B2B in a Web 2.0 world, Part 1: Digital media relations
It used to be so simple. A public relations specialist would send press releases to the major papers, make some calls, and read his client's news in the paper the next day. However, the emergence of Web 2.0 means the entire PR game has changed.

Selling duplicate content
When it comes to Internet retailers, being found in search results is often just as important as the right location is to brick-and-mortar retailers. When a big part of online success comes down to words, why settle for selling what everyone else is?

For more sales, blast the channel barrier
With the latest technology advancements, merchants can control the quality of information delivered to contact center agents so agents can, in turn, offer the best shopping experience to consumers, writes Stephan Schambach, founder of Demandware.

August Iwanski bids farewell to the CGCSA
August Iwanski has announced his decision to resign as the CEO of the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) after five and a half years with the organisation.

Consumers keep wallets in pocket
[Adele Shevel] Retail sales post sharpest fall since October 2000.

Township gets big retail centre
The R520m Mdantsane City shopping centre in Mdantsane is open for business.

New hotel for Oubaai
Affiliates of MAK Hotel Holdings, a member of the M.A. Kharafi Group, and Global Hyatt Corporation are to build the 100-room Hyatt Regency Oubaai. The complex, due to open in George in early 2010, will be Hyatt's second hotel in South Africa, following Hyatt Regency Johannesburg, which opened in October 1995.


Filling stations set to change outdated pumps
Higher fuel prices over R10 a litre drive change to new pumps.

Furniture trade left rocking
[Adele Shevel] Furniture retailers join the scrap about how badly high interest charges are hurting consumers - and they're outraged about something else as well.

Putting the spotlight on forgotten investment risk
Retail investors make themselves vulnerable to potentially huge losses and personal liabilities by forgetting about a crucial risk.

Mini cricket achieves maxi results
Company sets new Guinness World Record with Bakers Mini Cricket.


Verimark earnings drop
Home retail group's headline earnings per share have declined on the back of a decline in revenues.

Home is not where SAB's profit fizzes
[Nicola Mawson, Consumer Industries Correspondent] SA is no longer SABMiller's largest profit region.

Celebrating Justine's 35th birthday
In May 2008 Justine celebrates 35 years as one of the world's most inspired cosmetic brands.


SABMiller earnings up 21%
Global brewing giant reports adjusted earnings per share.

Picking up the tempo with peanut power
Cadbury Tempo has introduced a new limited edition variant called Tempo Power-Nut. The bar offers a blend of peanuts, complemented by a new caramilk-flavoured centre, and smothered in Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate.


Spar interim earnings up
Group reports diluted headline earnings per share of 192.2c for the six months ended March.

Get your DVD at the petrol station shop
[Adele Shevel] Soon you will be able to top up your tank, grab a snack - and pick up a movie - from your local garage.

Wal-Mart posts record profit
The world's biggest retailer has reported record quarterly earnings and sales.

Chery might open plant in SA
[Bruce Bennett] If the Chinese brand proves to be, pardon the pun, a 'brand on the run', South Africa could see another production line opening.

General Mills SA receives Halaal certification
General Mills, the world's sixth-largest food company, has announced that three of its major retail brands in South Africa - Pillsbury, Häagen-Dazs, and Nature Valley Granola Bars - are Halaal certified. The certification and monitoring process is overseen by the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) Halaal Trust of South Africa.

Jeannie D is the new face of Garnier

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Garnier Nutrisse has chosen local celebrity Jeannie D to endorse the brand for the upcoming Brown Animation. With star appeal, gorgeous hair, and poise and presence in any situation, she was the appropriate choice for a beauty campaign. Jeannie D is currently one of the presenters for Top Billing, South Africa's popular lifestyle show. Her appointment as the new face of Garnier coincides with the launch of the brand's winter range - three new copper shades with notes of deep mahogany and glimmering gold.

