Today saw the launch of GamesOutlast.com, set to become one of the most exciting entrants to launch into the online casual gaming market, the games site runs on the GameZBoost gaming platform, a South African based company. The GameZBoost platform runs some of the top global publishers gaming sites, these include RTL Netherlands, NBC Universal and Sony Pictures Entertainment.  

The games site is targeted at a predominantly male audience, primarily between the ages of 15 to 45 and from across the globe. The desktop browser gaming market is a large market and currently spans across the globe and has an active monthly audience of over 500 million active users, with this sector of the gaming market generating revenues in excess of US$6.6Bn per annum.  

The GamesOutlast.com site offers the following core features and gaming content to their users:                     

• 600 games, including titles from leading game studios, such as BigPoint  & R2 Games                    
• Full integration with the micro payments platform, which includes avatar pimping, purchasing of in-game power-ups, sending of virtual gifts and many other transactive elements                    
• Integration with Facebook Connect, allowing for quick and easy user registration                    
• Tournaments                    
• Challenges and Contests                    
• Avatar Creation                    
• Friends, Messaging and Virtual Gifts                    
• Game Search Functionality                    
• Live High Score Leader boards                    
• Players Favourite Games                    
• Social Sharing

The GamesOutlast.com site will offer regular tournaments that will allow users to pit themselves against other users and determine who the true top gamers are within the GamesOutlast.com gaming community. The tournaments will be expanded to include real world prizes, with users competing for not only the glory of holding the top slot on the leader boards, but being rewarded for their efforts with some great prizes and free credits.  

When GamesOutlast.com was looking for a provider, they set out the following minimum qualifying criteria:         

• Ability to fully white label the look and feel of the games portal, while creating a brand that is able to differentiate itself from the other portals that run on the GameZBoost platform and the gaming sector at large;        
• Allow for integration with existing user registration platform, creating a single sign-on solution for users, thus allowing them to access all the content, without the need to re-register;        
• Be able to offer a broad selection of content that appeals to a male dominated audience, without detracting from and attracting and retaining a female audience.        
• Ability to offer a broad selection of 3rd party game content, which are integrated with the SSO elements of the platform, thus allowing users to register once and access all the content;
• GamesOutlast.com required that the platform should offer them, the following benefits:         
• Full extension of the primary brand;        
• Multiple revenue streams;        
• Proven user retention and acquisition medium;

New features and premium casual and MMO game titles will be added to the GamesOutlast.com site on a regular basis, be sure to check back on a regular basis.  

Find out more at: http://www.gamesoutlast.com

About GameZBoost: GameZBoost is a SOuth African based company and has been in business since 2013, with the primary vision to provide publishers with a gaming solution that could be fully white labelled, localised and be seamlessly integrated with their existing user registration (Single Sign-on) platforms, thus allowing them to offer a compelling games offering to attract and retain users.  The platform has been further enhanced with the addition of a number of new API’s that allow 3rd party developers to integrate their titles into the platform, this gives the added advantage of offering publishers a single content management solution, that is fully integrated with multiple game developers, further to this users need only register once and are then able to access all the titles and content across the games portal. To date the likes of BigPoint, R2 Games, XS Software, LeKool, Innogames, Blue Frog Gaming and a number of other premium game developers have integrate their titles into the GameZBoost platform.  

Contact Info for further information:
Website: http://www.gamesoutlast.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Hungry Lion’s Lucky Bucket Campaign Delivers Double Digit Sales Growth For The Brand

Hungry Lion’s new ‘Lucky Bucket’ campaign, has driven hundreds of thousands of feet into its newly refurbished fast food chicken outlets countrywide resulting in an impressive 37% increase in overall brand engagement and double digit sales growth in just four weeks. 

The new Hungry Lion integrated campaign, comprising a new TV and radio commercial, digital, PR and on the ground activations, which promise to ‘give Mzansi more’, have seen the Hungry Lion brand quickly winning with SA and Africa consumers and becoming a fast food favourite.

“We achieved the 37% increase in engagement in the first three weeks of our campaign and the level of redemption on vouchers via digital channels has been way above industry benchmarks,” says Tashalene Reid, Marketing Manager at Hungry Lion, a Shoprite Holdings company. 

She also attributes the increase in sales to Hungry Lion’s new brand image, refurbished outlets, its proudly South African heritage and a great product in the form of bigger portions of great tasting chicken served up in the brand’s visually appealing branded buckets. “Our Pride Bucket has been iconic to our stores for more than 12 years, so it remains at the centre of our new brand campaign,” she adds. 

The campaign is a follow-on from our first engaging TV commercial, which saw the Pride Buckets being flown in by helicopter into the metropolis and promising Mzansi More. 

“We then built on this story by bringing the buckets to life by using an on-the-ground mechanic in the form of 50 Lucky Bucket mascots who have been promoting the R7-million ‘spot a lucky bucket’ competition throughout South Africa in a fun and engaging way. To date, they have been seen climbing Table Mountain, riding on trains, touring the city, surfing and visiting iconic areas all over South Africa.” 

Reid explains that this particular campaign is a first for South Africa in terms of utilising these various touchpoints and in terms of integration, we have seen over 700,000 digital WiCodes already being issued within the first four weeks. 

“It has included pushing social media limits and digital interaction via mobile devices to include WeChat, VoucherCloud and Mxit as a mechanic for our market, providing a perfect platform for live interaction for all of South Africa and enabling both feature and smartphone users the opportunity to participate,” she adds.

According to SocialBaker’s latest social media report, the Hungry Lion brand has seen a 155% increase in engagement on their social channels alone, overtaking Nike Sportswear.

