Acceleration Media's Press office on Bizcommunity

Argyle Social has appointed digital media consultancy Acceleration Media as its exclusive South African implementation partner and reseller of its social media measurement solution. This expands the range of best of breed tools and technologies Acceleration Media offers clients who want to maximise the returns on their investments in digital marketing. 19 Mar 2013 Read more >>

The world of media is changing at an unprecedented rate as technology disrupts the established business models for publishing and advertising, and as consumers change the ways in which they consume information, services and entertainment. Perhaps the most significant change that we are seeing is the fragmentation of the media landscape and its audience, compared to the mass market paradigm that held sway throughout most of the 20th century. 27 Feb 2013 Read more >>

Making predictions in a world that moves as quickly as the one we live in today is brave and perhaps even a little foolish. But based on the way the world evolved last year, here are a few trends I expect to play out in 2013 and beyond. At the centre of these trends is the way that technology is giving the consumer more power to shape brands than ever before. 22 Jan 2013 Read more >>

Companies that want to evolve into truly social enterprises must look beyond tracking keywords and towards building a deeper understanding of the meaning and tone of social conversations in their online reputation management (ORM) strategies. 22 Nov 2012 Read more >>

Social networking - including services such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and BBM - looks like a whole brave new world to those of us who grew up without it. For the generation that is growing up with mobile phones and the Internet, it is simply a fact of life. Whichever side of the age divide you are on, the one certainty is that social networks will change life as much as television did several decades ago. 7 Nov 2012 Read more >>

Google's announcement just a few weeks ago that it is has added some nifty remarketing functionality to Google Analytics means that it is simpler than ever before for marketers to use remarketing to improve their return on investment from their digital budgets. 26 Sep 2012 Read more >>

With stats from Nielsen revealing that nearly four in five active Internet users visit social media sites or blogs, social media is a channel that few organisations feel they can completely ignore. Yet few companies have grasped just how fundamentally social media will transform their relationships with their clients over the next few years. 11 Jul 2012 Read more >>

South African Tourism (SAT) has embraced social media as an important part of its marketing mix as it seeks to entice international tourists to the country. Tourism's direct and indirect contribution to the country's gross domestic product is estimated to be around R200 billion a year or about 7.5% of GDP. 4 May 2012 Read more >>

Most companies understand that reputation is an intangible business asset that needs to be nurtured, defended and protected to ensure that it maintains and grows in value. That is why we have seen the traditional disciplines of media and public relations morph into a field called 'reputation management'. 12 Apr 2012 Read more >>

Recently, Google slipped a small change into its Google Analytics software without much fanfare, despite the fact that it will deliver richer and more accurate data about how visitors eventually arrive at your conversion points. 19 Oct 2011 Read more >>

Too many brands embark on social media campaigns with the idea that drumming up Twitter followers or Facebook fans is the single largest, perhaps even the only real, metric for success. 11 Oct 2011 Read more >>

The gap between the online environment and the physical retail landscape is narrowing rapidly, a trend that holds some major implications for companies that still think of them as completely separate worlds. 23 Sep 2011 Read more >>

Just about everything that you do in your online marketing and advertising will create a wealth of data about the way that your business is interacting with its customers and prospects. 15 Sep 2011 Read more >>

Technology companies and financial institutions are busy piloting the next-generation of mobile payment solutions in the form of near-field communications (NFC), but don't expect to be using the technology in the real-world any time soon. 9 Sep 2011 Read more >>

South Africa enjoys a positive online reputation among international internet users, with many of the online conversations about the country reflecting a highly positive tone. 6 Sep 2011 Read more >>

The violent unrest that rocked Britain last week was one of the major subjects of conversation for South Africans on social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, web forums and blogs. That's according to Diane Charton, managing director of Acceleration Media. She says that Twitter was the platform where most of South Africa's web conversations around the riots in the UK took place, followed by web forums and comments on news sites. 29 Aug 2011 Read more >>

"A good reputation is more valuable than money," advised Latin maxim writer Publilius Syrus who was writing a few years before the birth of Christ. His words ring even truer today for companies that are operating in an economy where reputation matters more than ever before. 26 Aug 2011 Read more >>

Mobile marketing has appeared to be on the cusp of major growth for a number of years, but we have not yet seen companies shift as much of their budgets into the channel as expected. However, the pieces are now all in place for mobile to really take off. 23 Aug 2011 Read more >>

Social media isn't rocket science, but it does demand that you change the way that you think about interacting with your customers and prospects. Too many companies still approach their social media strategies in much the same way as they do other forms of traditional media. 2 Aug 2011 Read more >>

South Africa's digital commerce and advertising market has reached a critical mass over the past two years, and now presents an irresistible opportunity for marketers at companies of all descriptions. 28 Jul 2011 Read more >>

