Local expertise, support for 2010 FIFA World Cup foreign media contingents from Redline

According to managing director, David McCullough, the consultancy intends hosting and facilitating the work of international media personnel based in South Africa from late 2009 until the end of the 2010 tournament.

Typically, these media professionals will be tasked with providing recorded features, interviews, news and background pieces to their parent organisations with head offices in Europe, Asia or the Americas for day-to-day programming, as well as live broadcasts of the matches, pre-match interviews and post-match analysis.

“There is no doubt that media contingents visiting South Africa to cover the 2010 World Cup will be responsible for showcasing the best of what football - and this country - has to offer. To do so in a professional and entertaining manner will require considerable local knowledge, and access to services and supplies.

“Redline is perfectly poised and skilled to operate as the international media team's proverbial ‘man on the ground'. Its aim is to ensure those media professionals working with Redline staff have the most professional and memorable experience of South Africa,” he said.

The list of services offered by Redline to international news and soccer media includes:

• a local team of PR and communications professionals with offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town and, thanks to the culturally diverse staff complement, a unique understanding of and insight to South African culture.
• a thorough understanding of the local business culture and how to do business in the country.
• an extensive network of professionals in different areas such as sports, entertainment, business, IT, etc.
• liaison with local media and suppliers, including translators and facilitators in English, Spanish, Afrikaans, Zulu.
• access to local personalities for interview purposes, as well as local soccer teams and players.
• pre-production of local stories and content angles for all coverage needs - local food and culture, nature, music, mining, social issues being examples.
• internet access, telephone and office facilities and, at its Johannesburg office, a balcony overlooking the Innesfree Park, designated to be the official FIFA fan park, for use as a live studio facility.
• accommodation and storage space, if necessary.
• research and locations or operation venues.
• personalised customer care 24/7 (on call for any requirements).
• design, planning and execution of any corporate events requested.

“Quite simply,” said McCullough, “we are willing to provide whatever tools and services international media require so that their 2010 World Cup sojourn is as pleasant and smooth as possible.”

Spearheading Redline's drive in this arena is Mauricio Apablaza, a Chilean national living and working in South Africa. “Mauricio has more than seven years of international experience in event and project management, an ability to develop and manage government, corporate and media relations, and excellent communication and organisational skills,” said McCullough.

“He has impressed the local Redline team with his exceptional networking and social skills, and his ability to maintain good working relationships with people from different cultures and backgrounds - a vital ingredient for effective communication during an event such as the World Cup.

“Fluent in Spanish and English, and an accredited member of professional PR bodies in Chile and South Africa, Mauricio is most effective in work situations requiring an ability to orchestrate multi-task levels of responsibility, and where successful negotiation skills are required on a national and international level.”

Apablaza is already working with the Association of Chileans resident in South Africa (ACHISA) to manage all its communications around the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Chileans, indeed many from the South American continent and Europe, will recognise the initiatives he has been involved with in the past including the GBA Ships and the MV ‘Logos II' International Floating Book Fair.

“There is nowhere else I'd rather be in 2010 than in South Africa. And to be able to put my skills to good use and help make the World Cup a success for the people in this country as well as for the media covering it for others a world away, will rank as a career highlight. I look forward to the challenges ahead, confident in the knowledge that Redline has the expertise and strength to overcome them,” he said.

Redline has a staff complement of 30 people and is ranked among the top five PR agencies in the country (Finance Week AdReview, May 2009.) It covers all aspects of strategic public relations, media liaison, investor liaison, sponsorships and events.