Hungry Lion, which launched in 1997, by the Shoprite Holdings Ltd Group, has seen a rapid growth trajectory by extending its footprint and now has a network of more than 160 stores in Africa and South Africa with operations in eight African countries.

Over the past two years, the brand has undergone major changes to its management, brand, stores and menu in order to achieve its goal of being a first-world Quick Service Restaurant (QSR). “We have had to restrategise, reformulate and rebrand our stores to make this a reality,” says Reid.

“Our goal is to provide all communities in Africa with tasty chicken in a first-world environment at competitive prices, whilst staying true to our 100% homegrown SA offering,” she adds. “The stores now boast a world-class design with ample seating and an inescapable focus on providing great chicken products in order to bring to life our brand vision in very diverse areas in South Africa.” 

Hungry Lion, which serves over a million customers per month across SA and Africa, prides itself on offering ‘MORE’ for every man, woman and child across Mzansi (South Africa and Africa) with the stores and menu being crafted for people who want more and for lovers of king-sized chicken. 

Reid explains; “Our product has undergone a major overhaul resulting in larger portions for bigger value, while remaining true to our brand promise of ‘giving Mzansi more’ and offering consumers more value for money in a fast and friendly environment.”

“Our integrated campaign for the launch of the ‘new’ brand aims to make South Africans aware of our brand promise in a fun, engaging and aspirational way. We needed to reach and impact on a larger scale than ever before,” she adds. “To do this we needed to push the boundaries in order to get more people to experience the new Hungry Lion at multiple touchpoints.”

“It has taken us two years of planning, new brand implementation and roll-out for us to be ready to market the brand and the success over the last month is testiment that South Africans are responding well to the new brand,” she concludes.

Join the conversation on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hungrylion or on Twitter: @HungryLionSA #luckybucket

Cape Town, 24 July 2014 – The daily promotional brand, CitySlicker South Africa used its reach and influence on Friday 18 July 2014 for a good cause.  Partnering with Childline Western Cape, a promotion was created on the CitySlicker website where 100% of the proceeds donated by the subscribers were awarded to Childline with a particular focus on an expansion project.  This initiative was run in accordance with Mandela Day which inspired the need for a charitable drive on the CitySlicker site and was met with much support from the subscribers. 

CitySlicker, the longest running daily promotion site in South Africa partnered with Childline Western Cape to further their efforts in fighting against child abuse and the injustices felt by the children of South Africa. An advert was placed on the site, on social media and on the daily CitySlicker newsletter to the subscribers of both CitySlicker and Childline in the Western Cape. This promotion reached over 100 000 subscribers with a campaign run across the Western Cape and the option of donating R20, R50, R67 or R100 to the organisation.

Childline is an organisation dedicated to the counselling and support of both abused children and adults in need of help in South Africa and on a global scale. Childline Western Cape plays an active role in the fight for the recognition and implementation of Children's rights and the laws governing these rights.  Known for offering telephonic counselling across South Africa, Childline also offers individual and group counselling, prevention and awareness workshops and training. Due to the need for more counselling centres and support, Childline Western Cape is set to expand their Wynberg premises to increase the amount of counselling centres and in effect increase the amount of support that they can offer. 100% of the donations for the Mandela Day promotion will go towards this project and this support will continue in the future with promotions on CitySlicker.

With the intention of continuing to provide donations to Childline, CitySlicker partnered with Acrobranch to run a promotion with an option to donate.  Running from the 24th of July till the 7th August, CitySlicker will feature an Acrobranch Constantia promotion with an option to donate an additional R10 per person to Childline. See the promotion on the CitySlicker site here:  http://www.cityslicker.co.za/team.php?id=13116&_sid=108&_cid=3758

CitySlicker is currently exploring new methods of supporting Childline through donations in the Western Cape

Contact with CitySlicker, South Africa:

Kayleigh Rossler
Tel: +27 21 481 1836
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Website: www.cityslicker.co.za

The Grow Your Business Expo, supported by the Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LEDA) and MTN Business will take place on 30 July 2014 in Polokwane at the Jack Botes Hall.

The expo brings together small business owners and corporate role players to communicate a process of helping to run and grow successful entities.   Role players that support Limpopo’s Enterprise Development are provided with a platform to connect business owners with resources and tools needed to start, learn, manage and grow their companies.  This will create employment and contribute positively to families and the community, which will ultimately increase the vitality of the local economy.

The Grow Your Business Expo is the ideal opportunity for corporate role players to share their products and services that will match with small businesses that need access to skills, knowledge, finance and markets.  

Funama Productions are hosting the expo; CEO Masetha Serakoana says “the expo is a vital platform for small businesses to link with institutions offering funding, financial assistance and business related products and services. We will also have representatives from the institutions presenting their company offerings. The Business Lounge area will cater for one-on-one meeting sessions offering free advice and consultations with specialists during the expo. My Success Story corner will share achievement stories; this area will also serve as an opportunity for corporate companies to showcase thriving SMEs that they have empowered.  SARS will also be there offering free tax workshops.”

Entrance to the Grow Your Business Expo is R25.00 per person, doors open at 08h00.

Ends

For further information, please contact: Masetha Serakoana E-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Telephone 086 111 1471 - www.funama.co.za

{pp}You might wonder what a baking tray, online friends, favourite recipes and inspiration for cooking have to do with each other. The answer is simple – it’s a new niche Social Media website created by digital marketing and strategic consultancy agency longtail for Unilever South Africa’s Stork brand called foodcrEATions.