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Talking Radio: Radio-listenership behaviour is shifting

by Angela Haarhoff (@ANGtheHOFF) South African radio is probably in one of its most interesting phases in recent years.

Not only have we seen the arrival of various digital platforms, introducing listeners to new ways of consuming radio, we have also seen the adoption by listeners of mobile radio. This is making radio more personal and more on the move than ever before. Although 93% of people listen to radio in a home environment, 26% are listening while on the move.

The August RAMS March-June 2014 release has come at an interesting time, so let’s take a look at the latest data:

Reactive behavioural shifts

Globally, we are seeing shifts in media consumption behaviour. Radio is not immune to this.

Locally, changes in listening behavior follow adoption of new media and changes at station level such as those at 5fm.

Some large lineup changes, including the re-shuffle of DJ Fresh to a new timeslot and the very much publicised move of Gareth Cliff to more digital pastures, means that people are dealing with a mix of new voices and faces, which inevitably leads to a well-mixed recipe for station switching.

Although CliffCentral’s listenership figures may not yet be looking rock-solid, the birth of this channel has very probably given listeners a kick in the shins and allowed them to experiment and venture into new media and station areas.

Podcasts

Unofficial figures show that the downloading of podcasts, after the broadcast, has been the biggest area of interest for listeners of CliffCentral, allowing them to further control the content they want to listen to and when they want to listen to it. This also bypasses the issue of high-data costs, in that they can download content at a time when they have access to free or cheaper data, rather than at the time of live on-air flighting.

According to RAMS, people are listening to around two-minutes-less radio per day, which takes your average daily listening time down to 3hr 28min. The Western Cape market spends markedly less time (2hr 50min) listening to radio, when compared to other provinces, while Limpopo spends the most, at over 4hr per day.

As listeners shift their behavior, they are dipping their toes into the previously unlistened-to territory of other stations, as well as adding to their repertoire of chosen stations.

While flipping about from station to station to find a new voice to love, they have perhaps discovered that not only is it ok to listen to two stations, but it’s ok to listen to three or more! They can listen across various platforms, too — RAMS data shows that, on average, people listen to two stations (2.3 in Gauteng).

Station stats

Community radio stations remain an important medium for a vast majority of South Africa. Relevant community content and reach or accessibility have ensured that these stations remain close to people’s hearts, with 23.6% collectively listening.

There have been 15 new stations, both commercial and community, launched in 2014 alone. Impressive!

With regards to the big fish, Ukhozi FM remains the largest station in SA, with 7.6 million listeners. One would think that 5fm as a media giant would be sitting within at least the Top 5, but instead just squeezes into eighth position, with 1.9 million listeners, for this diary period.

Jacaranda is an impressive regional player, with over 2 million listeners.

Very noticeable, however, is the strength of ALS stations. They make up a vast bulk of the Top 10 stations in the country, pulling very stable and solid listener bases.

	‘RAMS August 2014 Release Mar-Jun 2014 Top 20 Stations – Past 7 Days	000
1	Ukhozi FM	7 616
2	METRO FM	6 282
3	Umhlobo Wenene FM	4 503
4	Lesedi FM	3 923
5	THOBELA FM	3 318
6	MOTSWEDING FM	3 292
7	Jacaranda 94.2 **	2 056
8	5FM	1 962
9	RSG	1 882
10	GAGASI FM	1 857
11	Ikwekwezi FM	1 737
12	East Coast Radio	1 606
13	KAYA FM 95.9	1 604
14	LIGWALAGWALA FM	1 564
15	Capricorn FM	1 451
16	99.2 YFM	1 371
17	94.7 Highveld Stereo	1 351
18	Munghana Lonene FM	1 003
19	94.5 Kfm	961
20	Phalaphala FM	927
		** Includes RMFM

KwaZulu-Natal station Vuma 103 FM has grown significantly between recent diaries, which is positive, considering how new the station is.

Although off a smaller base, new entrants into the radio arena are definitely not being pushed aside as we watch interesting growth trends emerging.

The big picture

So, what does this mean for marketers, who had previously allocated spend to the trusted giants? Only that we are going to have to work harder to get the same audience to pay attention.

Radio in SA has a very important place — the success and domination of ALS stations is testament to this — and this should be duly considered.

It’s an exciting time for radio as interesting shifts in a previously ‘big-players-rule’ landscape has put the pea under the mattress of comfort and is keeping these big players awake at night.

Angela Haarhoff (@ANGtheHOFF) is an analytics and insights strategist at MEC Notabene Johannesburg. A Psychology and AAA Brand Management graduate, her background includes diverse years spent in strategic planning, marketing services and public relations. She will contribute “Talking Radio”, a monthly analysis of South African radio listenership figures, to MarkLives.com. Follow @mecnotabene for regular media updates.

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TBWA plans up to six acquisitions

by Herman Manson (@marklives) TBWA is looking at as many as six more acquisitions spread out over the next four quarters. This is according to Derek Bouwer, ‎CEO at TBWA\South Africa.

At the end of 2013, TBWA acquired 80% stake in youth marketing agency, HDI Youth Marketeers, as well as increasing its stake in marketing agency, Openco, to 51% from a previous holding of 30%.

