Let's get going!As we head into the third week of the new year, most people are settling in and adjusting into their daily routines - and with a new year, comes new beginnings. Today we kick off with the first of our 2013 Biz Trends series from players in the advertising, marketing and media industries. So what does 2013 hold for us? If you missed out on the 2012 Biz Trends Report, it's still available to download (3.8MB). In news this week, Ronelle Bester of Red Ribbon Communications explains why a local approach is essential when it comes to public relations in Africa. Nominations are now open for the 2013 Kenyan Blog Awards. In Nigeria, the blog scene has grown in leaps and bounds, and a list has been compiled of the Top Nigerian Bloggers. Naseem Javed dishes out the facts about the undiscovered skills in global advertising and branding. With about a week to go before the Africa Nations Cup kicks off, StarAfrica.com has pulled out all stops to make sure all internet users enjoy the tournament. Wishing you all the success for the New Year! Evan-Lee Courie @evan1985PS Responses to this column welcomed in our ed's column archive. Send all your Africa marketing news to africanews@bizcommunity.com, exclusive opinion pieces to contributors-africa@bizcommunity.com and international news to internationalnews@bizcommunity.com; also take a look at our guide "How to contribute to Bizcommunity, from op-ed pieces to news". Don't forget to follow @Biz_Africa on Twitter and join us on Facebook!Top stories
 [Sue Disler] What an interesting dilemma it was for me moving into publishing almost three years ago. The glossy was HERO and digital was a very, very bad word indeed. But I was excited that, for first time, I could really get to grips with CONTENT. In advertising that's the missing, quintessential link. In order to understand where I am headed here, let me contextualise my thinking by way of illustrating a historical, time-stamped journey of sorts. Read more >>
 [Darren Woolley] Last year was certainly an economic roller-coaster ride. In 2013, marketers will need to look through the uncertainty and make some longer-term plans, as well as choices and decisions, on how they will steer their brands forward. So here are some of the decisions and choices to be made in 2013, in no particular order... Read more >>
The CA Southern Africa has released CA Technologies' top five IT predictions for 2013 Read more >>
 [Naseem Javed] The world is passing through the eye of the needle, and the all-out digital transition is responsible for ushering us into new era where age media now demands new age skills. So what will it take to prepare for such mega movements and what are the key facts? Read more >>
[Othello B. Garblah] President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf says her government has no plans to arrest any journalist, shut down radio stations or ban newspapers. "We will not burn down media houses or intimidate critics", she said in a prepared speech on Saturday, 12 January 2013. Read more >>
[Philip Amiola] I have observed with some degree of amusement, the wave of criticism and outrage that greeted the ill-timed ignition of president Goodluck Jonathan's 2015 political campaign machinery. The campaign message - One good term deserves another - is especially humorous. Read more >>
[Steve Ferguson] The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI), due to become law early this year, introduces legal protection in SA for the first time against the serious risks and harm arising from the unauthorised collection and abuse of personal information. Read more >>
 [Wesley Lynch] African software has had some qualified global successes, but more often than not our home-grown innovations don't 'take' well in other territories. To overcome this, we need to think wider. While African solutions are often preferred in dealing with African problems, our software developers must also identify global applications for their solutions, if they are to have global success. Read more >>
 [Yusuf Begg] Digital mapping involves the compilation of real world data into a digital database format. Primarily, this technology is used to produce maps that give accurate representations of a particular area, detailed major roads and calculate the distances from one place to another. Read more >>
 In December 2012, a team of four bikers departed Cape Town for Kampala, Uganda, on a long-haul ride, dubbed SA2UGANDA, in support of quality education in South Africa. Read more >>
 Attendance at the latest African PetroForum, to be held in Cape Town, South Africa from 4-6 March 2013, has stepped up a gear, with confirmation of reportedly three of the biggest names in petroleum retail will be attending - underlining the importance of Africa in their companies' global strategies. Read more >>
Libya's International Security and Safety Exhibition & Conference is expected to take place from 26-28 November 2013 at the Tripoli International Fairground, under the Patronage of Libya's Ministry of Defence and sponsored and supported by Libya's Ministry of Interior. Read more >>
 MTN Uganda plans to deploy Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in Uganda during the coming months, reportedly being the first to offer this technology in East Africa. Popularly known as 4G, LTE is a 'standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals'. A 4G system provides mobile ultra-broadband internet access. Read more >>
A reporter of the independent authoritative Heritage newspaper has been handed the country's Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) Award 2012 in the print category. Eugene K. Myers was handed the award over the weekend at a ceremony held at Corina Hotel in Sinkor, Monrovia. Read more >>
Who are Nigeria's Top Bloggers for 2013? Since 2011, a list of Nigeria's top blogs/bloggers have been compiled. In the past two years, the Nigerian blog scene has grown in leaps and bounds. Part of our fascination with it is its rapid rise from relative obscurity on the continent to prominence. Read more >>
 For the Orange Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) held in South Africa in 2013, StarAfrica.com has pulled out all the stops to make sure all internet users enjoy the tournament. Read more >>
 iROKO Partners, the online distributor of Nigerian movies and music, starts 2013 with the announcement of further expansion - the opening of a new office in Johannesburg, South Africa. Read more >>
[Stuart Thomas] Asking whether your brand is on Twitter is a little redundant these days. It's been replaced by more pertinent questions, like: "what is your brand really doing on Twitter?" and "what are you doing to make Twitter work for your brand?". Read more >>
 Ronelle Bester, MD of Red Ribbon Communications, explains why a local approach is essential when it comes to PR in Africa. Read more >>
