National Food Control Agency to be established
[Shaun Benton] A national Food Control Agency is to be established in the wake of concerns over the consistent increases in food prices, President Thabo Mbeki has announced.

Fuel price could be cut by about 25c
[Michael Appel] South African motorists might be able to breathe a little easier from next month as the price of petrol and diesel is set to decline by about 25 cents and 15 cents respectively.

SA gets the Lipsy look
Lipsy, a young British fashion brand founded in the heart of London, recently hit South African shores with its official unveiling at Cape Town's celebrity haunt, The Mount Nelson Hotel, and the Crab Tree and Evelyn Tea Room at the Design Quarter in Fourways, Johannesburg.


Tough times can be enlightening
[Frances Wright] South Africa has followed the world into a period of lean times as the global economy splutters and recession looms for the world's largest economies. Tough times do not necessarily mean going out of business, however, for companies prepared to take the necessary steps to trim waste and streamline their operations.


Women winemakers get top marks at SA Terroir Wine Awards
Winners of the SA Terroir Wine Awards were announced at the Meerendal Wine Estate near Cape Town recently, and female winemakers distinguished themselves by winning the categories for the top shiraz, pinotage and viognier.


JSE launches Shariah investments index
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange, in partnership with the FTSE Group, has launched the FTSE/JSE Shariah Top 40 Index, which will open up many opportunities for those interested in Shariah compliant investment.

Concerted global action needed for food, energy crises
Urgent changes in global agricultural policies are needed to meet the threats of soaring food and energy prices, says United Nations General Assembly President, Srgjan Kerim.

Call for interest: Marketing at-Retail study
POPAI SA is launching a roadshow on 1 September 2008 to assess the feasibility of establishing a pilot study for Marketing at-Retail (MARI) in South Africa.

RSA Retail Savings Bond a 'gift' for low income earners
Low income earners in South Africa have the opportunity to invest in their future with their money guaranteed by Government through Retail Savings Bonds.

Online peer lending: blazing an easier path to cash
[Richard Burnett] Turned away by traditional banks, more people are flocking to online peer lending sites, including Prosper.com and Zopa.com. Meanwhile, the market for these sites is in the middle of growth spurt, which is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

Tongaat Hulett unlikely to repeat profit feat
Tongaat Hulett expected rise in profit operations is good news, but...

Celebrating "Just Do It" at Beijing
On the 20th anniversary of the launch of ‘Just Do It', Nike kicked off its global advertising campaign for Beijing from mid-July 2008, with a new emotionally charged 60-second commercial, Courage. The high-energy ad features 31 different Nike athletes from over a dozen different countries, including the US, Russia, Portugal, Switzerland, Afghanistan and South Africa.

New agency takes Checkers account
The decade-and-a-half relationship between Checkers and Berry Bush/BBDO Cape Town is now over. "This year, in 2008, we decided that it was time to make sure that we were still receiving the best brand insight available in the industry," says Neil Schreuder, marketing manager for the Shoprite Checkers Group. "After the pitching processes we decided on NINETY9CENTS to handle our full advertising account.”

Vodafone warning deepens telecom clouds
British mobile phone giant Vodafone sales warning sends share price into decline.

Cautious guidance bites Apple
[Erika Morphy] Apple did everything right in its third quarter and posted robust earnings and revenue figures that bore that out. Like many other companies, however, Apple cautioned investors that the next quarter won't be as good as previously expected - and that bit of sobering news caused stock prices to plummet.

Bakersman gets a makeover
Biscuit producer Bakers, which for over 150 years has brought the Bakersman into South African homes, has relaunched the brand with a complete packaging makeover.

Customer feedback: Mind if I ask you a few questions?
[Jeff Zabin] Never before has the voice of the customer been so loud. And never before have companies been so keen to not only pay close attention to the wants, likes, experiences, preferences, opinions, suggestions and complaints of customers, but to carefully analyse and act upon the information in a systematic fashion.

Shopping centre customers live close to home says NAB
The latest growth of shopping centres in Mpumalanga has ensured that Purchase Decision Makers (PDMs) in their direct catchment area now don't have to travel for ages for a good dose of retail therapy, says John Bowles, Joint Managing Director of the Newspaper Advertising Bureau (NAB).


Subject line testing: what metric should you use to measure success?
[Morgan Stewart] Recently the EEC posted the results from a survey asking, "What is the primary metric by which you measure the success of your subject line A/B tests?"

Further FutureFact findings
The fourth FutureFact conference, to be held on Thursday, 24 July 2008, in Johannesburg, focuses on the potential tipping points for these changes, relevant to future scenarios for business and the country. Here are some findings on township living from the FutureFact survey, which has been monitoring the attitudes, values and beliefs of South Africans for 10 years now.


Cumulative value of multi-platform advertising
A recent report from US company, Integrated Media Measurement, Inc. (IMMI), based on data from 3,000 panellists in six major markets, finds that though multi-platform advertising increases reach over individual platform advertising, the effect is not simply additive.

