Wow! And we're off to a crazy start! Bizcommunity officially ended its silly season last Monday, but we're going at full throttle today as most staff report back to work. I had a restful, albeit short, break away from the office and hope you too took some time off to rejuvenate.
After reading through a number of contributor pieces highlighting prospective trends in 2011, which will be published during the coming weeks, I can assure you we're in for exciting times ahead in the marketing and media industry. Look out for the
Biz 2011 Trends initiative from today till the end of January.
What did you miss while tanning under the blazing African sun enjoying the outdoors for a change? Well, not much really - the industry really comes to a standstill during the festive season as I spent the latter part of December hunting for newsworthy copy.
In Zimbabwe, Jarrod Pretorius announced his plans to
transform the country's ad industry while
Juicy Lucy opened its doors in Botswana.
e.tv launched its continent-wide channel on DStv while Ugandans now get to play
"Who wants to be a millionaire?". Journalists in Somalia continue to endure
press freedom violations and on a sad note, two of Malawi's media veterans,
Jika Nkolokosa and Tony Mita, passed away after each making a significant impact on that country's media landscape over many years.
May you fulfil your dreams, big or small, in 2011. Let the rat race begin!
Enjoy,
Sindy Peters, Africa editor
Responses to this column welcomed in our
online editor's column archive.
Send all your Africa marketing news
africanews@bizcommunity.com.
Top stories
Special focus on media freedom
MOGADISHU: The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), on Friday, 7 January 2011, released the union's annual report on the state of freedom of the press in Somalia in 2010 summarising major press freedom violations and challenges in southern and central regions of Somalia, Puntland and Somaliland.
Read more >>[Walter Wafula] Journalists should be prepared to face crude regulations against information flow as governments move to tighten the leads on state secrets according to a Europe-based media expert.
Read more >> Marketing
[Yoray Narainpersad] You have implemented an SEO strategy and your website is now receiving quite a decent amount of traffic, that's a start! So how does this traffic help your business? This should give your website more exposure and increase your website rankings on search engines; however this does not mean that by receiving a lot of traffic / visitors that you are going to convert that traffic into potential leads / sales.
Read more >> Advertising
[Dumisani Ndlela] Advertising and design practitioner Jarrod Pretorius has established an advertising agency with great promise to transform advertising in Zimbabwe which he said had "become lazy and obvious".
Read more >> Digital
[Michelle Atagana] Google's new appointment of a 33-year-old Kenyan to manage its Africa policy has been described as a "coup" by authoritative US technology magazine
FastCompany.
Read more >> Education and Training
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has released its second edition of "Internet in the Family: A guide to helping children when they go online" in time for newspapers to offer it to readers for "Safer Internet Day" on 8 February.
Read more >>Media
[Gregory Gondwe] Malawi media parted with the year 2010 on a sad note as it lost highly decorated media gurus; executive director for the Malawi Institute of Journalism (MIJ) Jika Nkolokosa - the doyen of Malawi journalism died on 27 December aged 53. Three days later media legend Tony Mita died at 62 on 31 December.
Read more >> ABIDJAN: On 29 December 2011, President Laurent Gbagbo's camp, via Radio Télévision Ivoirienne (RTI), began the second phase of its media campaign against the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI).
Read more >>Reporters Without Borders has issued a joint call with rights groups for Egypt's president to intervene after an Internet user was sentenced to jail for starting a Facebook group for army recruits.
Read more >>[Gregory Gondwe] Malawi's Associated Press correspondent Raphael Tenthani has helped the media body win United Nations awards for its series on Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
Read more >> [Gregory Gondwe] The Malawi chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Malawi) has made several important resolutions after the resignation of the chairperson of the national governing council, Brian Ligomeka.
Read more >> Mobile
[Gregory Gondwe] Late last year the Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA) instructed all telecommunications operators, both mobile and fixed, to abide by its new interconnection law called Sender Keeps All (SKA) following a court ruling.
Read more >> [Erik Hersman] In 2008 we saw the scales begin to tip with imports of data enabled phones being larger than that of non-data enabled phones. In 2009 we saw the undersea cables hit East and Southern Africa in a big way. In 2010 we saw the mobile operators get serious about data availability and cost packaging for everyday Africans.
Read more >> [Dumisani Ndlela] NetOne Cellular, the country's smallest cellular network operator by subscribers, has threatened to name and shame its post-paid customers with outstanding bills as it battles to free itself from a financial quagmire.
Read more >> The MTN Group board of directors has announced Sifiso Dabengwa, currently the group chief operating officer, as MTN Group chief executive and president to succeed Phuthuma Nhleko when he steps down on 31 March 2011.
Read more >>Newspapers
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has called for socially conscious investors to join its efforts to increase social investment in newspapers in developing markets and contribute to the economic viability and independence of free media around the world.