A different approach

The Omnicom-owned group, says Bouwer, is taking a different approach from rivals WPP and Publicis in its acquisition strategy.

WPP is obviously focused on expanding its emerging market and digital footprint, and Bouwer has been especially impressed by its deal with Scan Group in Kenya, which he admits stole the march on rival networks.

Within the past year, the British multinational advertising and PR company also bought into Cerebra and Native; WPP operating company JWT acquired a majority stake in Durban-based The Hardy Boys; WPP announced that its wholly-owned operating company Grey had acquired a majority stake in The Volcano Group; and it also took a controlling stake in Quirk.

Reinvigorating global brands

The Publicis Groupe (head-quartered in Paris, France), meanwhile, seems focused on reinvigorating its global brands in the South African market. “It looks a lot like a salvage job,” comments Bouwer.

Within the past few months, Publicis acquired BrandsRock (merged with Saatchi & Saatchi to form Saatchi & Saatchi Brandsrock), OwenKessel (merged with Leo Burnett) and digital agency Lighthouse Digital (which became part of Publicis division, Starcom MediaVest Group). Digitas LBi, part of Publicis Groupe, also acquired SA digital agency Liquorice.

TBWA has less capacity to cope with the kind of volume of deals flowing out of Publicis and WPP. According to Bouwer, the group drives acquisitions locally, rather than using global M&A teams, as this assists with the final integration process. It’s looking at building out the breadth of capabilities and extending its footprint along the marketing value chain.

Drive collaboration

Bouwer’s intentions are to to build a business active across multiple sectors in the industry, and drive collaboration between the owned agencies.

The HDI Youth Marketeers acquisition has filled a gap in TBWA’s business and contributes to the broader group in a critical vertical: a large proportion of the market in Africa is younger than 25, and HDI helps open this market to TBWA. The Openco acquisition assists in managing client conflict and brings with it a strong retail client base.

Bouwer says the group is very selective in its acquisition targets. Contenders are generally the no. 1 or no. 2 players in their sector, giving the group immediate visibility. They need to add to the TBWA offering and be willing to collaborate with group members.

Expand geographic footprint

Future acquisitions will focus on expanding the group’s geographic footprint — converting its African affiliate network into an equity network is a priority for Bouwer. Nigeria and Kenya are the starting points to building West and East African networks, while Ghana, Angola and Mozambique are also priority markets.

Digital agencies remains of interest, and TBWA is especially interested in acquiring content-marketing businesses to enhance its ability to provide digital content fast and cost-effectively.

Group revenue has been growing by double digits for the past 6-7 years, says Bouwer, and around 700 staff members are currently employed. Profit growth is lagging revenue growth as clients demand more for less, and an expanded offering should also relieve this squeezing of margins.

Buying quality

Ultimately, the group is buying quality that fits into the collaborative culture the group is fostering. TBWA is looking to expand its capabilities, says Bouwer, rather than chase scale through its acquisition strategy.

The first of the new acquisitions should be announced before the end of Q3 2014, if all goes well, with two more set to be announced in Q4 2014. The rest will be spread out over Q1 and Q2 2015.

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Smart Africa TV: Talking start-up culture in a museum

by Russell Southwood (@BalancingActAfr) In this video interview, Aaron Kohn, director of the Museum of African Design (MOAD) talks about:

what MOAD covers;
its 21 Icons exhibition;
exhibitions past and planned, including street fashion and beaded cars;
what design means for Africa;
why tech start-ups can be seen as design;
how it funds itself; and
MOAD as part of regeneration in downtown Johannesburg.

Russell Southwood is the founder of Balancing Act and the web TV channel Smart Monkey TV, and has been an analyst in telecoms, internet and broadcast in Africa for the last 14 years. Smart Monkey TV aims to capture the energy at the crossroads between African culture and technology. MarkLives is syndicating content from Smart Monkey TV on a weekly basis for the column “Smart Africa TV”.

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Heroes & Zeros: Wonga & BMW — best & worst brands of the week

The Ad Feature Heroes & Zeroes with Andy Rice on 702 Talk Radio

Andy Rice (@ricecommaandy) talks about his best and worst brands of the week — Wonga and BMW — with Jenny Crwys-Williams (@jcwLIFE) during The Ad Feature on Talk Radio 702 (@Radio702).

Find out why these feature in this week’s Heroes & Zeros webisode by watching below:

For a fresh look at the world of advertising, Jenny Crwys-Williams of 702 Talk Radio chats to advertising critic Andy Rice on The Ad Feature, every Wednesday 2.30pm — 3pm. The filmed Heroes & Zeroes will appear on MarkLives every Friday morning as a webisode.

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Media Future: Samsung and Sony heating up their challenge to the iPad Air

by Arthur Goldstuck (@art2gee) The tablet market may have cooled down, but that hasn’t stopped Samsung and Sony from heating up their challenge to the iPad Air.

Few would argue against a statement that the iPad remains the benchmark for tablet design and efficiency. However, that is not the same as saying it remains the best tablet choice for any consumer.

Both Samsung and Sony have released tablets that redefine the very idea of a “benchmark” in this sector. The newly unveiled Samsung Tab S 10.5 and the recently released Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet are things of beauty, smudged only by their price tags..