More mobile social networking: Vodafone acquires ZYB
[Ri Pierce-Grove] Vodafone has acquired ZYB, a Danish company, for €31.5m. ZYB has developed a social networking and online management tool for backing up and sharing contact and calendar information online. This acquisition represents part of an intelligent effort by carriers to facilitate the movement of social networking services from PCs to the mobile phone.

Men rival women on the shoe-shopping floor
Ads24s community newspaper survey, Compass24, shows that women are no longer the primary decision makers (PDMs) when it comes to consumer spending.

Keeping chill from children this winter
It's that time of year again: in five township communities across South Africa, a posse of dynamic women gather together and begin to knit thousands of Med-Lemon scarves to keep orphaned children warm.

Climbing Kili for kids with cancer
[ActivRetail] Four brave Danone Clover employees seized the initiative and faced the challenge of Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain to raise money for the perennial Danone Clover Kids ‘Caring for Our Children' campaign, a fundraiser for the CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation.

Orange to peddle iPhone in Africa
[Rachelle Crum] Orange, a subsidiary of France Telecom, has signed a new deal with Apple to offer the iPhone to its customers in several parts of Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Caribbean. The company already has an exclusive deal with Apple to sell the phone in France.

Oils for (South) Africa
Euro Africa Lubricants (EAL) has secured an exclusive distribution agreement with Q8, a leading fuels and lubricant brand abroad, particularly in Europe where it holds a dominant position in most markets. The agreement will make the Q8Oils brand of lubricants available in the region for the first time.

New KZN international ports to increase trade
[Bathandwa Mbola] Exports from the KwaZulu-Natal to the international community are set to increase with the new Dube Trade Port situated at the north of Durban and the new International Airport.

Zimbabwe lifts tax on food imports
Zimbabwe's government has suspended duty on basic commodity imports for 90 days, after heavy rains and the failure to supply agricultural inputs led to a maize shortfall predicted by government at about one million tonnes.

Design consultants come clean
Moag Bailie Design Consultants were tasked to design the highly visible packaging for the launch of MAQ auto, a line extension of the latest success story within the increasingly competitive washing powder market.


Unilever aims for sustainability through package innovation
Packaging Digest had the opportunity to talk with Humberto Garcia, packaging manager for environmental sustainability at Unilever, a major packaged goods company serving a global market. In the discussion, Garcia shares his views on sustainability and how it impacts Unilever.

Nutrient study finds food labels misleading
Nutrition labels on foods that have been fortified with vitamins and minerals are not to be trusted, a study of common products reveals.

SA young designers asked to bag it
Exclusive Books is challenging young South African designers to submit fresh concepts for the its new plastic shopping bag in a nationwide competition to all design schools. “Exclusive Books believes in promoting fresh talent and innovative thinking and ideas, and that's why we are approaching design students and giving them the opportunity to showcase their talent,” explain Batya Green-Bricker, Exclusive Books marketing manager.

Do you have what it takes to be an Italian style icon
From sports cars and sunglasses to fashion and cuisine, style and Italy are synonymous and now the search is on to find the next icon of Italian style.

Guess the number of peanuts and win!
The Savanna team has created a through-the-line campaign with their latest winter cycle promotion starting today, Thursday, 15 May.


Young fashion designers strut their stuff
Upcoming stars of South African fashion will flaunt their talents for the first time in the public arena during the young fashion designers competition, the Old Mutual Vukani Fashion Awards.

South Africa's winning smile
[ActivRetail] The quest to find South Africa's winning smile is over. Kaymari Jansen from Durbanville, Cape Town, was announced as the winner of the Aquafresh White and Shine “Don't just Smile, Shine” competition on Friday, 2 May 2008.


Franschhoek goes red, white and blue
Once again, Franschhoek, South Africa's gourmet capital will be commemorating its centuries-old French Huguenot heritage at its annual Bastille Festival on the weekend of July 12 and 13.


Mirrors, mobiles and models
Samsung has renewed its national Mirror Media package across TLC's upmarket Nightlife venues.


