Covering the Loeries in red and white - 29 Jul 2008[Simone Puterman] It was the 30th anniversary of the Loeries this year and, once again, for the fourth time, the creative industry were lured to Margate on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast for a weekend of celebration and networking. Bizcommunity.com was there - and we certainly had the Loeries covered! Our brand activation consisted of red streamers on the first night of ceremonies and white confetti on the second night, and, boy oh boy, were we ever so chuffed to see people enthusiastically showering confetti over Gold Loerie winners and streamers strewn over shiny statuettes. read more Red streamers, white confetti - we got the Loeries covered! - 28 Jul 2008[Louise Marsland] CLEVELAND, OHIO: Even though I'm on the other side of the world at present at the headquarters of the Trade, Association and Business Publications International (TABPI) in the States, I couldn't help but follow my team's Loerie coverage on the ground in Margate over this weekend and the usual associated industry shenanigans and excitement of the awards winners. Sorry if you're still untangling the red streamers from your statuettes and picking the white confetti out your teeth and other dubious places, but woohoo - well done to the Biz marketing team for a simple, but very effective brand activation - hey, we got Loeries covered! Look out for our special Loeries newsletter later today. read more What a busy end-July! - 21 Jul 2008[Louise Marsland] It's a busy time ahead for the team this week, with half off to the 30th anniversary of The Loerie Awards in Margate for the four-day festival weekend 25 - 28 July 2008. Assistant editor Simone Puterman will be heading up the team on the ground, as yours truly will be jetting off to the States tomorrow to present at the American business editors annual conference in Kansas City this week. read more Ritualistic behaviour - 14 Jul 2008[Louise Marsland] For all those with kids following the broader government school holiday timetable, this cold morning would have signalled another start to a ritual: the winter school run. Groan. read more The relationship between philanthropy and press freedom - 7 Jul 2008[Louise Marsland] One of the most interesting and enjoyable media roundtables I attended recently was one organised by Shelagh Gastrow of Inyathelo to workshop the issue of defining philanthropy - and its crucial role in the maintenance of civil society - with key media and academics. The crux is to try instill a culture of philanthropy in South Africans, who, while giving liberally to religious causes and in some cases charities, do not support organisations that ensure our democratic society prevails as well. read more Loeries celebrates 30 years - 30 Jun 2008[Louise Marsland] Well, we know that the advertising industry is just recovering from Cannes, but the countdown to Loeries has begun. It's down by the seashore again in multi-faceted Margate and this year is a very special year as the industry celebrates 30 years of television advertising and 30 years of The Loerie Awards. read more Are you digitally relevant? - 23 Jun 2008[Louise Marsland] Are you digitally relevant? Or do you feel as obsolete as your video machine? Does your six-year-old help you work your DVD machine and do you give your latest cellphone upgrade to your kids, preferring to hang onto your old brick as at least you still know how to make calls on that one? Are you actually wondering what it means to be ‘digitally relevant'? Join the club; you're far from alone. But the good news is, is that we're still at the early adopter stage in the South African media, marketing and advertising industry as regards much of the technology on offer and new media solutions. read more Shame on PRISA - 9 Jun 2008[Louise Marsland] How unfortunate that the Public Relations Institute of SA (PRISA) has had to postpone its annual national conference due to low bookings. But for a body tasked with communications to issue a statement citing the recent xenophobic violence and “unrest” (its words) in Gauteng as the sole reason for low bookings, is highly irresponsible and so damaging to our country's image in a climate when most other marketing and communications organisations are busy with damage control for 2010 and just getting on with the job in these challenging times. read more Happy viewing for news junkies - 2 Jun 2008[Louise Marsland] For a news junkie like myself - most journos suffer from this affliction - the launch of e.tv's 24-hour news channel was the highlight of the week. It's sad I know, but for those of us who watch more news than entertainment on TV, getting a break from CNN's overkill on the American presidential election, traffic congestion on London's highways on the rather parochial SkyNews, the formality of EuroNews and the intensity of Al Jazeera; the prospect of in-depth, 24-hour coverage of our own backyard, is enticing. read more The power of community - 26 May 2008[Louise Marsland] If there was one thing that prevailed in the past week during the horrific violence that keeps the hope alive of the so-called rainbow nation and may salvage our tattered image within Africa and abroad, it is the generous and giving nature of the many South Africans, who, without fanfare, mobilised their friends and neighbours, companies and clients, to give - of their own time at refugee stations, of clothes, food, blankets and cash. The empathy and majority condemnation of the xenophobic attacks on immigrants is what will prevail as the minority criminal element is tackled. read more SA’s tarnished image - 19 May 2008[Louise Marsland] I am angry today, saddened and stunned at the images and news filtering through after days of utter barbarism in Gauteng: The Times front page pic of a man burning to death, while onlookers laugh, says it all. The video is up on its site but I couldn't watch it; we saw too much death in the late '80s and early '90s in South Africa and those are images I hoped we would never have to see again. read more No headline shortage, thanks to SABC - 12 May 2008[Louise Marsland] Well, thanks to the SABC, there was no shortage of news headlines last week - always a concern for a trade daily during/after public holidays! And as many pundits are saying - a better script couldn't have been written by any of the local soapie creators. In fact, it comes closer to resembling a Shakespearian whodunit like Macbeth or Hamlet, with brothers-in-arms doing each other in for the job of ruling ‘Kingdom SABC', pushing and shoving for power under a new dispensation-in-waiting. read more Questioning the creative pitching process - 5 May 2008[Louise Marsland] Should the creative pitching process continue as is or is it doing too much damage to the industry? These are questions asked by two different columnists on Bizcommunity.com recently, in case you didn't catch it, what with all the load shedding and public holidays that have kept many from regular hours at their desks! First, Thendo Ratshitanga, exec chair of Tshirundu Communications, outlined the arduous process Government puts agencies through in the pitching and tender process in a brilliant article. His view is that organisations must have stringent processes to evaluate bids and give sufficient time for agencies to submit their best effort, and that where there is apparent abuse in the frequency and shambles that seems to be the Government tender process that it should be reviewed by the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and Auditor-General as “fruitless and wasteful expenditure”. read more Vociferous Biz readers - 21 Apr 2008[Louise Marsland] While the Bullard saga is far from over, ending up as it may be, in court in the future - our readers have certainly posted vociferous views on the matter, second only to how they feel about radio programming line-ups, usually! While most have slammed the satirist's writing on that last column of his at the centre of the row, our dipstick poll on the home page shows that most readers feel Bullard shouldn't have been fired. Amongst the chaff and vitriol, there are some very good views from readers who have given the matter some thought, and as always, we appreciate the debate that is stimulated and participation from our informed readership base. read more Revolving doors of hirings, firings, losses and resignations - 14 Apr 2008[Louise Marsland] Last week in this industry felt like a revolving door of hirings, firings, losses and resignations of some of the key people in our industry. Yvonne Johnston leaving the International Marketing Council (IMC) is a massive blow and she will be hugely missed by those in the industry who have seen her raise South Africa's brand profile internationally. read more |