The incredible lightness of being a tablet in a world beyond the iPad Air is summed up in three numbers: the Samsung device weighs in at 467g, and the Sony at 439g. The iPad Air, regarded as absurdly light when it was launched, weighs 469g in its lightest variation. That’s not a huge difference, but it tells you something about the delight of holding any of these devices in your hands – they almost disappear into thin air.

Talking of thin, the ridiculously slim iPad Air’s 7.5mm is thoroughly ridiculed by the tablets-come-lately. The Tab S has a 6.6mm profile, while the Z2 Tablet takes the bragging rights with a shocking 6.4mm. To put that in perspective, there is not a major brand smartphone in the world that is as thin as that.

Battery life is also a potential differentiator: Sony again takes the line honours with a claimed 50 days standby time. That may sound absurd, but similar claims on their flagship smartphones have stood up to the bottom drawer test: they had held most of their charge after being left in a drawer for a month. Standard usage time is 13 hours, from a 6000mAh battery. Samsung claims up to 11 hours of multimedia use off its 7900mAh battery, while the iPad Air’s 8820mAh battery only delivers 10 hours multimedia use.

The smaller battery is obviously also the key to Sony’s slimline body, but clearly it has achieved efficiencies in power use that counter the lower capacity.

Ultimately, however, these devices are defined by the quality of their displays. The iPad Air has the smallest screen, at 9.7”, with the Sony Z2 Tablet a little bigger at 10.1” and the Samsung tab S maxing out at 10.5”. Here is how they stack up in screen resolution:

iPad Air: 1536 x 2048 pixels, 264 ppi (pixel per inch, or pixel density)
Sony Z2 Tablet: 1200 x 1920 pixels, 224 ppi
Samsung Tab S 10.5: 1600 x 2560 pixels, 288 ppi

Do the numbers really matter here? Indeed they do. The screen technology also helps, of course, so with the added injection of Super AMOLED, the Tab S dazzles. The Air and Z2 tablet, as one might expect, are dazzling in their own rights, respectively with retina display and Triluminos TFT capacitive touchscreen, and no user of these will be disappointed with screen quality. However, Samsung has set a new benchmark with the rich, satisfying colour of the Tab S display.

Not to be outdone, Sony has maintained its edge in build quality, at least as far as protection from the elements is concerned. It remains the tablet leader in waterproof technology, with IP55/58 certifications, which means it can survive being dropped in the bath, as well as a minor dust storm.

The gold trim of the Samsung Tab S, on the other hand, is the real head-turner of this bunch, and prompts a closer and longer look – which ultimately could win the day for Samsung. On looks and specs alone, it’s a tough choice between the Samsung and Sony devices. On operating system and ecosystem, Apple remains the most streamlined option.

Anyone buying on price will probably be surprised to find the iPad Air comes with lowest recommended retail price, starting at around R6 500. If you shop around hard, you could potentially find the Sony Z2 Tablet at the same price, but most outlets have it from R8 500 to R11 500. The Samsung Tab S 10.5 may be tops in display, but it is also tops in price, recommended at around R11 500, although spotted as low as R8 300.

Clearly, none of these tablets will shift the market or bring a new generation of users on board. But for the demanding user with a wallet to support those demanding habits, these are all spectacular choices.

Arthur Goldstuck heads up World Wide Worx (www.worldwideworx.com) and is editor-in-chief of Gadget. He is a consulting editor to MarkLives and our media tech columnist. Follow him on Twitter on @art2gee. This article has been republished from Gadget.

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The Business of Business: Advertising is good for business

by Jerry Mpufane (@JerryMpufane) Clients have a responsibility to ensure that the ad industry thrives and succeeds. A prosperous advertising industry is good for brands. This is inherent in the nature of the industry’s services to clients, being that of stimulating demand for products and services.

Demand creation is good for the overall economy, and we all know that business thrives in a growing economy where customer spending stays on the increase.

So, the industry needs clients. And the clients need the ad industry. Let’s all be friends here, ok?

The client’s obligation to the agency

For me, it’s about how you start.

The agency-selection process is necessary in order to allow new brands entering the market to find an agency that will be the right fit (note that I make use of the word new , because I believe that both clients and agencies must always aim toward establishing relationships for the long term).

The manner in which the client conducts itself during the pitch process is important, and it contributes towards whether we can achieve the desired long-term partnerships.

Ridiculous

I hold the view that it is ridiculous for both clients and agencies to spend upwards of six months of a trading year involved in a pitch process.

This time includes the initial request for proposals, chemistry sessions, briefing meetings, market research, strategy development, campaign development and presentations. It’s uncalled for! We have all gone berserk by the time the direct and time costs of pitching have been quantified, let alone the time lost by both client and agency away from the real business of selling products and services.

Of course, the client reserves the right to review its agency relationships where there is patent non-delivery.

Costs of producing pitches

In many cases, the costs of producing a full strategic creative pitch means hundreds of thousands of rands in time and direct costs to the numerous agencies which compete for a short-term contract. Many agencies fail to return profits from those relationships of less than three years that were born out of expensive competitive pitches.

Let’s not forget that clients also commit valuable time and resource to pitches. It is also in the client’s interests to reduce the time spent on a prolonged pitch process that often asks the wrong questions. Also, it can take up to a year to fully integrate an agency into the client IP and way of working before the relationship can begin to deliver meaningful results.