Read more >>Retail
Juicy Lucy is opening a new store at Game City in Gaborone, Botswana. According to Alan Turp, MD of Retail Group which is the licensee for franchisor Java Brands in Botswana, this new look Juicy Lucy restaurant is upmarket and contemporary.
Read more >>TV
[Gregory Gondwe] e.tv Africa is now available on DStv's channel 144, Multichoice Malawi manager for the Central and Northern region has revealed. She said the 24-hour African version of the South African free-to-air channel e.tv started broadcasting on the pay television satellite platform on Tuesday, 14 December 2010.
Read more >> [Walter Wafula] Ugandans are set to win millions of cash after a local mobile operator introduced the 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' tv gameshow in Uganda. The popular UK show has been localised by fixed line operator Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL), and Protel Studios, a Kenya-based independent content producer.
Read more >> NUREMBERG, GERMANY: Sales of digital cameras rose significantly during in the first three quarters of 2010 the latest GfK Retail and Technology data has revealed, with the emerging markets very much at the forefront of this increase. GfK Retail and Technology presents key market figures as the International CES 2011 kicks off in Las Vegas.
Read more >>LONDON, UK: According to PWC, media mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in 2011 will be driven by the economic recovery, easing of credit conditions and technological change.
Read more >>LONDON: The Festival of Media Global Awards has officially opened for entries. Three new awards categories have been added to the list: Best Social Strategy, The Media Effectiveness Award: Engagement and Best Use of Emerging Technologies.
Read more >>NEW YORK, US: Saatchi & Saatchi has announced the appointment of Dina Howell as CEO worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi X, a global agency in shopper marketing. Howell has retired as VP, Global Media and Brand Operations at Procter & Gamble. She succeeds founder and WWCEO Andy Murray, who is moving to the role of founder and chairman.
Read more >>Google's integration of promoted tweets into the real-time search section of its live results, which it rolled out in late November, coincided with revelations it allegedly made two unsuccessful attempts to buy the social communication site. The search giant supposedly made an initial offer of US$2.5bn which Twitter's founders said was "insulting".
Read more >>CNN recently announced its CNN App for iPad is now available on the App Store. Simultaneous to this launch, the CNN App for iPhone and iPod touch in the US will be available for free, and an update to the international version will add live breaking news video.
Read more >>WASHINGTON: If 1999 was the Year of Napster in the history of the Internet then 2010 will go down as the Year of WikiLeaks.
Read more >>The European Newspaper Publishers¹ Association (ENPA) and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), have expressed concern at a draft law in Hungary that would impose extensive fines against journalists and publishers if they refuse to disclose their sources or publish information deemed inappropriate by the government.
Read more >>D&AD and The One Club, the two organisations renowned globally for the Pencil Awards, have announced a joint initiative aimed at identifying leaders in creativity internationally. The Pencil Rankings, will allocate points based on the results from The One Show and the D&AD Awards alone.
Read more >> More International news...
[Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] Even though the previous BMW X3 was tremendously popular it certainly was no striking beauty with its style-clashing bodywork and rather boxy shape - but those days are over because it's has undergone a complete make-over and the latest model is as handsome as any mid-sized SUV can ever hope to be.
Read more >> More Motoring news...
[Dr Ananya Mandal, MD] Planning a trip to the UK? The flu season continues to affect more people and experts have warned the Britons are still at risk as the surge in flu cases has still not yet peaked. The cases would increase they warn, over the next two to four weeks.
Read more >> [Brian Berkman: contributing editor, travel] While hotels scramble to improve their "green" credentials by using home-grown and biodegradable bathroom amenities, De Noordhoek Hotel places minimising its negative impact on the environment, on top of its agenda.
Read more >> More Travel news...
Balkanology has brought Balkan flavour to the local party scene since 2006, a mix of gypsy, Balkan and Mediterranean melodies blended with hip hop, dub, house and electro. The Balkan Beat Box will be in Joburg on 21 January and Cape Town on 22 January, 2011.
Read more >>[Johann Smith] Good Will Acting, written, directed and edited by Fleur du Cap winner Megan Choritz, is a comical tale about when actors can't find jobs. It's such a familiar problem that this play practically writes itself.
Read more >> [Debbie Hathway] The Free Flight Dance Company returns to the stage, cabaret-style, as it revisits the "music, rhythms and vibe" of Harlem's Cotton Club in 1920s' New York. Its production of Cotton Club Moves is on at the Baxter Theatre's Flipside until 30 December daily, at 6pm and at 7.30pm on New Year's Eve.
Read more >> More BizLounge news...
Click here to customise your jobs section
Click here to customise your events section
"Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out." - Stephen Covey
Print - Print any item in this newsletter.
Email - Email any item in this newsletter.
Comment - Comment on any item in this newsletter.
Sponsors: