ABI, a division of South African Breweries, is one of the largest producers and distributors of The Coca-Cola Company brands in the southern hemisphere. Looking to provide ABI customers with a thought leadership read, which will also keep them up-to-date on developments within the company and the wider beverages industry, ABI selected New Media as its partner in this venture.
New Media produces some of the country's leading lifestyle titles (Taste, VISI and Eat Out) and also has a strong team that develops multi-platform communications vehicles for leading blue-chip brands such as Mediclinic, First National Bank and Vodacom. The agency has more than 16 years of experience in producing such content.
Bridget McCarney, MD at New Media, says that their custom publishing division prides itself on not seeing custom publishing as the "ugly step-sister" of the consumer publishing sector.
"Even though there are parameters within which the editorial team has to work in the process of developing custom magazines such as Quench, there's no reason that it should be any less informative and professional than any sought after business publication. As New Media sees it, the only difference in parameters is that with a consumer title there is only one group setting the parameters: the readers. In a custom title, however, it's the readers as well as the client.
"This idea that both client and readers must be satisfied with the final product is why I believe we have enjoyed such success with our custom titles. Too often custom titles are produced with the core driver to the content of the magazine being consideration for what the client wants to see. At New Media we believe that carefully crafted, relevant and compelling content is the key to success, regardless of the platform," says McCarney.
New Media's custom publishing division is a regular recipient of both local and international awards. In 2013, New Media walked away with multiple awards at the South African magazine industry's "Oscars", the PICA Awards. On the global front, New Media received two awards at the New York based Pearl Awards, which are judged by the Custom Content Council, the leading professional organisation for branded content and content marketing in North America.
Velaphi Ratshefola, Commercial Director at ABI, says that "New Media's proven track record when it comes to producing and publishing custom titles across a wide range of industries made them the perfect agency for us to partner with. Our intentions with Quench are literal in the sense that this magazine will aim to satisfy our reader's thirst for insights into our industry, entertain with features written in a friendly and conversational tone, and providing substantive leadership.
"Quench will lead the way in business-to-business engagement, while also making the lives of ABI's business partners easier when it comes to areas that are a challenge to them and that tend to drain their resources," Ratshefola concludes.