Mobile marketing is becoming increasingly rich, personalised and interactive as marketers find innovative ways of using the smartphone to bridge the physical and online worlds. 19 Jul 2011 Read more >>

As the managing director of one of South Africa's leading digital marketing consulting firms, Diane Charton works in one of the fastest-growing segments of the media and technology worlds. But her high-pressure job hasn't kept her from excelling in the international sporting arena as well as raising her two small daughters aged 3 and 1. 13 Jul 2011 Read more >>

South African companies operate in a changing landscape where consumers have more and more power to shape the fortunes of the businesses they interact with. We used to operate in a brand economy, but we are now increasingly doing business in a reputation economy. 6 Jul 2011 Read more >>

South African companies that want to make the most of the mobile channel for marketing need to shift away from the interruptive tactics they used in the past towards using mobile technologies to interact and engage with customers. 28 Jun 2011 Read more >>

Acceleration Media's managing director Diane Charton and digital marketing consultant Philip Mostert offer some client service 101 tips for online media, marketing and advertising professionals. 24 Jun 2011 Read more >>

Your online reputation - what customers and other stakeholders are saying about your company on the social web - has a real and measurable impact on your business. 15 Jun 2011 Read more >>

Online reputation management (ORM) tools are rapidly moving into the mainstream as companies around the world look for ways to boost their performance and become more responsive to their customers. 7 Jun 2011 Read more >>

Many South African companies looking for new mobile marketing opportunities may benefit from experimenting with the humble .mobi portal before they start investing in mobile applications for the major smartphone platforms. 24 May 2011 Read more >>

The African National Congress (ANC) is the most talked-about political party among South African Internet users in the run-up to the municipal elections on 18 May this year, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) in a respectable second place. 11 May 2011 Read more >>

Content is still king in the online world, but the nature and scope of the content that you need to create a successful website has changed dramatically over the past few years. It's no longer enough to have well-crafted text and appealing visual design to capture the user's attention. You also need to offer high levels of interactivity to create an experience that engages the user. In other words, it's no longer just about broadcasting content to your user. It's also about empowering them to participate in the content process. Here are a few tips on how to create content that engages your customers. 14 Apr 2011 Read more >>

Over the past few years, online search has evolved from a mechanism to bring customers to your website into a powerful tool for researching your customer base's needs. 12 Apr 2011 Read more >>

Today, marketing and advertising professionals have access to an unprecedented selection of tools and technologies they can use to bring their creative concepts to life. These powerful new technologies have created a host of new ways for us to connect with consumers, generate rich content and ultimately win new customers and secure the loyalty of existing ones. 7 Apr 2011 Read more >>

The mobile channel offers a great opportunity for companies to move closer to their customers and communicate with them, provided that they follow the best practices of permission-based marketing. 1 Apr 2011 Read more >>

By now, most South African brands that sell products and services to people in the mid to upper LSMs understand that they can no longer ignore social media as a channel. 30 Mar 2011 Read more >>

You may have a friend or two who you can always trust to tell you, with impeccable taste, which new films, albums, gadgets or restaurants are worth your time and money. This information is priceless if you don't have the time or patience to sample everything available to find the good stuff among the many options flooding the market for yourself. 17 Mar 2011 Read more >>

You may have a very clear idea about what the core attributes of your brand are, but can you be sure that the people that use your products and services see your brand in the same way? How do you know whether your brand is living up to its promise in the mind of your customer? This is where social media measurement has an invaluable role to play. 15 Mar 2011 Read more >>

2011 looks set to be an exciting year for the digital marketing world, with a great deal of action likely to take place in the mobile and social media spaces. Here are a few of the trends I expect to see shaping the year ahead. 14 Mar 2011 Read more >>

Imagine if you saw a shopper in your store pick up a widget you sell, scrutinise it longingly and then carefully place it back on the shelf looking at the price tag. The shopper's interest in the product is evident, but he or she decides to walk away from the purchase because there is no money to buy it this week or because it's simply too expensive. 3 Dec 2010 Read more >>

Online sages have foretold the demise of banner advertising (or online display advertising) for more than a decade. As far back as 1999, industry observers have asked whether the banner ad has any life left in it. 4 Nov 2010 Read more >>

The advent of low-cost mobile data services, coupled with the growing affordability of smartphones, is bringing about a demographic shift in the South African online world. 29 Oct 2010 Read more >>

Mobile search is emerging as a major opportunity for South African marketers, provided they take the time to understand the mobile Internet and put the right services in place to serve mobile customers. 27 Sep 2010 Read more >>

Many companies are making extensive investments in search engine optimisation (SEO) without getting the basics right. But there are many simple little tips and tricks that will get your website ready for the search engines and help you to get better natural search results at no cost and with only a small investment in time. 5 Aug 2010 Read more >>

