Following Arena Holdings' acquisition of South Africa's largest and oldest independent label Gallo Record Company (Gallo Music Investments - GMI), is now showing its interest in the future of the African music industry by partnering with Africa's biggest content aggregator, Content Connect Africa (CCA). The 45% equity transaction links Gallo's rich catalogue with CCA's technical capabilities and Pan-African reach to provide a platform for innovation for African Music.Together CCA and Gallo’s vision, built on its 95 years of experience, coupled with fellow shareholder Black Coffee’s global experience, will provide emerging artists with an opportunity to benefit from the slipstream of...

Creative industries have the power to inspire a true drive for change. Through advertising, marketing, and various other forms of media, the creatives in charge hold the ability to send a message that could make a real difference. Odette van der Haar, a giant in the advertising industry, finds that creativity doesn’t only apply to the finalised product that comes out of the agency. For Van der Haar, there is always a way to make a plan for creative messaging and client needs. “As brands, as advertisers, as content creators, we are all part of the same value chain and there’s to...

Thandeka Gilbert always loved creativity and wanted to do something creative with her life, which lad her to the world of advertising through studying at AAA School of Advertising. In 2020, she was part of the team at The Odd Number Johannesburg who was awarded the prestigious Umpetha Award at Pendorings 2020 for three radio ads. You're a copywriter at The Odd Number. Tell us more about your role here I am teamed together with an art director we are tasked with coming up with creative solutions for business problems. In this partnership, I am responsible for the copy throughout all bodies...

First published in the Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper. Stop talking about diversity in the integrated marketing communication sector and just get on with it already. It’s hardly news: the industry (and clients) have talked about a lack of diversity for years and yet, in 2021, at the most prestigious marketing conference in Africa, such conversations are still being had – and needed. It wasn’t the only discussion at the recent Nedbank IMC Conference – held virtually for a second year in a row because of the pandemic. A host of top local and international speakers spoke powerfully about stories that sell, improving the industry in...

Conversation Lab, an independent, Black women-owned and run digital agency, has won an impressive number of Unilever brands in the organic search and content space. The agency has been appointed by Unilever after a rigorous multi-stage pitch process to manage a range of the group’s foods and personal care brands. The agency will work on 13 brands, including global household names like Knorr, Hellmann’s, Lifebuoy, TRESemmé and Axe as well as local jewels Joko, Robertsons, Dawn and Organics.  The engagement includes full SEO strategy, technical direction and consultation as well as strategic content development focusing on product and utility, as well as...

The Media Online’s weekly round up of people, account and business moves in media. This week’s BIG move: Community media stands firm amid print media carnage, report shows If you want to reach mass audiences through print media, community media should be at the core of your strategy. That’s one of the main takeaways from a newly-released report on the African Print Media Landscape, by media monitoring company Novus Group. While Taxi Times and PE Express may not be top of mind for most media and PR agencies, they have a combined circulation of 266 000, which dwarfs most of their more illustrious...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB-KUB35_CM In 2015, we launched our #SayNoToSpec video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=essNm...

It is with profound sadness that we share the news that Molefi Thulo has passed away. This ever humble, always inspirational human will leave a massive hole in the industry that he loved so much, and to which he gave so much. Molefi began his career as a copywriter in the 2000s. He quickly showed his gift for humour, writing some of South Africa’s most loved campaigns. In 2009, he moved to Ogilvy, eventually making it his home and rising to become executive creative director. Over the decade that Molefi spent at Ogilvy, he managed to always find magic – in people,...

The One Club for Creativity and The 3% Movement have announced the judges who will serve on the jury for their Next Creative Leaders (NCL) 2021. Five of these judges are from Africa. NCL is a free competition recognising women and non-binary creatives on the rise; both globally and by region. The deadline for entry has been extended to 30 July.  Judges from Africa are: Hermann Kamte, founder, CEO and creative director at HKA | Hermann Kamte & Associates Yaounde (Cameroon)Nkanyezi Masango, ECD at King James Group Cape Town (South Africa)Sam Nii Adjaidoo, cofounder of Institute of Design and Synergistics Kumasi (Ghana)Max Ngari,...

Kantar's Best Liked Ads celebrates South Africa's favourite TV commercials. These are the ads that have been rated as the best liked by the South African audience, whom we believe to be the most important critic - the person who, ultimately, chooses to buy your brand or not. With some going so far as calling it ‘the year that wasn’t’, 2020 was certainly one for the books. Our rosy tinted 20/20 optimism for this year of golden promise soon took a reality check, as we were fast-forwarded into the global framework of keeping our sanitised distance and doing it all from...