.

Interbrand announces the 2008 Best Global Brands - Interbrand Sampson
Google, Apple, Amazon.com, Zara and Nintendo are among this year's top gainers in Interbrand's annual ranking of The Best Global Brands, and not surprisingly, financial services giants Merrill Lynch, Citi and Morgan Stanley are among the companies that have slipped dramatically down the list.

The insight edge - Added Value
[Sue Ellen Hoffman] Insight has become a tired word in marketing. Marketers have become frustrated because too often they are dished up research rather than insight. The fact is it's easy to do research but difficult to get insight. Frustratingly, this is exactly the reason it is so potent.

Brands & Branding promises answers to current brand questions - Brands & Branding
After October 23rd this year, South African marketers will have all the answers to the questions they have about branding in the current economic and social environment, as well as answers to questions they may not have even thought of asking.

New chief executive for Interbrand Sampson Group - Interbrand Sampson
Doug de Villiers has taken over the new role of chief executive of Interbrand Sampson Group. Founder and former chief executive, Jeremy Sampson assumes the role of executive chairman.

SA's answer to the Sundance Film Festival
Our very own Sundance is taking place in Victoria West at and around the beautiful Apollo Theatre (one of the country's last remaining art deco cinemas still in use) from 2 - 5 October in 2008. This year, the annual celebration of SA cinema, the 8th Apollo Film Festival, worships nine features, 14 documentaries and 24 short films.

Trevor Ormerod appointed VP of SAWA - CineMARK
CineMARK has announced the appointment of Trevor Ormerod as a VP of The Screen Advertising World Association, an organisation made up of screen advertising companies and associated companies worldwide.

New spin on an old favourite - Creative Licence
Fritos has been a South African favourite for longer than many could care to remember. Although tradition is an important part of life, change is inevitable. With this in mind, internationally the Fritos logo has undergone some change and Fritos South Africa is next in line.

A guide to finding a starting point on the Web
[Louise Marsland] Probably less than 1% of South Africans online are using the web to its full maximum capability either for their products and services or for their own personal brands. We are told by the so-called tech-sperts where we need to be online, but how does the ordinary person start? Here's a step-by-step guide.

South Africans flood to Net for news
The daily breaking news of the past week in our country's turbulent history saw news websites experiencing extraordinarily high volumes of traffic as South Africans searched for updates to the unfolding political soap opera. News24 says it experienced its largest one-day visitor total in its history last week.

Web 2.0 forces a rethink on IT strategies
LONDON: A new report, ‘Enterprise Web 2.0', just published by Butler Group, Europe's leading IT research and advisory organisation, reveals how speed, agility, mobility, innovation, and reuse are forcing organisations globally to push aside old technologies, models, and architectures to make way for the brave new world of Web 2.0.

Be card wise drive: online safety
There are approximately five million South Africans online, according to www.internetworldstats.com, an increase of some 112.5% since 2000. As more people go online, online banking and financial transactions are becoming increasingly popular - Jacques Celliers, CEO of FNB Credit Card, says it has almost 800 000 online banking customers.

ISPA seeks Jinx host for 2009 to 2012
The Internet Service Providers' Association of SA (ISPA) has called for proposals from companies interested in hosting the Johannesburg Internet Exchange (JINX) for the 2009 to 2012 period.

MyHeritage acquires family social network Kindo
MyHeritage, one of the world's most popular family websites, has announced the acquisition of family social network Kindo. MyHeritage has more than 25 million members worldwide and is known for its powerful technology that helps families research their history and stay connected, including Smart Matching and automatic photo tagging. The Kindo team's experience in social networking will help MyHeritage realize its vision to be the Facebook for families.

The 12 ‘R's of community engagement
[Jonathan Hall] The latest Web 2.0 technologies have made connecting people together significantly easier, but getting community members to engage with your organisation is not an easy task. Here are 12 key factors that any organisation about to deploy a community engagement programme needs to consider.


Web 2.0: paradigm shift for enterprises
A new report, ‘Enterprise Web 2.0', just published by Butler Group, one of Europe's leading IT research and advisory organisations, reveals how speed, agility, mobility, innovation, and reuse are forcing organisations globally to push aside old technologies, models, and architectures to make way for the brave new world of Web 2.0.

Stonewall+ grooves with Virgin Festival by Virgin Mobile - Stonewall+
Stonewall+ has launched the official website for the Virgin Festival by Virgin Mobile, an international music festival that is coming to South Africa.

