The Media Online

22/07/2025

THE MEDIA ONLINE NEWSLETTER l 22 July 2025
* Africa’s media moment
The media agency landscape in South Africa and broader Africa is undergoing a transformation. Digital innovation, AI integration, mobile-first consumer behaviour, and demand for localised storytelling are defining the pace and direction of change, writes groups CEO of Publicis Group Africa, Koo Govender.

* Content teams that win: The fractional advantage
Many brands underestimate the importance of defining roles within a content team. A content writer is not a content strategist. A social media manager is not a video producer. Blurring roles leads to inefficiency and weakens creativity, says Charis Coleman, founder of the BlueByrd Collective.

* Are media strategists becoming innovation-averse?
It’s a valid question, but likely to upset some people, Cory Treffiletti says. The digital media landscape used to be the cauldron of innovation, and it was a wonderful place to be a media strategist. But...

* Awards Wrap: PRISM Award entries open, Creative Circle brings the Cannes buzz home, Flow named top digital/specialist agency in sub-Saharan Africa
The Media Online’s weekly column delivering news of award wins, entries, competitions, dates to note and winners in the media.

* [PRESS OFFICE] What does it take to craft work that truly connects not just with consumers, but with communities, identities, and lived experience?
That was the challenge at the heart of MIC (Marketing Influence Culture) - a partnership between dentsu X South Africa (Experience Beyond) and Hype & Happening -held at Radisson RED Rosebank, Johannesburg.


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21/07/2025

THE MEDIA ONLINE TODAY l 21 July 2025
* Are media strategists becoming innovation-averse?
Is the role of a media strategist getting easier and less complex, or are media strategists becoming ‘innovation-averse’? Cory Treffiletti asks the difficult question.
* Reputation does not clock out after hours
The Coldplay concert may have dazzled fans, but the real headline came from the audience, writes Reputation Matters' Regine le Roux, shifting the focus from entertainment to ethics.
* Want to win over South Africans? Start by listening
This means you have to do more than plaster a clever slogan onto a billboard or send out a localised release and hope for the best, says Tribeca Public Relations' Nicky James.
* Still targeting the same audiences?
“Today’s best–performing brands aren’t just targeting,” says Daniel Levy, co-founder and co-CEO of Flow. “They’re layering, testing, and scaling. And they’re doing it with the help of first–party data – not vague assumptions.”
* What the SA Generative AI Roadmap report reveals
GenAI adoption has climbed from 45% of large enterprises in 2024 to 67% in 2025. “The roadmap aims to help guide stakeholders to fully understand the scope of GenAI, and to build transparent strategies that deliver on its promise without placing enterprises at risk,” says World Wide Worx' Arthur Goldstuck.

All stories on www.themediaonline.co.za

18/07/2025

Africa’s distinct advantages (where AI is concerned) include its youthful population and demonstrated capacity for technological leapfrogging, for example its enormous switch to mobile communications technology, which has completely overtaken the gap in fixed-line internet services, says Flow Communications' Richard Frank.

Africa is using artificial intelligence (AI) to crunch large datasets, boost productivity, improve customer relations and even save lives.

18/07/2025

Media is powerful, but we also waste a lot of money in media. Let’s stop pretending AI is magically transforming media. It’s not. What’s really happening is that a lot of smart marketers are still stuck trying to fix broken campaigns after they’ve already wasted the money, says Maaten.ai co-founder, Shaune Jordaan.

Media is powerful, but we also waste a lot of money in media. Let’s stop pretending AI is magically transforming media. It’s not.

18/07/2025

When a brand appears in a trusted news environment, it doesn’t just gain exposure, it gains credibility. According to CNN’s Brand Power study, which surveyed 1 200 senior marketing professionals, nearly 90% of marketing leaders say international news is an essential part of their brand strategy, writes Tini Sevak, vice president of audiences & data at CNN International Commercial. 'They turn to news for its high-quality, trusted, and impactful environment.'

Advertising in news isn’t just good for society; it’s a smart, strategic choice for brands. Trust is everything; news is where trust lives.

17/07/2025

Have you voted in the 2025 MOST Awards yet? Entries close on 25 July.
Take the survey here: https://www.dooblocawi.com/client/Survey.aspx?Ticket=8X9Q9FYU

17/07/2025

In our rush to digitise, visualise, monetise and optimise every moment of engagement, we sometimes forget that radio is still the original mass media. Kagiso Media Radio's head on-demand content, Diane Macpherson, says, 'A single moment on-air — a call from a listener, a question asked at the right time, a guest saying something they’ve never said before — can ripple out far beyond the broadcast. We’ve seen it spark national conversations, inspire news headlines, or become the most shared story of the day. Not because it was manufactured to go viral, but because it was real.'

Radio's strength doesn’t lie in gimmicks. It lies in presence. In the unspoken bond between the person speaking and the person listening.

17/07/2025

THE MEDIA ONLINE NEWSLETTER l 17 July 2025
* How Africa is harnessing AI power for progress and profit
Along with the rest of the world, Africa is using artificial intelligence (AI) to crunch large datasets, boost productivity, improve customer relations and even save lives. Flow Communications' chief technology officer, Richard Frank, says Africa’s distinct advantages include its youthful population and demonstrated capacity for technological leapfrogging.

* 30% of your media budget is missing…
Media is powerful, but we also waste a lot of money in media, says Shaune Jordaan, co-founder of Maaten.ai. Many smart marketers are still stuck trying to fix broken campaigns after they’ve already wasted the money.

* News is not a risky environment for advertisers
In an age of algorithms and ad fatigue, credible news environments offer something rare and powerful: trust, writes Tini Sevak, vice president of audiences & data at CNN International Commercial.

* Media Moves: Daily Maverick’s The Gathering returns, Meta Media celebrates Claire Herman’s appointment to AMASA council, FFWD and Eclipse Communications join forces
The Media Online’s weekly round up of people, account and business moves in media.


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16/07/2025

Six months into her role as managing director of Arena Holding’s news and media division, Nwabisa Makunga tells Glenda Nevill she has a whole new perspective on the business of media.

As managing director of Arena Holding’s news and media division, Nwabisa Makunga has a new perspective on the business of media.

16/07/2025

Juanita Williams comes full circle, back at Bush Radio where she is volunteer trainer and facilitator for the Children's Radio Education Workshop (CREW). Bush isn’t just any radio station – it’s Africa’s first community radio project and is about to celebrate 30 years of legal broadcasting.

30 years later, Bush Radio is celebrating three decades of legal broadcasting. And Juanita Williams is back where it all began for her.

16/07/2025

On 16 July, the global PR industry unites to celebrate World PR Day, a timely reminder that public relations is no longer just about press releases and brand punts, says Adam Hunter from Hook Line & Sinker.
'It is a frontline force for restoring trust, countering misinformation and building meaningful dialogue in a world that’s more divided than ever.'

The global PR industry unites to celebrate World PR Day, a reminder that public relations is not just about press releases and brand punts.

16/07/2025

WORLD PUBLIC RELATIONS DAY: When companies lose their social licence to operate, when institutions mishandle crises, when government departments communicate poorly, the consequences are real and measurable: halted projects, lost investment, reduced consumer confidence, and social unrest, writes president of the Public Relations Institute of SA, Bradly Howland.

These are not communications failures in the abstract. They have real costs. This is why, as we mark World PR Day under the theme Building Bridges & Navigating Polarisation, it is worth asking whether our sector is truly equipped to deliver on that promise… and what it will take to get there.

Reputation isn't a PR problem. It is a business problem. We must professionalise PR to ensure it delivers bridge-building communications.