Nikki Cockcroft has five jobs, she likes to joke, juggling her responsibilities as the CEO of Primedia Online where she is responsible for the portal iafrica.com, digital agency Prezence and trafficking solutions provider 365 Digital, as well as being chair of the Digital Media and Marketing Association (DMMA) and Chairperson of the annual industry award show, The Bookmarks Awards.
Still only 30 she spends her time juggling her various responsibilities from Primedia’s offices at the Upper East Side building in Woodstock.
Cockcroft studied to become a programmer at UCT where she also did a post-grad in marketing. She joined Acceleration Media in its early days after she met CEO Jacques van Niekerk on an aeroplane, ad she worked on their IT systems between 2 – 6 am in the mornings while training in online media during regular office hours.
From Acceleration she joined sports publisher 365 Digital which was just establishing operations in South Africa. The local operation handled traffic for the group and expanded its service to include trafficking to a number of international publishers. In 2003 Cockcroft brought ad serving platform Adtech to South Africa. After a management buyout by John Dobson and herself Cockcroft became CEO. She sold 365 Digital to Primedia in 2006 and by 2007 had taken over as Primedia Online’s CEO. (365 Rugby is now run by Dobson and is no longer part of Primedia Online stable though the trafficking business stayed with Primedia Online).
“Search engines killed the portal,” says Cockcroft, whose first task at the head of Primedia Online was to restructure iafrica.com into a profitable business by returning focus to its core publishing strengths. iafrica’s 365 000 unique users can expect more big changes this year, though details are still under wraps, as the business has reached a point of stability, says Cockcroft.
Since she took charge of the portal she has reduced the number of sections within the site from 56 to 11 and Cockcroft suggests more movement over the next several months as she tightens focus on niche areas, or as Cockcroft puts it, ‘specialist content for mainstream communities.’ iafrica’s mobile presence will also be strengthened over the next 6-9 months.
Turnover at iafrica has doubled over the past three years and it improved its profit margin by 30% over the same period. 365 Digital, while it maintains the smallest head-count of the three business units she oversees, is also the most profitable.
Cockcroft describes her key talent as an ability to return troubled companies to profit. Last year Prezence was added to her portfolio and she is tasked with integrating the business into Primedia Online and improving its financial performance. Prezence is expected to double turn-over by the end of 2011.
The group currently employees around 80 people – 75% of whom have stayed with the business over the past nine years. The newsroom at iafrica.com consists of around 25 people who focus on featured content while the rest is filled in by wire services.
Her in depth involvement with the broader digital industry stems from the recognition that growing the digital industry in South Africa means growing her own business, says Cockcroft. As the newly appointed chair of the DMMA Cockcroft will oversee the implementation of new measurement service provider Effective Measure which is replacing current incumbent AC Nielsen.
Cockcroft says the DMMA is undertaking a drive to get all sites in South Africa tagged, whether they are members of the DMMA or not, in a bid to improve statistics for the broader online industry and “compare apples with apples.” It will make the measurement service more cost effective to members and non-members alike, agencies will have direct access to the system, while tagging up websites will become much easier.
The DMMA will continue to provide research on the industry in the year ahead. Internship programmes, endorsement of educational courses with institutions like the AAA school of advertising and Red & Yellow is aimed to inspire a greater number of new entrants into the online industries workforce as well as to stimulate greater cultural diversity and gender equity. A regulatory position will be created Exco level to advise members on critical legal issues.
As for the Bookmarks, the digital award show organised by the DMMA, Cockcroft sees great things for the future. Although the event venue, bursting beyond capacity as people gate crashed the party, was criticised last year by certain members of the media (that would me) and some participants, Cockcroft believes organisers learned from the experience and will implement those lessons for future awards.
One of the people most immersed in the local digital industry, Cockcroft stands out not only because of her success as a woman in a male dominated environment, but also for her work ethic (Monday – Friday is Primedia Online, Saturdays the DMMA and Sundays the Bookmarks) and commitment to the well-being of the broader industry, looking well beyond the limited interest of her own business.
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An edited version of this story was first published in the 2011 edition of Tony Koenderman’s AdReview.