Skills shortage - look past the hype and to the future
[Richard Rayne] There is sufficient evidence to suggest a lack of skills across various industries and sectors is having an impact on our economy. However, rather than be lost in the haze of negativity and stumble over the harmful rhetoric of hearsay and hype, let us reassess the situation and move forward.


USB-ED presents programme in negotiations for long-term results - USB-ED
The objective of successful negotiation is the maintenance of long-term relationships. Effective negotiation plays an important role in establishing and maintaining ongoing relationships in business, and yet very few people have the inherent ability to negotiate deals that are beneficial for both sides.

Sets, Drapes and Screens goes national - Gearhouse SA
Sets, Drapes and Screens in Johannesburg and the long-standing Scenic Service in Cape Town have joined forces, with the aim of delivering an even more streamlined, high quality service in line with the vision and values of the Gearhouse group.

Barcode Bar Academy launch - Barcode
Well-established mobile bar and beverage services company, Barcode, recently celebrated the launch of their new training and consultation division - The Barcode Bar Academy - with two memorable evenings at the academy's premises in Durban.


Verri Organised Sourcing Consultancy has launched in Jozi! - Verri Organised
Verri Organised is a sourcing consultancy that promises to deliver the verri ordinary and the verri extraordinary in a unique fashion.

Put a spring in your step with Bartenders Workshop cocktails - Bartenders Workshop
Spring is here! The Bartenders Workshop wants to help shake off those winter blues with these exciting, fresh and fruity cocktails.


The winter thrill - Barcode
Despite the traditional tendency towards industry hibernation during South Africa's colder months, exclusive cocktail and mobile bar specialists, Barcode, reports that it continued to show exceptional growth this winter with major events across the country.

Oasys Innovations launch Durban operation - Oasys Innovations
International exhibitions and events infrastructure supplier Oasys Innovations officially inaugurated its new business premises in Durban on last week. The regional company will offer exhibitions, events, audio visual, electrical and marquee and furniture hiring to the exhibitions and events industries, as well as to end user clients.

Africa Geographic highlights climate change
Polar bears? Pacific islands disappearing beneath the waves? French wine in crisis? In an unprecedented and unique collaboration, Africa Geographic has joined together with the leading Geographical titles from around the world - Australian Geographic, New Zealand Geographic, Geographical and Canadian Geographic - in a global climate awareness campaign.


Live Out Loud Supercar Day a roaring success - Live Out Loud
Some say that in order to succeed one has to argue limitations, so when Investments Cars and Live Out Loud joined forces to host a Supercar Day, they ensured that not only would speed limits be argued, they would be broken.

New order must learn from Mbeki's media mistakes
[Chris Moerdyk] Now that the new ANC order is effectively running the country, it will hopefully have time to reflect on its relationship - or lack of it - with the country's mass media and learn something from Thabo Mbeki's mistakes.

Kagiso Media announces annual results
Kagiso Media yesterday, Monday, 22 September 2008, announced its results for the year ended 30 June 2008, with a revenue increase of 14% to R841.6 million (2007: R738.3 million) and operating profit showing an increase of 13% to R267.6 million (2007: R236.3 million).

Challenges of broadcast media in Africa
[Carole Kimutai] Kenya will host the first Broadcast and Film Africa Conference and Exhibition in Nairobi, 23 - 25 September 2008. The theme of the event is broadcast and film convergence in the digital age. Bizcommunity.com spoke to Sean Moroney, AITEC Africa chairman and the organisers of the event.

WAN welcomes release of Burmese journalist
The World Association of Newspapers on Tuesday 23 September welcomed the release from prison of U Win Tin, the longest serving political prisoner in Burma and the 2001 laureate of WAN's Golden Pen of Freedom prize. The ailing 79-year-old journalist and founding member of the National League of Democracy spent 19 years in prison. “We now call on the authorities to free all other journalists and human rights activists who are being unjustly held for their views," said Timothy Balding, the CEO of the Paris-based WAN.

Mobisite tribute to Gold-winning Oscar - Multimedia Solutions
Multimedia Solutions has built a mobisite for Nike honouring three-time Beijing Paralympic Gold Medallist, Oscar Pistorius. The site can be viewed from any cellphone connected to the Internet.

Sondag restyled and repackaged
To celebrate its first birthday, the Afrikaans newspaper, Sondag, has introduced a new, international tabloid look which went on sale on Sunday. “We changed our look to give our readers what they want: the same great content in a new package,” says editor, Willem Pretorius.