Ours is a people’s business. We all want to work with people we like, people we know and people we trust to deliver commercial returns.

Many chief marketing officers (CMOs) agree that, once agency credentials have been reviewed, followed by a structured chemistry session, it makes sense to brief their new agency inside a secure and confidential relationship. In addition, many CMOs agree that the best campaigns are delivered via a collaborative client-agency process, vs some magical campaign reveal with no client involvement.

Towards long-term partnerships

A quick survey of the market leaders across various sectors of the economy shows that longer-term client agency relationships make business sense.

The UK’s Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) actively promotes an industry where there are less pitches and more partnerships. In addition, doing this in partnership with CMOs, the IPA is driving the industry towards less one-dimensional agency-client relationships but more diverse skill sets in order to promote more through-the-line thinking. That’s a lesson for all of us.

Fantastic client-agency relationships are characterised by the following:

A clear role definition, where the client will master the core of its own business while the agency delivers mastery in brand communication;
Great clients pay their agencies well, in spite of any prevailing difficult trading conditions, in the same way that clients expect their customers to pay a market-related price for their products and services;
Relationships of partnership have no end in mind. If anything, there exists a genuine interest from both client and agency to establish a lasting, and winning, existence. As they say, “Start as we mean to go on.”
Agencies have a genuine interest in contributing to the client’s business success and, in return, clients have an interest in whether its agency is profitable — more so because clients insist upon seeing a healthy set of financials when selecting or maintaining an agency relationship.
Client-agency brand teams grow together because there’s an ongoing professional development programme in place that is actively pursued by the CMO and agency CEO.
Client-agency brand teams have fun together. They run co-funded leisure activities that are hosted on an alternate basis.

As agency leaders, we have the responsibility to run fantastic businesses for all of our stakeholders, including but not limited to our staff and our clients. But we cannot do it alone.

Clients must come to the party

Our clients must live up to their own sets of values, and commit to ethical and fair business practice. While clients have a right to expect high standards from their agencies, the CMOs, however equally have a responsibility to take ownership of their agencies’ overall wellbeing.

It is true that better relationships lead to better work. The client which goes the extra mile for its agency cultivates an agency which will go the extra mile for the client. And, of course, it goes without saying that an inspired agency team will produce inspired campaigns.

Great brands are behind the top 100 shares across many stock exchanges, showing that long-term brand building does deliver commercial success.

Trust

A study conducted by the IPA shows a close to 40% gap between the best and the worst for creative output, driven by whether there exists a good client-agency relationship. And trust was the word most used to describe win-win client agency relationships.

Better client-agency relationships correlate with better work. And clients must come to the party, literally and figuratively!

Jerry Mpufane has executive experience in both ad agency and client organisations. He’s only got one goal in life, which is to be an inspiring leader. Jerry is currently group MD, Gauteng of M&C Saatchi Abel. His monthly column on MarkLives, “The Business of Business”, focuses on what it takes to run a great AND sustainable ad agency.

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Shelf Life: New brand identity for Primedia Broadcasting

The new Primedia Broadcasting logos, September 2014

Louise Marsland (@Louise_Marsland)’s weekly pick of recent product, packaging and design launches:

The refresh of Primedia Broadcasting’s identity — brand story of the week
Tea for two as Chaplon Tea launches in South Africa
Hills ensures cat lovers will purr, and
Levi’s invests in youthful entrepreneurs

Primedia Broadcasting unveils new branding

Spring Day heralded a new brand identity for Primedia Broadcasting, including all five of its commercial brands: 947 (formerly 94.7 Highveld Stereo), 702 (702 Talk Radio), KFM (94.5 KFM), CapeTalk (567 CapeTalk) and EWN (Eyewitness News) plus anonymous tip-off service, Crime Line.

“The new logos have been designed to better reflect the brand positioning of the stations and EWN as they are now, and where they are going,” says Primedia Broadcasting CEO, Terry Volkwyn.

The brand refresh is aimed at distilling the core values of each media platform, following upon research by Yellowwood Brand Architects, and showcasing what each brand stands for.

The new logos all encapsulate the spirit of the brands and their audiences, reflecting the strategic move that the broadcaster made a number of years ago to move beyond terrestrial radio into multi-platform content creation.

“We identified the synergy between radio and digital a while back and have seen the potential, as well as the results, that our converged campaigns deliver,” says Volkwyn.

EWN, KFM and 947 have already launched their new looks, incorporating listener promotions of varying craziness. Cape Talk, 702 and Crime Line will be launching theirs later this month.

Teatime, anyone?

‘I’m a little teapot, short and stout…’ I like coffee, but I love tea and it is always exciting when something new launches into the market, such as international sustainable tea brand, Chaplon Tea.

The quality tea varieties are all produced using sustainable and natural principles, sourced from sustainable plantations in Sri Lanka, the former Ceylon where tea has been cultivated since 1875.

The brand was founded in 2003 by Jais Lauritsen and has its own tea plantations, and all Chaplon tea leaves are grown without the use of fertiliser and chemicals.

