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Bieber and burgers make SA go round - 13 May 2013[Ilse van den Berg, @Biz_Marketing] Bieber fever hit South Africa hard last week as the 19-year-old Canadian performed live in Cape Town and Johannesburg with thousands of fans attending his concerts and screaming his name. I must confess that I am a bit relieved I missed it - not that I am a Bieber-hater or anything, but man alive, imagine seeing such fan-faces in real life! I would have nightmares for years to come. read more World Press Freedom Day - no big celebration in SA - 6 May 2013[Ilse van den Berg, @Biz_Marketing] World Press Freedom Day, established 20 years ago, was celebrated around the globe last Friday. In South Africa, however, freedom of the press has been quite the touchy subject due to the proposed Protection of Information Bill which is awaiting being signed into law by President Jacob Zuma. With the voting process on the POIB recently, some glitches included a vote being recorded for a former MP who hasn't actually been in Parliament for a while, and a few who also weren't even there for the vote. read more Print media dead? Not even close - 29 Apr 2013[Rod Baker: Content Director] Not too long ago, the death of print media was being espoused with great certainty by the medium's doomsayers - but they might have got it wrong... When it comes to print media dying, Ingrid Louw reckons it is far from dead and, in fact, it is still holding its own rather well, thank you very much. What's that advice some people offered Julius Malema - come on, you remember him... read more Trust me! - 22 Apr 2013[Rod Baker: Content Director] Trust is the foundation of any relationship, be it personal, romantic, or business. In the second part of her Trust in business series, Ann Nurock shows how you can attain trust. On the newspaper front, Anton Harber looks at the claims The New Age made recently regarding its circulation and suggests that they be treated with caution. read more So long, Shaka - 15 Apr 2013[Rod Baker: Content Director] Talk Radio 702 and sister station 567 Cape Talk have decided that they will get along without freelance host Shaka Sisulu after he was appointed to the national task team of the ANCYL, but he's not commenting. Meanwhile, on the recruitment side, social recruiting is claimed to be a powerful new way of finding hard-to-reach candidates as talent increasingly shifts online. This is the first in a series of articles on the subject. On the subject of newspapers, according to the latest AMPS, SA newspapers are holding their own, but some genres of magazines are taking strain. read more A gift to help the medicine go down - 8 Apr 2013[Rod Baker: Content Director] Apparently, Madiba's grandson reckons that the news that Iqbal Survé's Sekunjalo consortium has bought Ireland's Independent News and Media South African interests is just the gift Madiba needs. Must say, I'm not 100% certain of that... surely plenty of rest and freedom from constant visitors (plus whatever medication he may or may not be on) would be of greater benefit? On the PR front, Lucinda Boddy makes the plea: Will the real face of PR please stand up? Lucinda reckons the PR industry, like any, is facing challenges, so the genuine players need to stand up and be counted. Advertising... read more The goofy and the not so goofy - 2 Apr 2013[Rod Baker: Content Director] Yesterday saw the usual crop of April Fools' Day stories that amused most, perplexed some, and fooled others. However, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, so while Google got going on its crop of bogus apps, etc, we have the case (sadly, true) of some British police officer suing a garage owner because she tripped over a kerb outside his establishment. read more (2 Comments) Porn story - 25 Mar 2013[Rod Baker: Content Director] TopTV CEO Eddie Mbalo says the pornography the pay channel is applying to screen will tell stories that couples can enjoy together, but apparently neither he or his wife will be enjoying the 'stories' because, as he says, "I'm not interested. I'm a married man and I don't watch porn." So does this mean that only unmarried couples will bother watching? So poor old Fred and Alice (she's watched his six-pack develop into a beer barrel and he's watched his only investment double and turn into a clone of his mother-in-law) probably won't bother with watching porn? Shame, one might think the very people who need a bit of encouragement are people like Fred and Alice. Meanwhile, back in the real world, Communications Minister Dina Pule says the "smear campaign" against her will fail and the mud won't stick. read more Dina does it again - 18 Mar 2013[Rod Baker: Content Director] Communications Minister Dina Pule was in hot water just a while ago when it was learned that her lover had benefited from the ICT Indaba sponsorship. Now she appears to have done it again... read more SA’s best-liked ads – we like our food! - 11 Mar 2013[Rod Baker: Content Director] Millward Brown SA has announced the Best Liked Ads of 2012 and it seems that we like our food, and that poses the question: Are our tastes changing when it comes to advertising? Are we obsessed with our stomachs? Nearly half the nation's favourite TV commercials in 2012 were for quick-service restaurant and fast-food chains. Back to one of SA's longest-running soapies... well, the script for one, anyway - the latest goings-on at the SABC, where the board chairperson and his deputy have resigned. read more A last look at Design Indaba - 4 Mar 2013[Rod Baker: Content Director] Today sees another pair of Terry Levin's report-backs on Design Indaba, in which she shows how David Adjaye is shining the light, and you can read the second part of Design in context. On the youth marketing front, Veli Dlamini reckons that youth marketing needs to be practical not theoretical. As he says, when people love a brand's personality, price becomes the last thing they focus on when buying a product. read more Argus & Sons… Coming back home? - 25 Feb 2013[Rod Baker: Content Director] Foreign direct investment is good, right? Not always... Chris Moerdyk looks back on what happened when the Irish took over a major South African media group and basically... read more When a brand goes around the bend… - 18 Feb 2013[Rod Baker: Content Director] ... and not in a nice way... read more Can an advertising campaign stop rape? - 11 Feb 2013[Rod Baker: Content Director] The brutal rape and murder of Anene Booysen in Bredasdorp has rightly enraged the nation, and in the forefront of our minds is: How can this scourge be curbed? Gail Schimmel is equally outraged, but asks: Can an advertising campaign stop rape? So you launched your website a while back... now Subhash Chandra asks how it has changed and suggests some ways in which you can make your website work. read more Oppelt to take over at Sunday Times - 4 Feb 2013[Rod Baker: Content Director] Phylicia Oppelt is taking over the reins as editor of Sunday Times, and will become the first female editor in the 107-year history of the newspaper. Just reward for a long and impressive career. read more |