“The three Zululand towns form a micro-economic hub with Melmoth and Gingindlovu having both recently acquired large shopping centres with major chain stores anchoring these developments,” says Spark Media’s channel manager, Graham Sinclair.
“This means that many residents of these towns are becoming increasingly independent and not as reliant as they were in the past on the larger neighbouring towns of Ulundi and Empangeni, necessitating the need for their own community paper.”
The paper has a distribution of 8,000 copies and is aimed at the upper income earning consumer. The Zululand Mail will meet the needs of these three closely-knit communities, bound together by agricultural and tourism enterprises.
To raise awareness of the launch, Spark Media invited a handful of clients and agency representatives to experience the Zululand areas first hand. “It was the perfect way to highlight all the major development taking place in the area from a retail perspective. We visited Empangeni and Richards Bay, the two major hubs in the area. Our clients had a two night stay at the Thula-Thula private game reserve, which is part of the Anthony family legacy, better known for its patron, the late Lawrence Anthony, the Elephant Whisperer.”
Clients received a presentation on the Zululand Observer media offering and its proud history.
“As community newspapers are one of the few categories to buck the declining print trend, we are always looking at increasing our footprint, providing advertisers with the key to unlocking successful marketing campaigns,” states Gill Randall, joint CEO of Spark Media. “Research indicates that people shop locally and, with this in mind, The Zululand Mail provides advertisers another opportunity to reach these consumers at a micro-level.”