The right moment to send an email
[David Baker] Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday? When is the right time to send an email? That may be the right question, but is the answer what you are really looking for? This is probably the most widely asked question that email marketers will face.

Fighting hunger with 'Care 2 Carry'
Feedback Food Redistribution (Feedback) and Fruit & Veg City have joined forces to fight hunger in South Africa with the launch of the ‘Care 2 Carry' campaign, and customers are being asked to help. Shopping bags, designed by pupils from the Luzuko Primary School in Guguletu, are being sold at all Fruit & Veg City stores nationwide, and R2 will be donated to Feedback for each bag sold.

Amazon delivers many happy Q2 returns
[Erika Morphy] Shoppers who are less inclined to jump in the car and burn gas to get to the mall these days are apparently turning to Amazon as an alternative. Second-quarter sales were up 41% for the e-commerce giant compared with the year-ago quarter. International sales climbed as well, and a favourable exchange rate gave the company's bottom line a boost.

Unlocking the secrets of whisky at FNB festival
With the introduction of innovations designed to demystify one of South Africa's most popular tipple, the 2008 FNB Whisky Live Festival aims to take both connoisseurs and novices alike on a journey through the allure, origins, flavours and history of whisky.

Local chefs dish out their best at Durban's first Good Food & Wine Show - Cape Gourmet Wine Show
Durban is preparing itself for the Good Food & Wine Show (GF&WS) as it comes to the city for the first time. With a six-year track record in Johannesburg and a successful 10 years in Cape Town, the Good Food & Wine Show is recognised as the country's premier food and wine, leisure and lifestyle show.

Schuit shoots to the top - again
Lorraine Schuit, franchisee of Ola Milky Lane Pavilion in Durban, has scooped her second award in less than a year.

SA to host International tobacco conference
[Tamar Kahn] Thanks to anti-tobacco legislation, SA will host the third Conference of Parties on Tobacco Control later this year.

Go wild about food on Lowveld Gourmet Route
Travellers and locals looking for a gourmet eating experience in the Lowveld need search no longer with the launch of the Lowveld Gourmet Route by the region's Big 5 restaurants in partnership with Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Board.

Free Madiba birthday special serves over 10000
When a public challenge was issued to Nando's last week by SABC2's Morning Live to better its offer of free meals to everyone 90 years and older in honour of Nelson Mandela's birthday, Kevin Utian, Nando's MD, immediately picked up the gauntlet.

High import tariffs holds up growth
[Michael Appel] High import tariffs, trade barriers and a culture of protectionism impedes economic growth, says Department of Trade and Industry Director General Tshediso Matona.

SA, European Union to strengthen relations at summit
South Africa and the European Union are to strengthen relations and address shared bilateral, regional and global interests at the SA-EU Summit that kicks off on Friday, 25 July 2008, in Bordeaux, France.

India, SA, Argentina rejects proposals to limit protection to farm sector
India, South Africa and Argentina, key members of NAMA-11 alliance at World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva on Monday, 21 July 2008, rejected a move by developed countries to limit the flexibility on tariffs and imports of developing countries to protect their domestic industry and farm sector.

Informal traders receive certificates for business course
[Makoena Pabale] A group of informal traders have received their certificates for completing the Grow Your Business course run by Wits University in partnership with the City of Johannesburg.

DHL launches heavy weight tariff promo
Logistics company, DHL Express Kenya, has launched a heavy weight promotion giving customers a discounted price for exporting or importing heavy weight shipments to and from selected countries. The new tariff provides a 35-45% reduction on the old tariff for shipments above 51kg to selected destinations.

Survey highlights growth and development of regional logistics
Putting the spotlight on domestic logistics and transportation in relation to international trade, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Imperial Logistics released the fourth State of Logistics Survey yesterday, Wednesday 23 July 2008. The CSIR reports positive logistics growth for the Southern African region and highlights the challenges faced in order to increase global competitiveness.

Localising assortments and price is critical to retailers
Retail Systems Research (RSR) most recent benchmark report Customer-Centric Merchandising: Driving Differentiation through Localisation Benchmark Report 2008 reveals retailers who systematically work to localise both assortments and prices gain sales and gross margin improvements. In fact, retail winners believe price optimization is even more important than localising assortments.

Losing their bottle; eco-friendly packaging
Wine makers experiment with snob-defying packaging.

How to create packaging that sells
One of packaging's most important functions is to entice consumers to buy the product. Oh sure, there's those more lofty, generally more admired traits of protecting the product, ensuring it gets to market and all that stuff.