Malawian authorities must immediately investigate and bring all appropriate charges in connection with the reported assault of a radio journalist who said he was punched by a business leader angered by an interview question. Read more >>
[Tawanda Karombo] International refined foods manufacturer Nestle invested $12m into its Zimbabwean operations in 2012 despite the uncertainty surrounding its future in Zimbabwe as the government has not yet decided upon its indigenisation compliance plans. However‚ the Swiss company has reiterated its commitment to its operations in the country. Read more >>
 A fresh generation of African leaders will be featured on the new Al Jazeera English series Tutu's Children. Read more >>
 NEW YORK, US: New York Festivals International Radio Programs & Promos Awards has announced its official call for entries. Established in 1982, the competition honours the most innovative work in radio broadcasting, with entries from radio stations, networks, and independent producers from around the globe. Read more >>
HARARE, ZIMBABWE: Germany warned that takeovers of foreign-owned safari ranches by Zimbabwean politicians could jeopardise the country's co-hosting of this year's United Nations tourism conference. Read more >>
 PARIS, FRANCE / DARMSTADT, GERMANY: Editors and publishers seeking insight on how news media will evolve in 2013 - and how they can use these trends to advance their media enterprises - will be well served to check out the conference programmes and a "strictly digital" study tour that the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has planned for the first months of the new year. Read more >>
 NEW YORK, US: The 2013 Hall of Fame medium has been updated to include multiple categories. Entries in this medium are for outstanding work from the past that has stood the test of time and cemented a place of honor and respect in the hearts and memories of consumers and advertising professionals alike. Read more >>
[Subhash Chandra] NOIDA (UP), INDIA: Unlike the traditional forms of marketing such as advertising, wherein almost everything has been said and done, search marketing is still dynamically growing and best practices are invented day in and day out. Every year, search engine marketers get filled with anticipation wondering what would emerge as the "next big thing" in search marketing. Read more >>
 [*David Mattin and Saint-Francis Tohlang] LONDON, UK / JOHANNESBURG, SA: Turbulent times were predicted on the back end of 2012. The ANC Mangaung conference precipitated very little stormy seas other than an anti-climactic conclusion. The Mayan apocalypse materialised into nothing but an ordinary day. In fact with so many forecasts for change and a chasm of chaos, one may tend to be a bit sceptical with further predictions of change. Read more >>
More International...
 The Media magazine kicks off its January 2013 offering with a hard-hitting investigative slant into black market magazine trading which has led to arrests. Contributors include Raymond Louw, Jacques du Preez, Paula Slier, Harry Herber, Okyerebea Ampofo-Anti and Howard Thomas. Read more >>
 We need to urgently shift our focus from the notion of jobs; and shift it to the concept of work... "The unemployment rate in South Africa is a crisis and should be declared a state of emergency," says Ronald Bownes, founding director of DreamWorker - a non-profit organisation. The recent Census places unemployment at 29.8% while some believe the expanded definition to be closer to 40%, writes *Chiara Baumann. Read more >>
The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has offered to intervene in the strike by farm workers in the Western Cape over wage increases. Read more >>
 [Linda Ensor and Edward West] Apart from the tragic cost to lives‚ South Africa's high accident rate has an economic cost estimated by Transport Minister Ben Martins at R306bn a year - about 10% of gross domestic product (GDP). Read more >>
Despite a slight reduction in road fatalities in Limpopo over the 2012 festive season, compared to the previous year, traffic authorities are not happy with the behaviour of motorists on provincial roads. Read more >>
[Paul Vecchiatto] Western Cape provincial agricultural minister Gerrit van Rensburg has expressed concern the renewed agricultural strike will damage the economically important table grape crop that is ripe for harvesting. Read more >>
 Schools are "the bedrock" on which democracy is built, and which will determine whether democracy will work or not, Western Cape Premier Helen Zille said yesterday. Read more >>
 [Nicky Smith] South African Airways (SAA) acting CEO Vuyisile Kona is preparing plans to increase revenue and improve efficiency in a bid to boost the performance of the ailing state-owned carrier. Read more >>
[Ntsakisi Maswanganyi] Continued global uncertainty‚ coupled with internal factors such as drought and associated food shortages‚ threaten Africa's economic growth prospects‚ warns International Monetary Fund's (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde. Read more >>
 President Jacob Zuma has authorised the deployment of 400 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) personnel to the Central African Republic (CAR), his office said on Sunday. Read more >>
More Government news...
 [Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] We all love two-seat convertible cars with supercar performance, even though they tend to be noisy, impractical and uncomfortable - but not so Merc's latest sexy SL 500 scorcher. Read more >>
 [Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] New vehicle sales increased to 623,914 units last year which is a growth of 9.2% over 2012 and 2% more than expected by automobile industry body NAAMSA. The 2012 total does not include 7,794 units sold by Great Wall Motors. Read more >>
 [Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] Toyota's Africa-conquering Land Cruiser 70 has undergone a number of cosmetic changes and mechanical improvements and for the first time it is now also available as a double cab. Read more >>
More Motoring news...
 [will smith] If you are planning a vacation to relax, enjoy pleasant weather and see the beautiful serene locations with your family or a group, then renting a luxury Caribbean villa can prove to be an excellent choice. A villa will not only provide you a new travelling experience, but also make your stay easy and comfortable. Read more >>
More Travel news...
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"Journalism is popular, but it is popular mainly as fiction. Life is one world, and life seen in the newspapers another. (via Proverbia)" - Gilbert Keith Chesterton "The road to success is lined with many tempting parking spaces. (via trainleaders)" - Anonymous "Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. (via Brainy Quote)" - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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