How the media used tech to cover the #Capefire - 9 Mar 2015[Rod Baker] The fires that devastated large areas of the Cape Peninsula last week were covered extensively. Now, Stuart Thomas reports on the drones, maps and social networks SA's tech-savvy media used to report on the #CapeFire. Moving to fires that rage internally, Tiffany Markman is amazed by the fact that when it comes to business writing unless you are ready for a whole world of drama, you can't really say what you mean or say what you want to say. read more Focus on Design Indaba - 2 Mar 2015[Rod Baker] One of the highlights of the annual calendar is, what else... Design Indaba and as always, we were there, bringing you the latest from the world of design. On the media front, it pays to get mad - which is what happened when members of the media found their cellphone signals blocked during Jacob Zuma's SONA. read more On your marks, get set… all things design-centric full steam ahead - 23 Feb 2015[Rod Baker] With the dust barely settled on last week's Bookmarks Awards, Danette Breitenbach speaks to a number of winners to find out why exactly a Bookmarks win is meaningful (hint: the actual winning is the least important aspect.) It's set to be a busy week for the design-minded among us, with the Design Indaba conference kicking off at the CTICC later this week and the expo running all weekend. Leigh Andrews will be attending, and got an exclusive teaser from Joe Public agency's Executive Creative Director Xolisa Dyeshana and Chief Creative Officer, Pepe Marais on what we can expect from their conference-opening talk. read more Unhappy banker wants Sunday Times gagged - 16 Feb 2015[Rod Baker] Banking giant HSBC has threatened the Sunday Times for exposing the wealthy South Africans who stashed R23bn in secretive Swiss bank accounts, demanding all this data be 'destroyed'. According to the newspaper's report, the list of South African clients who held bank accounts with the secretive HSBC Bank in Switzerland include CEOs of top blue-chip companies, diamond dealers, sports stars and a key figure in the arms deal. On a lighter note, we carry a Q&A with IAB Digital Summit speaker Eyabo Macauley. She is Head of EMEA Advertising at Shazam, and tells us why she thinks it's important for brands to create interactive content for campaigns... And finally, last week Biz Takeouts Marketing and Media Radio show host Warren Harding (@bizWazza) was joined in studio by Dillon Mann (@dillonmann), Head of Communications for the World Wide Web Foundation (@webfoundation). read more SABC drama - 9 Feb 2015[Rod Baker] It's back in the news again for all the wrong reasons, this time because Communications Minister Faith Muthambi and COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng have been accused of a hostile takeover of the national broadcaster. The DA claims that recent developments pose a great threat to the corporation's independence. Gravity beckoned - and Mugabe answered the call... read more Adspend - 2 Feb 2015[Rod Baker] The New Age (153,000 readers, according to AMPS) enjoyed R10,199,988 of government spending in 2013-2014, says PoliticsWeb. Sowetan (with 1,674,000 readers - more than 10 times more than The New Age) got R10,434,476 - about R240,000 more to play with. read more Online advertising – how’s 2015 shaping up so far? - 26 Jan 2015[Rod Baker] First up, Gustav Goosen looks at the big online advertising trends for 2015. He reckons that while it's always been a highly competitive space, this seemed the case more than ever this past year, and gives us a hint of what to expect in 2015. read more Trends - 19 Jan 2015[Rod Baker] Writing on SA youth lifestyle and culture for our special [Trends 2015] section, Bradley Maseko reckons 2015 will be an impactful year for the youth of South Africa if you consider personal brand differentiation, spending and media behaviour, to the trend of visual domination. Building on this, Adene van der Walt says there are five key strategies that marketers and advertisers need to embrace this year and that we need a return to marketing fundamentals. The key takeout of these is to deliver products that are up to date and innovative, while remaining true to your brand's core values. Next up, Mike Sharman speaks forth on online influencers as the billboards of 2015 and says brands need to enhance their cult status to win over Generation Z. And finally... read more Another SABC board resignation and outrage over Charlie Hebdo attack - 12 Jan 2015[Rod Baker] It's almost becoming monotonous... In December, the SABC board chair Ellen Tshabalala resigned - finally - after a long and pointless legal battle to keep her job after she had been found to have lied about her qualifications (she doesn't have what she claimed to have). read more 2015... Bring it on! - 15 Dec 2014[Rod Baker] 2015... Bring it on!What more can Unisa say...? No degree for Tshabalala - 8 Dec 2014[Rod Baker] She's going down fighting... Ellen Tshabalala, found to have lied to parliament, maintains she has qualifications from Unisa. read more RAB calls it a day - 1 Dec 2014[Rod Baker] The South African Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB SA) announced this morning that it is closing, a move precipitated by the withdrawal of the SABC as a member, citing cost cutting. Also up there as an attention-getter for online media companies, is the report that the Film and Publications Board has selectively released a contentious draft policy for original content distributed online in South Africa, hence the question: Is online censorship looming? Some media companies are still studying the document, but in the view of at least one observer, in addition to the proposed regulation being a massive moneymaking scheme, there are other concerns around the way it could be applied. Leigh Andrews takes a look at the DMX Conference and the secret to getting your website to stand out from the rest and in the latest of our [21 Icons Season 2] we look at Zanele Situ. And last but by no means least... read more Grim tales from Gupta TV - 24 Nov 2014[Rod Baker] It seems life might be a bit rough for those who work at television station ANN7... the Sunday Times' Gabi Mbele reports on allegations of no gum chewing, no sickbay, no cars - and if you fail to clock in on time, your salary will be docked... read more Bizcommunity.com launches Biz Trends 2015 - 17 Nov 2014[Rod Baker] It's that time of the year again and Bizcommunity is launching Biz Trends 2015 - a comprehensive, curated, thought-leadership perspective on trends and consumer insights for 2015 for the media, marketing and advertising communications industries in South Africa and the continent. Woolworths is in the news again, and again it's not good news. This follows a claim by a customer who says he found a dead frog in an Italian salad he bought from Woolies. read more It’s 'Hlauding' over for Motsoeneng… again - 10 Nov 2014[Rod Baker] The Democratic Alliance has accused the SABC COO, Hlaudi Motsoeneng, of offering a former SABC HR officer a R2m 'bribe' if she would agree to testify that she knew he did not have a Matric when he filled out his application form, and basically put down whatever symbols came into his Matricless head. According to her sworn affidavit, the former HR officer not only refutes the allegation, and is apparently also on record as saying she declined the offer. read more |