Media, business debate common ground
Accelerate Cape Town recently hosted a dinner between the editors of three leading Cape-based newspapers and a group of business leaders at Riboville Restaurant in Cape Town to explore ways of working together.

South Coast Fever: best of the best! - Sky Blue Media
A research project done by Kuper Research, a highly regarded consultancy with more than 30 years' experience, in conjunction with Compass 24, a media planning tool launched by Media 24 at a cost of over 8-million rand, has come up with some startling and significant findings proving that the South Coast Fever is now indisputably the most popular newspaper on the South Coast.

Quirk eMarketing gives the Children's Hospital Trust an online injection - Quirk eMarketing
A few months back, Quirk eMarketing announced the blossoming of the happy partnership with the Children's Hospital Trust (the fundraising arm of the Red Cross Children's War Memorial Hospital). The initial project comprised a full site design and development. Today's great news is that the phase 1 is complete and the spiffy new Children's Hospital Trust site is up and running.

Students battle it out in the Investment Challenge - Student Village
The hottest online investment game for varsity students - the Student Village Investment Challenge - is open for business and the competition is already heating up!

Brabys bring visual power to online business directory! - Ananzi
Brabys.com, already the largest and most popular Southern African online business directory — part of the same group as South Africa's most popular search engine, Ananzi — has further enhanced its usefulness by merging its directory with its other online facility, Brabys Maps.


JD Internet Consulting acquires bigger and better things for TUFFSTUFF Insurance - JD Internet Consulting
Angeline T For Ming, a 4x4 enthusiast and the CEO of JD Internet Consulting, is proud to have been involved in providing TUFFSTUFF, a professional 4x4 and lifestyle insurance provider with a brand new internet marketing solution for their business.

The Departure Lounge - Primedia Online
Airline lounges are a great place to meet weird and wonderful travellers. Whether it's a stranded refugee living in Paris CDG or the captain of a nuclear submarine in Her Majesty's Navy (both true stories), you're bound to meet someone interesting in the lounge.

Cleaning up in advertising
EnviroHanger is a new media platform for South Africa from the Primedia@Home stable, which sees ecofriendly clothing hangers with advertising going out to all Levingers Dry Cleaners' customers.


ComutaNet leaps ahead in commuter transport advertising - ComutaNet
ComutaNet is expanding its already extensive reach into the South African commuter market. With the injection of a brand new business strategy, driven by a dynamic management duo, ComutaNet aligns marketing with state-of-the-art market research that has identified a changing commuter profile.


Rhino Ceil - Primedia Face 2 Face
Primedia Face 2 Face, in conjunction with Limelight, recently conducted an interactive, educational campaign showcasing Rhino Ceil and Aerolite. The main aim of the campaign was to educate new home owners on the benefits of having a fully insulated ceiling installed in their homes.

A cinematic tour of Sicily
From multiple award-winning director, Roberto Ando, comes two films which will be presented at the Sicilian Film Festival scheduled to commence from 19-22 September at Cinema Nouveau screened by Fish Eagle in Bedford Centre on the East Rand.

Annual Tri Continental Film Festival awards
After almost a month of cinema screenings across four cities, the 6th Annual Tri Continental Film Festival successfully concluded in Durban on the 11th of September 2008, singling out the following films for awards: The Choir, Tapologo and Congo My Foot.

Mukunda and Net#work BBDO connect - Sub urban
Sub urban Director Mukunda and Net#work BBDO have just completed a knock-out production of the new Good Hope FM brand commercial.


Translation lost, and found at Audio Arts Africa - Audio Arts Africa
Translation is a prolific enterprise in the advertising industry. Not surprising. We have thirteen official languages. But the practice is seldom given due consideration.

Slim captures history in the making - Egg Films
At first glance a basketball game between guys in wheelchairs and able-bodied World Champions seems a bit slanted. However, this was not at all the case when SA's Wheelchair Basketball players, Team Sasol, went toe to, uhm, wheel, with the Springboks in a friendly clash dubbed Chairs vs Champs.

Write a book in one week... - The Write Co.
Writers Write, Amanda Patterson's creative writing course, comes to Durban.

Appetisers added to Good Hope FM's lunchtime
Good Hope FM has just announced that Guy McDonald will be joining the station to host the brand new, refreshed lunchtime show with Priya Reddy from Monday, 29 September. McDonald and Reddy's revamped lunchtime show titled ‘Lunch, Actually' follows Sifiso Maggz's departure as presenter of the show, broadcast Mondays to Thursdays, 12-3pm. Vania Cloete on news and Brandon Baatjies on sport will stay on as contributors.

