Rapport, Pendoring 'on the same page'

Rapport editor Bokkie Gerber: “...More than five million Afrikaans-speaking people live in South Africa, representing 15% of the total population. As this market is worth R289m a year and represents 18% of the economically active population, it clearly has considerable buying power.”

So says Bokkie Gerber, editor of Rapport, South Africa's premier Afrikaans Sunday newspaper, which once again has come out in full support of the Pendoring Advertising Awards with a gold sponsorship in aid of impactful Afrikaans and truly South African advertising.

"Rapport is proud of its long association with Pendoring and cherishes its gold sponsorship of the event precisely because excellence in creative dialogue in Afrikaans is honoured," he stresses.

According to Gerber, Rapport readers are just as proud of their language. "Afrikaans speakers are the only language group who erected a national monument to celebrate and honour their language and they are loyal towards brands that support their language. They certainly don't take kindly to poor language usage or spelling mistakes in Afrikaans advertisements, and advertisers should best bear in mind the impact this could have on their brand," he warns.

"Marketers should therefore regularly be reminded of the importance of this market through the support of awards like Pendoring, as well as regular market research. More than five million Afrikaans-speaking people live in South Africa, representing 15% of the total population. As this market is worth R289m a year and represents 18% of the economically active population, it clearly has considerable buying power," Gerber points out.

Rapport's strategy is to promote Afrikaans and live its slogan. Very active at Afrikaans arts festivals, Rapport supports theatre and music productions promoting the language. In addition, Rapport's flexible DVD project comprising free Afrikaans movies in the newspaper, is extremely popular which, in turn, promotes the Afrikaans movie industry.

"Our strategy aimed at advertisers is to regularly expose them to market research as well as to invite them to events where they can personally experience the loyalty and reliability of this market," he adds.

"The visual and audio senses of Afrikaans-speakers are Afrikaans-sensitive. The frequency is tuned to Afrikaans and anchors Afrikaans as the language of reading, speaking, listening, debating and storytelling. Afrikaans is by no means an intruder, but truly and authentically South African. Its survival will be secured by people who speak Afrikaans. They create and support cognisance of Afrikaans," Gerber stresses.

Franette Klerck, Pendoring GM, says as Rapport is an Afrikaans icon in its own right, the newspaper's continued Pendoring support as a gold sponsor is invaluable.

"As a devout Afrikaans news carrier and trail blazer for Afrikaans, Rapport has carved out a strong and indispensable niche for itself in the South African media landscape. One can hardly imagine a Sunday without Rapport," Klerck concludes.