"Kama Citrus" at sexy Sexpo
The Savanna lemons added to the hype at last weekend's Sexpo held in the Mother City. Squeezing their way through the thousands of curious visitors, the lemons handed out gift cards with the quirky saying ‘Kama Citrus' and an image of two bottles being intimate. The light-hearted take on the event is in line with the brand's dry, distinctive humorous tone. To lure consumers to their website, the lemons snapped photographs of their loyal fans and they will be live within the next few days on http://www.savanna.co.za.

Country of origin label regulations enforced, but...
[Renato Palmi] Country of origin labelling in terms of the Merchandise Act 17 of 1941 is now being enforced by the authorities and companies or individuals found to be contravening the Act will be penalised. But there are some issues that need to be resolved...

Global call centre to service Shell's customers
[Shaun Benton] Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on Tuesday, 13 May 2008, opened a global call centre that will service customers for the oil multinational, Royal Dutch Shell, and improve economic growth in the country.

Micro Dart Ad revolutionises point-of-purchase - Right Stuff
The Micro Dart Ad is the latest addition to Right Stuff's ever-growing, ever-popular Dart Ad range. Standing at around 50cm in height, the Micro Dart Ad enters the point-of-purchase sector with an impact far greater than its diminutive size suggests.

Accounting smokescreen hides true picture
[Rob Rose] Skeletons in Ellerines' cupboard tumbled out this week when African Bank CEO Leon Kirkinis admitted that his bank paid R450m “more than we thought we did” when it bought the credit-driven retailer last year for R9,1bn.

New store for Fabiani's birthday
Fabiani, one of South Africa's premier destinations for luxury menswear, has opened in the special outdoor shopping experience of Irene Village Mall, Pretoria. As the first store opened in Cape Town in 1978, this launch celebrates a dual milestone: the brand's seventh store and 30th birthday in the country. The Fabiani brand is joined by a select group of luxury international designer collections such as Armani, Prada and Puma.

The SaaS approach to web site vulnerability management
Software as a Service is the only solution for Web site vulnerability management, asserts Stephanie Fohn, chief executive officer of WhiteHat Security, because of its scalability and ease of implementation, among other reasons.

Pharma moving to more restricted drug distribution, in attempt to guard drug supply chain
Ideally, drug supply should be a simple and transparent chain that connects the manufacturer and patient in as few steps as possible. However, in practice it can be a highly circuitous one that includes several intermediaries before reaching a pharmacy. Notwithstanding the possibility that drug integrity can be compromised in transit, complex supply chains risk counterfeit drug entry.

High commodity prices to stay
The president of the Coca-Cola says high commodity and food prices are here to stay, for a while, at least.

SA clothing industry grows in the face of challenge
The imposition of import quotas in 2007 has resulted in a 12% drop in total clothing imports, including a 31% reduction in clothing imports from China alone, and created breathing space for the industry to deal head on with the twin challenge of increased competiveness and modernisation that will ultimately ensure its' long-term survival, said Ebrahim Patel, general secretary of the SA Clothing and Textile Workers Union at the annual Fashion Imbizo in Cape Town on 7 May 2008.

Passwords aren't enough: 3 ways to bolster user authentication
Organizations should provide higher assurance for identities through strong user authentication, say Aberdeen Group's Derek E. Brink and Tom Karol. In doing so, these companies will notice reduced human error and a lower total cost of management.

Volatility in global commodities markets drives spend in risk management IT
[Damian Shaw-Williams] Increased volatility in commodities markets globally will drive spend in risk management IT. This is according to a new report by independent market analyst Datamonitor.

SaaS continues to spread within enterprise and SME manufacturing companies
[Adam Jura] Manufacturing companies, both big and small, are increasingly looking to technology delivered via Software as a Service (SaaS) models to meet their evolving IT and business challenges.

Cape cheers new Wine Masters
Two new graduates were awarded certificates as Cape Wine Masters on 9 May 2008, bringing the number of successful examinations to 67, and the members of the Institute to 62, including three honorary members.