The brand’s flavours include:

Full Moon, a sweet blend of green and herbal teas, that can be drunk hot or iced
Ceylon Single Estate Uva, Chaplon’s top quality black tea named after the tea-growing province in Sri Lanka
Earl Grey, with bergamot oil from Italy
Quince, which is produced from leaves harvested in spring along with quince oil, and
A specially crafted Christmas blend has also been created for the festive season and will be available in South Africa from November 2014.

Additional flavours such as Mint and Mountain Flower will be launched in SA in 2015.

Chaplon Tea South Africa spokesperson, Nora Frey, says that in order to achieve the highest quality tea, Chaplon leaves are cultivated according to Japanese principles: “Our main focus is on quality, rather than quantity and, although this method of production yields less crops, it results in a much better flavour. This also means we may only be able to release a limited amount of tea each season.”

Chaplon Teas will be available for purchase in selected shops and on Chaplon’s website.

And if you want to see how a brand should dominate social media and SEO to the point that Lonely Planet recommends its tea house in Sri Lanka, google Chaplon Tea!

Yay, more cat clutter!

Hills certainly knows how to appeal to dotty cat lovers like me with limited-edition, designer kitty-chow tins featuring delightful art. The tins have been made exclusively for a Hill’s promotion and will be available (while stocks last) at participating vets from this week.

From 1 September 2014, vets have been giving away the collectable cat caddies with selected purchases of Hill’s Science Plan Feline. Fans that purchase a bag (1.5kg or larger) of any Hill’s Science Plan Feline may choose from a selection of four differently designed storage tins. They are valued at R85 and are large enough to hold 2kg of food.

During September, Hill’s is also hosting a fun Facebook photo contest on all the crazy places that cats like to sleep at or in, on www.hillspet.co.za/Facebook and there are more #hillskittytin prizes and food to be won.

The Levi life

There are certain brands that just know their audience and how to integrate with real life to achieve their brand objectives. Levi’s is one of them, hosting its first Pioneer Nation festival aimed at entrepreneurial creative youth in the Braamfontein precinct in Jozi on 25 September.

Levi’s bills Pioneer Nation as being “all about young people passionately pursuing originality with an understanding of how to convert that to income. Pioneer Nation celebrates productivity, encourages dogged self-confidence and promotes economic independence and sustainability above all else”.

There are 15-minute, personalised TED-style presentations — insightful backstories delivered by young artisans and entrepreneurs from a wide spread of social strata and industries.

Then there is a ‘Speedmentoring module’, which offers participants a chance for five-minute one-on-one sessions with a high profile panel of entrepreneurial experts.

The 16-hour experiential festival, which is an evolution of the brand’s global Live in Levi’s campaign, will end with a “multifaceted culturally-infused series of parties”. There will even be a movie.

When the music stops, there’s resource hub PioneerNation.biz for connecting young entrepreneurs.

Shelf Life is a weekly column by Louise Marsland on MarkLives. Tweet new product, packaging and design launches to @louise_marsland or email her at louise.marsland at gmail.com. Want to sponsor Shelf Life? Contact us here.

Louise has written about the FMCG, media, marketing and advertising industry for 19 of her more-than-25-year career as a former editor of magazines AdVantage, Marketing Mix and Progressive Retailing, as well as websites Bizcommunity.com and FMCGFiles. Until its cancellation, she edited the weekly Wednesday Media & Marketing Page for The New Age newspaper. She is currently the publishing editor of industry trendwatching portal, TRENDAFRiCA,for consumer insight, research and trends in Africa.

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#Top40TVratings: 25–31 August 2014

by SAARF & MarkLives (@marklives) A collaboration between the South African Audience Research Foundation (SAARF) and MarkLives, this SAARF/MarkLives #Top40TVratings column is a weekly roundup of South Africa’s TV audience viewership.

We reveal the best-watched shows of the week before, where they ran and how many South Africans tuned in to watch.

We offer two tables:

The first covers all households — free-to-air viewing (the various SABC channels and e.tv), as well as the DStv platform
The second charting the best-watched shows on the DStv network of channels only.

SAARF/MarkLives #Top40TVratings Charts: 25–31 August 2014

National

Market	Target	Activity
National	Total Indv (incl guests)	Live + VOSDAL
Counter	Description (grouped)	Channel	Level 1	_{Level 2}\^variable	(r) AMR %	AMR	SHR %
1	GENERATIONS	SABC 1	Soap opera	Local	20.8	8 910 589	70.50%
2	MFOLOZI STREET	SABC 1	Drama	Drama	16.6	7 130 654	54.78%
3	SOUL CITY	SABC 1	Drama	Drama	15.8	6 790 796	53.65%
4	ABSA PREMIERSHIP MAMELODI SUNDOWNS VS ORLANDO PIRATES	SABC 1	Sport	Football(soccer)	13.6	5 844 632	43.84%
5	SHREDS AND DREAMS	SABC 1	Drama	Drama	11.9	5 117 642	40.17%
6	SES’TOP LA	SABC 1	Sitcom	Sitcom	11.4	4 908 100	35.97%
7	ZAZIWA	SABC 1	Variety	Variety	11.4	4 873 358	37.19%
8	ZULU NEWS	SABC 1	News	News	10.8	4 639 729	35.62%
9	SELIMATHUNZI	SABC 1	Variety	Variety	10.8	4 637 257	34.15%
10	SKEEM SAAM	SABC 1	Drama	Drama	10.6	4 535 994	37.82%
11	MUVHANGO	SABC 2	Drama	Drama	10.5	4 521 723	38.34%
12	1’S AND 2’S SHOW	SABC 1	Music	Music	10.4	4 480 180	34.39%
13	SCANDAL	e.tv	Drama	Drama	9.6	4 134 541	30.78%
14	IHAWU	SABC 1	Drama	Drama	9.3	4 002 888	33.97%
15	XHOSA NEWS	SABC 1	News	News	9.0	3 861 506	33.55%
16	FRIENDS LIKE THESE	SABC 1	Variety	Variety	8.7	3 714 765	36.25%
17	REAL GOBOZA	SABC 1	Magazine	Magazine	8.3	3 568 498	29.83%
18	POWERBALL	SABC 2	Variety	Variety	8.1	3 482 843	35.91%
19	SUNDAY LIVE	SABC 1	Actuality	Actuality	6.8	2 895 882	22.45%
20	FAN BASE	SABC 1	Music	Music	6.5	2 788 884	27.70%
21	WWE WRESTLING RAW	e.tv	Sport	Wrestling	6.4	2 749 703	30.50%
22	SKEEM SAAM -R	SABC 1	Drama	Drama	6.3	2 706 538	57.69%
23	SPEAK OUT	SABC 2	Actuality	Actuality	6.2	2 659 178	32.68%
24	STUMBO STOMP AMAPANSTULA	SABC 1	Variety	Variety	6.1	2 631 295	28.03%
25	NOTHING FOR MAHALA	SABC 1	Movies	Movies	6.1	2 597 640	24.97%
26	MODERN FAMILY	e.tv	Drama	Drama	6.0	2 583 792	20.03%
27	ISIDINGO:THE NEED	SABC 3	Soap opera	Local	5.9	2 517 731	19.46%
28	K’SHUBILE	SABC 1	Reality	Reality	5.8	2 502 106	23.75%
29	MUVHANGO -R	SABC 1	Drama	Drama	5.8	2 483 562	52.91%
30	RHYTHM CITY	e.tv	Drama	Drama	5.8	2 473 655	20.73%
31	WIPEOUT	SABC 2	Competition	Competition	5.8	2 469 849	20.79%
32	EMZINI WEZINSIZWA -R	SABC 1	Sitcom	Sitcom	5.7	2 438 857	52.09%
33	CUTTING EDGE -R	SABC 1	Actuality	Actuality	5.6	2 397 123	44.29%
34	100% YOUTH	SABC 1	Variety	Variety	5.5	2 338 855	24.03%
35	MUVHANGO -R	SABC 2	Drama	Drama	5.3	2 263 233	35.15%
36	MPONENG	SABC 2	Sitcom	Sitcom	5.2	2 250 165	18.77%
37	GENERATIONS -R	SABC 1	Soap opera	Local	5.2	2 248 732	50.92%
38	THE LINK (MAGA)	SABC 1	Magazine	Magazine	5.1	2 184 686	22.95%
39	NEWS	e.tv	News	News	4.9	2 086 838	16.42%
40	THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL	SABC 3	Soap opera	International	4.8	2 077 589	21.80%

