Commencing 1 November 2007, all airtime and sponsorship sales for MTV base and MTV European will be handled directly by the in-house team, under the leadership of Cecil Lyons, head of commercial development and marketing, MTV Networks Africa. The MTV sales team, which already includes dedicated sales personnel based in South, East and West Africa, will be expanded to accommodate their new remit. They will also be responsible for advertising and sponsorship sales across all of the network's platforms, including event, mobile, online and radio.
Commented Alex Okosi, SVP and MD, MTV Networks Africa: “MTV has a proven strategy in our markets around the world for delivering productive solutions for advertisers beyond the 30-second spot sale. Since we moved our HQ to South Africa, our focus has been on creating unique elements and original programming for brands that enable them to make a deeper connection with our demographic. Our success in this area makes us believe that with all our sales activity in-house, we will have a more direct relationship with brands, enabling us to customise solutions that best respond to our clients' business needs. As we introduce new brands catering to diverse genres in the market, our in-house team will be best equipped to harness their power, seamlessly providing the greatest service possible to our partners.”
Since its launch in 2005, MTV Networks Africa has built a reputation for providing 360-degree advertising and marketing solutions for brands targeted at the youth/young adult market. The network boasts ongoing relationships with the biggest brands in sub-Saharan Africa including Coca-Cola, Fanta, Heineken, Motorola, Nokia, MTN, Guinness, KFC, Nike, Nu Metro, Clover Danone and Smirnoff.
The company's two flagship channels, MTV and MTV base, were recently voted South Africa's coolest TV and music TV brands in the 2007 Sunday Times Generation Next Youth Brand Survey. African music channel MTV base is the most widely distributed music television channel in sub-Saharan Africa, reaching more than 50 million households across sub-Saharan African, combining pay TV/satellite distribution (DStv, HiTV and GTV) with terrestrial exposure on free-to-air broadcasters in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Uganda.