Roadshow wraps up in crumping style

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The Niknaks Roadshow cruises into Pretoria for the final leg of its nationwide circuit on Saturday, 16 August 2008, bringing with it a feast of hip-hop and dance. Celebrating the launch of a new flavour, Cheese and Sweet Chilli, Niknaks is celebrating by treating Mzansi youth to some mouth-watering entertainment action with a free show at Pretoria's State Theatre Opera from 11am - 2pm on 16 August. Rapper Tuks will be taking to the stage on the day, and a number of dance groups will be turning up the heat. Catch Morbid bringing the house down with their pop locking and crumping, African Child thrilling with Bujwa dance, and Morbidness taking break dancing to the next level. To crack an invite for this gig SMS rap to 33012. All the events are being filmed, and highlights will be flighted on Selimathunzi on SABC 1 from mid-August.

Chinese textile firm to appeal CCMA ruling
[Sanchia Temkin, Professional Services Editor] Chinese textile company Tai Yuen is to ask the Labour Court to review a R17,5m award made against it by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

CRM's big shadow
[Denis Pombriant] One of the hallmarks of CRM is that its footprint keeps expanding. I think part of the reason is that we have taken to lumping everything that is not a back-office application area into CRM. In fact, some people are even using front office interchangeably with CRM these days, myself included.

Renault-Nissan to invest R1bn in SA
The Renault-Nissan Alliance is to invest R1 billion to upgrade Nissan's manufacturing plant in Rosslyn, outside Pretoria.

Don't skimp on customer service in tough times
[Ann Smith] Small businesses differentiate themselves through specialisation and customer service, and in tough economic times, they can't afford to sacrifice either. In fact, small-business owners should focus their resources on those areas.

A bite of the outdoors

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Colgate is taking a bite from the outdoors with a new creative that is strategically positioned on Primedia Outdoor's 48 sheets and store facias. Created by Y & R, a red Colgate billboard with its top left-hand corner bitten away greets members of the community, in cars or as pedestrians, with the payoff line, “Wow! Strong teeth.” Larger than life, a picture of the product is displayed with its own payoff line - “No. 1 brand recommended by dentists” - alongside a smiling child with pearly white teeth. “Short, sharp and to the point. This is exactly what outdoor advertising has to be if it is to get the message across successfully,” says Richard Bode, Primedia Outdoor's sales and marketing executive.
- Activ Retail

Smash, grab, then make a killing online
[Dahleen Glanton] USA - At first it seemed like ordinary shoplifting - stuffing a few pairs of jeans into an oversize bag and walking out of the store. But the thieves got bolder. They began showing up in groups of five or six in the middle of the day, spraying store clerks with mace and knocking customers out of the way as they gathered armfuls of clothes. Sometimes they tossed a brick through the glass. Sometimes they drove a truck through the front door.

Study: OSS communities are often slackers in security
Enterprises using certain kinds of open source software may be exposing themselves to serious security risks, according to a study from Fortify Software. The study, which focused primarily on non-commercially supported OSS, found many packages have no ground rules for reporting bugs and do not adequately inform users about how to use the applications safely.

Beefed up security at Vodacom Challenge leads to arrests
[Bathandwa Mbola] Two people were arrested for selling counterfeit tickets outside Newlands Stadium before the opening of the Vodacom Challenge soccer match in Cape Town with a further seven arrested for being in possession of such tickets inside the stadium.

iPhone spawns new ad networks
[Mark Walsh] Highlighting growing interest in iPhone-tailored advertising, a pair of US-based mobile ad networks has announced new initiatives for the Apple device.

Giving your site a social life
[Yann Motte] The world of online business communication has introduced two industry-changing elements for small business: more customers and more competitors. Circa 1999, you were ahead of the competition by simply having a website to preview your service or products. By 2004, web transactions were the norm, and convenience was the king.

Sony BMG responds to 94.7
Sony BMG Africa earlier this week issued a statement in response to 94.7 Highveld Stereo's announcement that its 94.7 Music Shop initiative in partnership with eXactmobile had been put on hold because Sony BMG had withdrawn its consent.

SMEs buy from retailers
Small businesses generally buy their IT just as Joe Public does - at a computer retail store.

TiVo, Amazon put a little 'buy buy' in the 'boop boop'
[JR Raphael] USA - The company that pioneered the concept of skipping past television commercials is now introducing a new kind of TV-based advertising. TiVo has joined forces with Amazon to create an interactive system that will let viewers buy products featured on TV shows - right from their remotes. TiVo Product Purchase will present options on the screen and give users the opportunity to order without interrupting the program.

Mobile music initiative on hold
94.7 Highveld Stereo listeners will have to wait a while before they can start downloading music they hear on the airwaves onto their phones. The station announced yesterday, Monday, 21 July 2008, that it will be postponing the launch of its music sales initiative to listeners as Sony BMG has withdrawn its consent.

Sharp to demystify the six myths of retailing
Professor Byron Sharp leads the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, which conducts serious research and development into how marketing works based on over 80 years of data from top global companies. Join him at South Africa's first ever Retail Advertising Conference, where he will demolish six myths of retailing.

Understand how consumer protection will impact on business
South African consumers are set to become some of the best protected in the world with the new consumer protection legislation in the pipeline; companies, however, will have to change the way they do business.