DMMA reports on digital industry highlights in 2012At the beginning of 2012, the Digital Media and Marketing Association (DMMA) announced its plans to accelerate the growth of the digital industry within a South African context. The DMMA has made significant headway this year towards achieving this objective by implementing a number of key initiatives that have positively contributed towards the growth and development of the digital landscape. Launch of the Knowledge Network DMMA and PDMSA Form Strategic PartnershipEarlier this year, the DMMA and Print and Digital Media South Africa (PDMSA) announced that they would be collaborating on several areas of mutual interest and importance, with the aim of protecting the interests of the print and digital media industries. Ingrid Louw of the PDMSA was asked to represent the PDMSA on the DMMA Transformation Sub-Committee, and the DMMA partnered with the PDMSA in representing the media industry to the Parliamentary Committee. DMMA DebateIn July, the DMMA facilitated a Blogger Debate which aimed to resolve an issue that had arisen amongst those in the marketing space: whether bloggers are entitled to charge for promotional posts on brands or if it would result in loss of credibility. The debate received extensive media coverage and even trended nationally on Twitter. Cockcroft said: "Bloggers, PR representatives and advertising agency heads were given the opportunity to connect and understand what is expected of each other in these circumstances, thus promoting an open channel of communication between the respective parties. We were glad to have facilitated this very necessary discussion and as a result, the DMMA offered a free one year membership to bloggers as a means of further engaging with and representing this emerging community." Bookmarks AwardsAt the beginning of 2012, the DMMA announced that it would be sponsoring a new category at the 2012 Bookmarks Awards open exclusively to DMMA members- 'Best Company Contribution to Digital'. Audio MeasurementEarlier this year it emerged that NetDynamix, the official audio measurement provider to 2oceansvibe and Ballz radio, had been inaccurately reporting online radio listenership statistics. In accordance with its belief in the importance of consistent and accurate media reporting, the DMMA undertook to investigate various measurement tools that could be used to standardise metrics around digital radio. "The DMMA is currently in discussions with Triton Digital to devise a suitable solution for the industry," says Cockcroft. "Thereafter, the DMMA will be working with the major stakeholders to ascertain the needs of the industry around digital radio metrics and based on this information, will work with a selected measurement provider to allow digital radio publishers to accurately report DMMA approved metrics. "This has definitely been a busy and eventful year for the DMMA and the digital industry as a whole," continues Cockcroft. "We are excited about the significant progress we have made in our objectives established at the beginning of 2012, and we look forward to further consolidating this progress in 2013."
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