The value of working with a recruitment agency - Viv Gordon Placements
“Many companies, even those with highly developed human resources departments, don't seem to grasp the value of a streamlined and efficient recruitment process,” says Viv Gordon of Viv Gordon Placements (VGP).

Placing your career in the hands of a recruitment consultant can be a risky business - Ad Talent
Going to someone for, what is essentially, a once-off meeting and asking them to give you career advice and shape your future takes a lot of faith. Shouldn't you be doing the research about the recruitment agency and the people that work there before making the decision to let them represent you in the market place? Just exactly what are their credentials?

Black middle class on the up...
The emerging black middle class, termed the ‘Onyx Market' by TGI research (and also referred to as the Black Diamonds in marketing parlance), continues to grow, reaching a figure of 3.7 million individuals in 2008.


Breaking news - People's perceptions of the week's events and their fallout - TNS Research Surveys
TNS Research Surveys, South Africa's leading marketing and social insights company, has conducted a study amongst 250 people with access to landlines on the events of the last week and their fallout. This survey was conducted amongst adults from the seven major metropolitan areas of South Africa, interviewing them by telephone in their homes, with a margin of error of under 7.0%.

Freys wins Famous Brands Supplier of the Year award
Freys Food Brands has scooped the title of Famous Brands Supplier of the Year 2008 both in the Perishables category and as the overall Supplier of the Year. In the process, the company was also awarded the title of Key Account Manager of the Year 2008.


Pick n Pay to launch new store format
After conducting extensive consumer research and an examination of big retailers around the world, South African-listed retailer Pick n Pay announced on Monday, 22 September 2008, that it is to launch a new store format.

Marketers should exploit CSI
[Rose Setshoge] Marketers and advertisers lose sleep over whether the brands they represent obtain maximum exposure, usually through the most creative tool-advertising. Indeed this has an important role to play within certain mediums, for certain campaigns. Here's another sponsorship opportunity: while Corporate Social Investment (CSI) is an instrument that has been in existence since the birth of public relations, many disregard its significance.

Ten years and going strong - e.tv can celebrate
[Chris Moerdyk] When e.tv was born a decade ago not many people in the media industry gave this new kid on the block much hope of ever making a profit or frankly even surviving.

New look Hallmark channel turns viewers into stars
DStv's Hallmark Channel in South Africa has unveiled a fresh new look which is set to make its television viewers into television stars. Changes to the channel (108) go on air this month (September) and feature South African people with a passion for the unusual in its new channel identity and fillers.

M-Net's Face of Africa Scouts coming to SA
M-Net's cross-continental model talent search, Face of Africa is back and on Saturday 4 October, South African modelling talent will be able to impress the competition's scouting team at Fashion Kapitol in Johannesburg's Fashion District. This year's scouts at the casting sessions across the continent are 2005 Face of Africa title holder Botswana's Kaone Kario and South Africa's catwalk veteran Andiswa Manxiwa, who was also a scout in the last season. Thus far their scouting has taken place in Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. Other castings to follow are: Maputo - Mozambique (September 27); Lusaka - Zambia (October 1) and Luanda - Angola (October 11). For more information on the castings and news from the selection team, log on to the website www.mnetafrica.com.

American Gladiators launches on e.tv
Free-to-air channel e.tv kicks-off with the first season of American Gladiators on Monday 20 October at 8pm. As in the traditional American Gladiators franchise, everyday amateur athletes compete against action stars and stunt professionals in contests of physical strength and endurance. The series will include such classic events as The Joust, The Wall, Hang Tough and the Eliminator, upgraded with even higher thrills, impact, energy and spectacles. Laila Ali (Muhammad Ali's daughter) and Hulk Hogan are the hosts.

Marketing to and learning from Gen Y
[Tshepiso Seopa] Marketers who have been battling to know what goes on in the minds of South African youth were invited to HDI youth marketing's Summer School for marketers last week. One of the things highlighted was that for young adults, happiness is fifth down the list of what they want - at the top of their annual birthday list is a clothing voucher.

Youth University's Summer School 2008: Taking brands from ho-hum to sizzling - HDI Youth Marketeers
What happens when you take 50 marketers out of the comfort of their corporate environment for two days, add them to a room full of very zealous Honours students and expose them to the bleeding edge, youth space opinions of educators, culture icons, media gurus and tech geeks? This is exactly what HDI Youth Marketeers' first-ever Summer School set out to achieve: a shake-up.