DStv

Market	Target	Activity
DStv	Total Indv (incl guests)	Live + VOSDAL
Counter	Description (grouped)	Channel	Level 1	_{Level 2}\^variable	(r) AMR %	AMR	SHR %
1	GENERATIONS	SABC 1	Soap opera	Local	15.5	2 099 293	50.04%
2	MUVHANGO	SABC 2	Drama	Drama	8.2	1 103 327	27.60%
3	ZAZIWA	SABC 1	Variety	Variety	6.9	935 697	20.88%
4	ISIBAYA	Mzansi Magic	Variety	Variety	6.7	906 589	21.02%
5	SCANDAL	e.tv	Drama	Drama	6.7	902 812	20.41%
6	SES’TOP LA	SABC 1	Sitcom	Sitcom	6.0	816 063	18.55%
7	ABSA PREMIERSHIP MAMELODI SUNDOWNS VS ORLANDO PIRATES	SABC 1	Sport	Football(soccer)	6.0	807 788	18.95%
8	1’S AND 2’S SHOW	SABC 1	Music	Music	6.0	806 400	18.39%
9	MFOLOZI STREET	SABC 1	Drama	Drama	5.9	797 404	18.60%
10	SELIMATHUNZI	SABC 1	Variety	Variety	5.8	788 904	17.90%
11	ZULU NEWS	SABC 1	News	News	5.8	784 004	18.28%
12	POWERBALL	SABC 2	Variety	Variety	5.7	772 717	22.17%
13	SOUL CITY	SABC 1	Drama	Drama	5.6	756 263	17.66%
14	SPEAK OUT	SABC 2	Actuality	Actuality	5.4	723 698	23.69%
15	SHREDS AND DREAMS	SABC 1	Drama	Drama	5.3	715 520	15.99%
16	SKEEM SAAM	SABC 1	Drama	Drama	5.3	709 576	17.42%
17	RHYTHM CITY	e.tv	Drama	Drama	4.8	653 673	16.10%
18	XHOSA NEWS	SABC 1	News	News	4.4	594 177	14.65%
19	7DE LAAN	SABC 2	Soap opera	Local	4.2	561 975	13.88%
20	REAL GOBOZA	SABC 1	Magazine	Magazine	4.1	560 630	13.72%
21	NEWS	e.tv	News	News	4.0	544 077	12.59%
22	ISIDINGO:THE NEED	SABC 3	Soap opera	Local	4.0	540 483	12.55%
23	ABSA PREMIERSHIP KAIZER CHIEFS VS SUPERSPORT UNITED	SuperSport 4	Sport	Football(soccer)	3.9	522 885	14.81%
24	SAINTS AND SINNERS[DRAMA]	Mzansi Magic	Drama	Drama	3.8	516 787	12.74%
25	SKEEM SAAM -R	SABC 1	Drama	Drama	3.8	512 206	31.27%
26	FRIENDS LIKE THESE	SABC 1	Variety	Variety	3.8	511 868	13.83%
27	WWE WRESTLING RAW	e.tv	Sport	Wrestling	3.6	491 557	13.61%
28	MUVHANGO -R	SABC 1	Drama	Drama	3.5	477 766	29.11%
29	OUR PERFECT WEDDING (MAG)	Mzansi Magic	Magazine	Magazine	3.5	474 515	11.10%
30	ABSA CURRIE CUP 2014:BLUE BULLS VS W PROVINCE	SuperSport 1	Sport	Rugby(all)	3.3	449 433	12.78%
31	GENERATIONS -R	SABC 1	Soap opera	Local	3.3	442 246	28.94%
32	IHAWU	SABC 1	Drama	Drama	3.2	429 544	10.58%
33	THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL	SABC 3	Soap opera	International	3.0	410 630	11.67%
34	EMZINI WEZINSIZWA -R	SABC 1	Sitcom	Sitcom	3.0	401 401	24.55%
35	GA BOSE GANGWE	SABC 2	Drama	Drama	2.8	374 096	11.94%
36	CUTTING EDGE	SABC 1	Actuality	Actuality	2.6	353 955	11.54%
37	CARTE BLANCHE	M-Net	Actuality	Actuality	2.6	350 114	7.67%
38	ABSA CURRIE CUP 2014:EASTERN PROVINCE KINGS VS GOLDEN LIONS	SuperSport 1	Sport	Rugby(all)	2.5	342 757	8.34%
39	ABSA PREMIERSHIP MAMELODI SUNDOWNS VS ORLANDO PIRATES	SuperSport 4	Sport	Football(soccer)	2.5	332 689	8.00%
40	VODACOM MILLIONAIRES	e.tv	Competition	Competition	2.5	331 437	8.92%

How to read the tables:

AMR% refers to the number of people in a target market who were watching an event ie programme, expressed as a percentage of the population for that demographic: “On average, 16.3% of adults aged 15+ who watched TV from 28 Jan-3 Feb 2014 watched Society on SABC 1”.

AMR is the number of people in a target market watching a specific event ie programme per minute, expressed in absolute figures: “On average, 1, 541, 066 adults aged 15+ who watched TV from from28 Jan-3 Feb 2014 watched Society on SABC 1”.

Share % (SHR %) is the share or proportion of the available audience (people watching TV at that time) that a specific channel/programme has achieved at that time: “Society achieved a share % of 52.59% from 28 Jan- 3 Feb 2014 on SABC 1″.

SAARF is the name by which the South African Audience Research Foundation is familiarly known. SAARF’s main objective is to direct and publish media audience and product/brand research for the benefit of its stake-holders, thereby providing data for target marketing and a common currency for the buying and selling of media space and time. SAARF has thus the responsibility to measure the audiences of all traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, radio, television, cinema and out of home media.

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EXCLUSIVE: Brand SA appoints challenger agency to digital account

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Brand South Africa has appointed AVATAR to take on its digital advertising account. The challenger agency beat a field of some 80 interested agencies that were shortlisted to a count of 24. AVATAR became Brand SA’s digital agency as of 1 September 2014.

AVATAR was launched by Zibusiso Mkhwanazi and Veli Ngubane in 2012. Its clients includes Business Connexion, South African Airways, FOX Africa Channels, National Geographic, Ubank and Sanofi.

Official marketing agency

Brand SA is the official marketing agency of South Africa. It is tasked with implementing proactive and co-ordinated marketing, communications and reputation management strategies for the country.

Its stated mission is to “build and manage South Africa’s nation brand reputation in order to strengthen the country’s global competitiveness.” In its 2012/2013 annual report Brand SA states that its vision is for SA to be acknowledged as a Top 20 Nation Brand and a Top 30 Competitive Nation by 2020.

Its international mandate is to build SA’s nation brand reputation “in order to improve SA’s global competitiveness” and its domestic mandate aims to “build pride and patriotism among South Africans and contribute to social cohesion and nation brand ambassadorship”.

Support

Brand SA is supported by the Office of the Presidency, the SA Government, the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) and South African Tourism.

Financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2013 show that Brand SA spent R111 677 617 on marketing in that financial year, slightly down from R 125 385 401 in 2012.

In 2012, Brand SA switched its marketing slogan from “Alive with Possibility” to “South Africa: Inspiring new ways.” It appointed McCann Worldgroup as its through-the-line advertising agency in August 2013.

