 | It needs to be relevant. People listen to radio stations that resonate with their outlook and lifestyle. If the content is nebulous, the station loses listeners, advertisers and revenue.
This is more true today than ever since contemporary music production means there's a lot of crossover between the formats and this means content is the only real difference between one radio station and the next. And the fault can't be attributed to presenters alone. Often when the listener figures drop, the knee-jerk reaction is to throw out the DJ's. That fixes nothing. You can change presenters as much as you want but if your holistic approach to content across the station is nowhere near to what your audience finds interesting, you're just throwing good money after bad.
In the words of Bill Bernbach (founder of the ad-agency DDB), "[People] won't listen to you if you're not interesting, and you won't be interesting unless you say things imaginatively, originally, freshly." |
 | MARKETING & MEDIA
[Louise Burgers] It's shiny, slim and elegant, weighs no more than an A4 notebook and accords the user more status than the iPhone. It's also been credited with the fact that it will change the way we consume media forever. But you know what, the iPad doesn't fit into my handbag and I'm not sure where it will fit into my life... |
 | MARKETING & MEDIA  [Issa Sikiti da Silva] As the year cruises into its second quarter, the bells are ringing at various radio stations, announcing new lineups, new shows and some restructuring. It is a clear indication that the time of reinvention has come, and the ones that remain stagnant despite repeated calls to change will be forsaken by listeners and advertisers.
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 | We've started using webinars as a new sales and support tool, thus targeting both existing and new clients. We've been using ReadyTalk quite successfully, which allows you to upload and edit all your communication emails on their easy-to-use platform and we were also able to grab the webinar links and integrate them with our landing page on our site. However, the audio component is not satisfactory since we have to ask our participants to call in via a call share number, which incurs costs for both them and us. We're busy investigating GoToWebinar which allows you to conduct webinars via VoIP (audio streams straight through PC/ laptop speakers, free of charge). |
 | LIFESTYLE & ENTERTAINMENT
[Zeenat Ebrahim] In Date Night, a case of mistaken identity turns around a boring married couple's attempt at a romantic evening into something more dangerous and thrilling. Phil (Steve Carell) and Claire Foster (Tina Fey) chose the wrong place at the wrong time and soon they find themselves in anything but a boring routine. |
| LIFESTYLE & ENTERTAINMENT
[Zeenat Ebrahim] I thought Valentine's Day was over, but it seems that in April, fools rush in. The Accidental Husband is another cliché with a difference that tries to steer away from the conventional except there isn't any way around a typical romantic comedy no matter how you disguise it. |
 | Remember when i first saw it i was those kids are colour friendly!... Digz IT! |
 | MARKETING & MEDIA
[Duncan McLeod] Ongoing regulatory delays mean it is unlikely that South Africans will be able to watch the 2010 FIFA World Cup on their mobile phones. |
 | MARKETING & MEDIA
[Herman Manson] Local pharmaceutical distributor Pharmaplan has landed in hot water with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) of South Africa after promoting Dysport - approved only for treating a rather specific foot deformity - as a viable alternative to Botox. According to the complaint lodged, Dysport was sold as a "new wrinkle relaxer approved in the USA" in a brochure used to promote the product. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA [Issa Sikiti da Silva] President Jacob Zuma has finally come out cracking the whip on ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema, describing his rant against a BBC journalist as ‘regrettable' and ‘unacceptable'. But Malema remains defiant, saying he has done nothing wrong. |
 | a) Zuma is a good politician in that he makes statements that others want to hear, but how much action has he taken on past issues accompanied by similar strong statements?
b) Mbeki challenged Zuma and lost his presidency. Who is to say that Malema will not do the same to Zuma? It seems sometimes that whoever stands up to take the crown is given it.
c) I hope that both the above statements are wildly incorrect. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA
[Issa Sikiti da Silva] The 2010 FIFA World Cup is slowly but surely edging closer to a full stadium syndrome, with 2.2 million tickets sold so far. The remaining 500 000 tickets will go on sale on 15 April 2010 during the last ticket sale phase, which includes over-the-counter sales at designated FIFA ticketing centres nationwide, the organisers announced today, Friday, 9 April. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA
[Herman Manson] If you look closely, you will notice a pair of eyes and a nose peeking over the wall at the South African market. It belongs to Facebook, which recently signed with Habari Media to represent it locally. Trevor Johnson, head of strategy and planning, Facebook EMEA, says this is in line with the group's strategy for emerging markets, whereby it signs with knowledgeable local partners rather than investing directly into a country. |
 | MARKETING & MEDIA
[Chris Moerdyk] It has not taken Julius Malema long to put into practice lessons he has learned from his new mentor, Robert Mugabe. His hitlerite rant at his news conference yesterday was typical Mugabe. Tossing a BBC journo out of his press conference was vintage Mugabe. Ironically, the sight of Malema losing his cool was immediately reminiscent of the scene 24 hours earlier when the AWB's secretary-general, André Visagie, lost his cool in an e.tv studio. All of which begs the question about the prominence the media is giving to extremists. |
 | LIFESTYLE & ENTERTAINMENT  [Dr Nikolaus Eberl] As the debate over racism rages throughout the nation and political parties seem fond of using this card as a sledgehammer to divide constituencies, it is worthwhile casting back our gaze to a previous host country that was equally divided along the racial fault-lines and emerged united from hosting the FIFA World Cup.
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 | AUTOMOTIVE
[Henrie Geyser] Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) is to invest more than R3 billion to expand operations for the production of Ford's next-generation compact pick-up truck and Puma diesel engine. |
 | This must have come out in a rush... we live in a [sic] world. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA
[Issa Sikiti da Silva] It will be wrong to believe that the 2010 official concert is the only FIFA World Cup opportunity for South African artists, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke told the media yesterday, Thursday, 8 April 2010, at a press conference held in Sandton, defending FIFA's event lineup and brushing aside criticism. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA
[Issa Sikiti da Silva] The sudden resignation of editor Henry Jeffreys from Afrikaans newspaper Die Burger yesterday, Wednesday, 7 April 2010, has engendered a heated debate in the corridors of the media fraternity, with some speculation that he was pushed after a series of clashes reached a boiling point. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA
[Herman Manson] Copywriter Paige Nick, author of the just-released A Million Miles from Normal (EAN: 9780143026518), wears a necklace with a little silver penguin around her neck. Her first novel has just been published by Penguin Books and she is happy to flaunt it. [ competition] |
