SPARK Media to sell print, digital for Caxton

"We've essentially taken the best practices from both companies, both of which have always been firm believers in evidence-based research, and have established a company with a vision to share valuable insights to help our clients grow their brands," says Gill Randall, now CEO of SPARK Media.

"The media landscape has changed drastically over the last 10 years and we're dealing with major shifts in media consumption habits. More media investment is evaluated on measurable ROI and not just traditional media metrics."

John Bowles is the new COO. Reporting to them are Commercial Print & New Business Director, Olav Westphal and Commercial Directors, Marius Greeff and Marc Du Plessis. Justine Williams takes on the Sales Director role while Diane Albertus becomes the Advertising Operations Director.

Additional departments will include an innovation and creative hub, called The SPARK Agency, headed by The Campaigner, Kirsty Dugmore.

"We have also expanded our research department to include a full time insights executive, who will look at the stories behind the data," adds Randall.

Bowles adds, "The company will cover a bouquet of media properties designed to tap into the consumer on their path to purchase, from the traditional local newspaper platforms where buyers research their shopping, to a plethora of digital offerings. Our digital focus is designed to tackle the social media landscape, the mobile commuter, high quality content seekers, call to action location based platforms and the programmatic challenge."

"Our new payoff line 'Insights that Ignite' perfectly sums up what our clients will be receiving. I know that we're offering something unique in that we now have a combination of our own digital and publishing assets, third party platforms and cutting-edge in-house market intelligence to help clients make sound and measurable media decisions," concludes Randall.

For more information, go to www.sparkmedia.co.za.