“The perfect fit”

“AVATAR’s diversity as an agency and founding principles make us the perfect fit for Brand SA,” says AVATAR chief creative officer, Veli Ngubane, adding: “Our people hail from Manguzi to Sandton, and everywhere in between.”

Ngubane says content marketing will play an important role in Brand SA’s digital efforts and AVATAR will also manage its social-media presence. The agency expects to grow its staff component by 15 people — taking it from 30 to around 45.

The agency is excited to work on brands that touches the lives and economic well being of South Africans, says Ngubane. Apart from Brand SA, AVATAR won the integrated account for national airline South African Airlines (SAA) earlier this year.

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Ad of the Week: Call me chicken but it’s a tie

Combined screengrabs for Chicken Licken and Nando's

by Oresti Patricios (@orestaki) Two of South Africa’s favourite fast-food chicken outlets have seen new television commercials flying forth from their creative coops. And — happy day — both use humour to market the respective (but competing) brands.

They say choice is hell and, believe me, deciding between these two ads was tough. So please don’t cry foul because this Wednesday I’ve got two great spots for “Ad of the Week”.

Brand-building ads

Nando’s and Chicken Licken continue their campaigns to win the hearts and stomachs of South African consumers with ads that have a lot more than a good belly laugh in common. For example, neither commercial focuses too much on chicken. Rather, the two are what are classically called “brand-building ads” — they both look to aspects of SA culture to entrench their brands as ‘iconically’ South African.

On the one hand, Chicken Licken’s “Rick” ad has been showing for a few weeks now, and it certainly stands up to repeated viewing. On the other hand, Nando’s takes a satirical poke at our politicians and their transportation methods in “Blue Light Brigade”.

Net#work BBDO TVC for Chicken Licken: “Rick”

In “Rick”, Chicken Licken continues with its absurdist vein of humour, telling the story of a very ordinary office worker who abandons his job, his Lonehill Johannesburg home, his wife and baby, to go ‘on a quest’.

The entire video was shot by Net#work BBDO in Nepal, with locals for extras, for the sake of authenticity. The story is told by a narrator, interspersed with comments from various people.

It’s a humorous spoof of people who leave ‘civilisation’ to go to ashrams or monasteries to ‘find themselves.’ Rick’s long-suffering wife is left at home with the baby (“I have no idea where he is; he could be anywhere”). And Rick’s journey shows him passing through desolate mountainscapes, licking a religious statue, being flagellated with palm fronds and taken advantage of by a charlatan who persuades him to trade his laptop for a rock. Even the brightly-attired mystics refer to him as an “idiot”.

The point of the story is imparted by the narrator: “Believing that a hungry soul is a restless soul, Rick chose to embark on a ‘spirit journey’ deep into the ancient Himalayas. Sadly, he was never seen again. Never let your soul go hungry.” This is voiced over a shot of Rick walking almost-naked into the snowy wasteland.

The final shot is of a ‘Rock-my-soul 3’, a new variant from Chicken Licken’s ‘Soul Food’.

MetropolitanRepublic TVC for Nando’s: “Blue Light Brigade”

The Nando’s ad is satire at its best, holding our country’s politicians up for ridicule with their propensity for police escorts.

In this scenario, four different ‘blue light brigades’ converge on each other in a leafy suburb. Even school-crossing guards are treated with contempt by escorts with their wailing sirens. All four cavalcades arrive at the same intersection simultaneously and, of course, none of the police escorts want to back down and let the other proceed. “I’ve got the Gauteng minister of fisheries here,” shouts the one, “You can’t just be passing.”

The situation degenerates with all the cops threatening each other with violence. “I’ll blow you!” the one yells at the other, and they all respond in kind.

Suddenly, there is a loud bang! The battalion of cops hit the ground.

That’s when a taxi comes roaring through the scene, bypassing the mêlée by cutting across the sidewalk. The taxi backfires for a second time, its driver makes a gesture at the crazy sight he’s seen, and he roars off into the distance while the cops scramble for safety. The scene ends with the Nando’s logo, with the slogan, “Fire it up”.

Produced by MetropolitanRepublic, with new executive creative director Gareth Lessing and creative directors Tim Beckerling and Sean Harrison at the helm, the ad continues Nando’s tradition of poking fun at self-important people and officiousness in general. As there is no Gauteng minister of inland fisheries (duh — it is a landlocked province), there is no-one in particular who could take offence.

But, then again, it remains to be seen if it ruffles enough feathers to cause anyone from government to make a comment. If they do, it would be bonus publicity for Nando’s, as everyone knows the brand is all about pushing the limits. This ad manages to poke fun at police escorts, gormless-looking secret-service agents and taxi drivers, too.

Celebrating diversity

So forgive me for being ‘chicken’ by declaring this week’s competition a tie. There’s just too much that’s good about both of them.

Whether you like your chicken crispy fried or flame-grilled, here’s to celebrating SA’s diversity, and our ability to laugh at ourselves.

Ad of the Week, published on MarkLives every Wednesday, is penned by Oresti Patricios (@orestaki), the CEO of Ornico, a Brand Intelligence® firm that focuses on media, reputation and brand research.

If you are involved in making advertising that is smart, funny and/or engaging,
please let Oresti know about it at info@ornicogroup.co.za.

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