According to Acceleration Media's SEO expert, Michael Walker, two major trends are sweeping across the search market, bringing with them a host of new challenges and opportunities for online marketers. They are the moves towards universal search and personalised search results, and together, they amount to game changers for search engine optimisation (SEO). 5 Aug 2010 Read more >>

The Red & Yellow School of Logic and Magic, a Cape Town-based school of Advertising and Marketing, is set to turn an online marketing and advertising module it developed in partnership with Acceleration Media into a permanent part of its curriculum. 28 Jun 2010 Read more >>

Many South African marketers are still tempted to treat digital and traditional marketing as separate disciplines. The thinking is that traditional, offline media is the mass marketing channel while digital media reaches only a small, rich segment of the population. 4 Jun 2010 Read more >>

Most companies know their online customers are talking about them using social media, from blogs and forums through to Facebook, Twitter and consumer activist sites such as HelloPeter.com. What most of them can't say for sure is what sort of impact these online conversations are having on their brands and reputations, nor do they know how to get involved in the conversation. 26 May 2010 Read more >>

Fiercer competition in the South African telecom market - particularly in the international undersea cable space - continues to drive bandwidth prices down, meaning that it is becoming viable for consumers to spend more time online and do more on the Web. 10 May 2010 Read more >>

Last month, Google added a new capability to the Google South Africa search engine that may turn out to be one of its most important search innovations: the option for users to search for real-time social media content from across the Web. 7 May 2010 Read more >>

One of the most important ways that online marketing and advertising sets itself apart from traditional media is by providing marketers with a wealth of information that they can use to track and measure their campaigns. But all too often, marketers make the mistake of measuring for the sake of measuring, or measuring the wrong metrics. That amounts to squandering all the value that lies trapped in your data. 7 May 2010 Read more >>

The news that MWEB is to offer uncapped ADSL data access from as little as R219 a month will help to spur massive growth in online marketing and advertising in South Africa in the months ahead. 23 Mar 2010 Read more >>

As we move into 2010, we can look forward to robust growth for the online advertising industry as bandwidth prices keep falling, more consumers join the broadband world, and more companies embrace the benefits of digital. 4 Feb 2010 Read more >>

Acceleration Media has been appointed the exclusive Radian6 strategic partner for South Africa. 10 Dec 2009 Read more >>

Acceleration Media is pioneering a groundbreaking online media and planning methodology called Gross Rating Points (GRPs) in South Africa. This innovative methodology will allow media planners and marketers to, for the first time, set correct media weighting and budgets to their online campaigns so that they can achieve the best possible return on their investments in the digital channel. 28 Oct 2009 Read more >>

For the uninitiated, investing in online media can be a vague stab in the dark. Options such as ad sizes and types as well as which media environment to advertise in, can quite literally make or break your campaign. Bearing that in mind you need powerful insight into the market to make the right choices. 7 Aug 2009 Read more >>

Acceleration Media has worked closely with the Red & Yellow School, a Cape Town-based school of advertising, communications and marketing, as well as with other players in the digital marketing landscape, to equip students at the institution with practical knowledge about online marketing and advertising. 1 Jul 2009 Read more >>

South African companies must re-evaluate their search marketing strategies now that Google has changed its policies around trademarked keywords bidding to allow companies to bid for trademarks and brand keywords that they do not own. 12 Jun 2009 Read more >>

The online advertising market is enjoying growth and progress across South Africa and the rest of the world, in spite of deepening gloom about the state of the global economy. We can expect to see even more growth, as marketers start to use online more aggressively as part of their marketing mix. 2 Mar 2009 Read more >>

Marketers that have not yet allocated budget towards online advertising for the festive season still have time to acquire good placement opportunities ahead of the December rush. 12 Nov 2008 Read more >>

Choosing the right environment to place your ads is perhaps the most important success factor for your online advertising campaign. You need to make sure that you are able to reach the right people with your message, in a format that will grab their attention, and at a cost that is appropriate for the benefits you receive. 20 May 2008 Read more >>

Social networking has set the online world on fire over the past two years, with the likes of Facebook, MySpace and YouTube enjoying explosive growth in revenues and users. South African Internet users have embraced social networking with the same enthusiasm as the rest of the online world. 14 Nov 2007 Read more >>

The growing popularity of social media sites such as MySpace and Facebook among South African Web users is creating a wealth of new marketing opportunities for online advertisers. That's according to Diane Charton, general manager of Acceleration Media. 16 Aug 2007 Read more >>

South African companies are starting to look at ways of combining once discrete online marketing tools into integrated strategies as their understanding of the online landscape grows. That's according to Diane Charton, general manager at Acceleration Media. 18 May 2007 Read more >>

Companies that want to maximise their returns from their online marketing spend should look at ways that they can use geo-targeting and other forms of targeting to reach the users that fall in their target markets while reducing the waste associated with serving ads to those who don't. 4 Apr 2007 Read more >>