AFRICA

How to stimulate brand recommendations

[Jason Stewart] Research organisations are constantly updating figures tallying how many branded messages are being pushed at consumers. In South Africa, we are currently being bombarded with around 900 branded messages per week. What is even more staggering is that only four of those messages break through the increasing advertising clutter to generate top-of-mind awareness. Read more >>

AFRICA

[IABC 2012] Employee engagement and transformational change

[Daniel Munslow] CHICAGO, USA: Irene Lewis, president and CEO of SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary, Alberta (Canada) started out as a rural school teacher has always focused on the people around her. She realised from early days that companies can make all the promises they want. Without engaged employee who can deliver, they will achieve little. Read more >>

ETHIOPIA

Novartis Malaria Initiative to tackle malaria in Africa

More than 35 countries across Africa are represented at this year's National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) Best Practice Sharing Workshop, entitled 'Empowering Communities: The Heart of Malaria Control'. Convened by Novartis, this workshop brings together national and international malaria leaders to discuss key topics and challenges. Read more >>

KENYA

BFMA Conference programme released

The fourth annual Broadcast, Film & Music Africa (BFMA) Conference, hosted by AITEC Africa set to take place from 10-11 July 2012 at the Oshwal Centre in Nairobi, Kenya has released the latest programme of the upcoming conference. Download the programme (Size: 864KB).

MALAWI

MISA hails Banda's media stance

[Gregory Gondwe: @Kalipochi] The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has hailed Malawian president Joyce Banda for meeting media managers, owners and media organisations at her Sanjika Palace in Blantyre on 25 June 2012, where she pledged to look into some of the challenges the media face in the country. Read more >>

AFRICA

[IABC 2012] Setting the bar for the future of communication

[Daniel Munslow] The IABC 2012 World Conference kicked off on the morning of Sunday, 24 June in Chicago, Illinois, USA. This year's conference, which is attended by more than 1 400 top business communicators from around the globe, is themed "Vision of 20/15". The theme and the talks being presented are designed with the view of looking at the future of strategic communications. Read more >>

AFRICA

Research Channel Africa website gets a revamp

In the early 2000s, South African-based media group Creamer Media leveraged the research and interactive abilities of the internet by creating a product that allowed users to quickly access information from the large archive associated with the Engineering News and Mining Weekly publications. Read more >>

SUDAN

Sudanese government blocks online newspaper

Online Arabic newspaper Hurriyat Sudan has reported that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has blocked its website since 25 June 2012, following its coverage of protests in Khartoum and other towns. Read more >>

AFRICA

[IABC 2012] Communication crimes: Are you a repeat offender?

[Daniel Munslow] CHICAGO, USA: Cultural communication has never been more important, according to Robert Dilenschneider, IABC Fellow and founder and principal of the Dilenschneider Group. Presenting on Tuesday, 26 June at the 2012 IABC World Conference in Chicago, Dilenschneider emphasised that many of the tactics and strategies employed by corporate communicators over the past several decades have changed as social media have taken hold and national barriers have come down. Read more >>

AFRICA

Radio stations to broadcast MTV Base series across Africa

Shuga: Love, Sex, Money, a television show set in Nairobi, Kenya that follows the lives, loves and ambitions of a group of young people has been developed into a radio drama and hit the airwaves yesterday, 27 June 2012. Read more >>

AFRICA

Informa Telecoms & Media partnership launches research program

Informa Telecoms & Media in conjunction with a global market research agency is set to launch a new collaborative research program, with the aim to examine operator and vendor content strategies using a blend of consumer research, industry expert understanding and forecasts. Read more >>

UNITED STATES

Murdoch sees increasing costs at WSJ

NEW YORK, US: News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch sat down with Bloomberg TV's Betty Liu this week to discuss the break-up of the company. Murdoch said he sees "increasing costs" at The Wall Street Journal but "hopefully, increasing our revenues by more than that." Read more >>

UNITED STATES

New York Times to launch Chinese news website

NEW YORK, US: The New York Times said on Wednesday it was launching a Chinese-language news website to deliver "high-quality coverage of world affairs, business and culture" to readers in China. Read more >>

AUSTRALIA

Australia's Fairfax says editorial integrity key

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: Australian media giant Fairfax Wednesday said editorial independence was at the core of the company, as mining magnate Gina Rinehart pushes for greater influence at the respected newspaper firm. Read more >>

UNITED STATES

2012 Midas Awards for The World's Best Financial Advertising: Call for entries

NEW YORK, US: The World's Best Financial Advertising, presented by the Midas Awards, has announced its call for entries. The Midas Awards is claimed to be the only international competition to recognise excellence in financial advertising and marketing on a global scale. Among the companies honoured in the 2011 Midas Report was SA's The Jupiter Drawing Room. Read more >>

UNITED KINGDOM

Ovum comment on Google product announcement

LONDON, UK: Google made a handful of major product announcements at its I/O developer event yesterday; the next iteration of Google's Android operating system, Jelly Bean, an aggressively priced 7 inch tablet from partner Asus, and a home media device which will be marketed under Google's own brand. Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst at Ovum provides his perspective. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Reserve Bank warns public of pyramid schemes

The South African Reserve Bank yesterday launched an awareness campaign aimed at educating members of the public about the risks of investing in pyramid schemes. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Most textbooks delivered in Limpopo, says dept

About 99% of textbooks have been delivered to Grade 10 learners in Limpopo with all textbooks delivered to Grades 1, 2 and 3, says the Department of Basic Education's director-general, Bobby Soobryan. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Durban to Joburg - one hour-plus

Durban to Rosebank in just over an hour's high-speed train travel time is something that could become a reality by 2030‚ discussions with China's CSR Corporation at the Rail Africa exhibition and conference on Wednesday revealed. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Extra boost for local locomotive industry

US-based General Electric (GE) Transportation has announced that another locomotive, which forms part of a deal sealed with state-owned Transnet, was delivered with local content that exceeds the commitment from GE's initial Transnet order of 100 locomotives. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Sweet homecoming for kidnapped SA couple

There were mixed emotions at OR Tambo International Airport when South African couple Debbie Calitz and Bruno Pelizzari walked out of the international arrivals to meet their families and friends on Wednesday. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Transnet to go to international debt market

State-owned freight and ports company Transnet will go to the international debt market before the end of March to raise capital for its R300bn capital expenditure programme‚ Transnet CEO Brian Molefe said today. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Hilton Worldwide to launch luxury brand in South Africa

DUBAI, UAE / McLEAN, US: Hilton Worldwide has announced Pezula Resort & Spa, one of South Africa's leading resorts, is set to join the luxury portfolio of Conrad Hotels & Resorts following the signing of a management agreement with resort owners, Alderney Establishment. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

On horseback through the Drakensberg

[Brian Berkman: contributing editor, travel] The next few months are probably the best in the Drakensberg where there is the chance of snow and crisp, beautiful days. Read more >>

SOUTH AFRICA

Repainting history in Goethe

[Daniel Dercksen] Films like Goethe have the power to inject our wisdom with a fresh and invigourating sensibility. What we know, or what we think we know, is turned inside out as German filmmakers Philip Stölzl (director and screenwriter) and Christoph Müller (producer and co-screenwriter) repaint history with their insightful and enlightening vivid exploration of a man who changed the world with his passion for words. Read more >>