A first for South Africa as Design4T makes it's crowdfunding platform available to charities for fundraising

Cape Town, South Africa, 19 March 2015

Design4T.com provides charities with their first opportunity to raise funds via its ground breaking crowdfunding platform. The online platform provides charities with a new route to raise money via T-Shirt campaigns as well as a great platform for raising awareness or just lifting spirits.

The innovative online fundraising website (Design4T.com) further provides the charity no risk in their fund raising efforts as access is free of charge and all profits go to the good cause. Because of Design4T's risk-free platform, charities from across South Africa are now able to safely raise funds while rewarding their contributors with something useful: a T-Shirt they actually enjoy wearing.

Design4T's co-founder & director, Claus Lauter states:- "Design4T loves to help charities. Most traditional types of fundraising require charities to buy inventory in advance. If a certain amount of inventory isn’t sold, then the fundraising campaign can actually lose money. That’s why we believe in risk-free fundraising."

Design4T lets you easily start an online fund-raising T-Shirt campaign for whatever cause is important to you. Some examples for what funding organisations use Design4T are: Non-profits, Churches, Women’s Shelters, Animal Rescues and Shelters, Fund-raising Walks and 5ks, Local Public Schools, Housing Organizations, Dog Parks and many others.

Claus goes on to say “Our platform is 100% user friendly, in just a few minutes users can be sharing their customized page with their supporters to raise money and awareness -- all totally free and with zero risk or commitment.”

Importantly all profits are sent directly to the charity and NOT to the individual. Supporters can be therefore be reassured that their contribution is going to the cause they wish to support. With no hidden fees, transparency and no risk it's a win win for both the charity and their supporters.

Design4T provides more information on their website at https://www.design4t.com/non-profit-users

About the Design4T Team
Design4T was created in 2014 by a team of highly dedicated entrepreneurs and online marketing experts with the mission to make a successful business concept available for South Africans. Design4T has a top class customer service team to help ensure customer satisfaction, and offers in-house design and marketing services to enhance and amplify sales to Design4T campaigns.

For interested journalists, Design4T is offering free access to the website at http://www.design4t.com/ and an information-packed training course called Design4T Academy.

For more information, you can watch a video showing an overview of Design4T at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS1oyyVRIk0

Find out more at: http://www.design4t.com/

For additional information, contact:
Design4T (Pty) Ltd.
Claus Lauter, Director
199 Loop Street, Graphic Centre
Cape Town, 8001, South Africa
Phone: +27 (0)21 200 6643
Phone: +27 (0)78 233 1562
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: www.design4t.com

Company registration number: 2014/271026/07

Editors: High resolution images are available upon request. All Design4T founders are available for interviews. # # #

Tonya Khoury, the MD of media monitoring company, ROi Africa, is happy to update you on  the progress actor, Ivan Zimmermann, has made on the 12 000 km Tour d’Afrique.

“Yesterday it was one month since Ivan departed from Cairo on the Tour d’Afrique to raise 12 000 tins of food for Can-a-Kilo,” she says.   “Ivan is set to arrive in Cape Town on 9 May as part of the Leaders Never Quit campaign, which is supported by ROi Africa, the South African Institute for Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and Sage Pastel,” she adds.  

Ivan said yesterday, “I arrived two days ago in Gonder, Ethiopia, as a broken man. The first shower I had in eight days could not wash away any weary emotions. It could only wash away the dirt from my sticky skin. I have now covered more than 3 000km of the 12 000km journey and so far I happen to be in third place overall.”    

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a dream that has become a reality. A dream that will test me to my limits, but also a dream that will show the world that leaders never quit,” adds Ivan.  

Ivan will be available for interviews on the following days:

12 Feb: Bahir Dar (Ethiopia)
18-19 Feb: Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
25 Feb: Yabelo (Ethiopia)
2 Mar: Marsabit (Kenya)
8 Mar: Nairobi (Kenya)
11-13 Mar: Arusha (Tanzania)
21 Mar: Mbeya
24 Mar: Chitimba Beach
To book an interview, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / 012-643 0436.  

For more information on Ivan’s quest, go to www.ivanzimmermann.com.

Tins can also be donated to Can-a-Kilo tab on Ivan's website.

NAME: Tonya Khoury 

E-MAIL: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
CELL: 073 874 5377
WEBSITE: www.roiafrica.com
TWITTER: @tonyaroi / @roiafrica
FACEBOOK: /roiafrica    

South African consumers, business people and politicians are standing in disbelief as two major South African business brands count the costs of underestimating the plight of the consumer. Contrary to popular personalities like Julius Malema and Steve Hofmeyr who have both had their fair share of negative publicity, but whose popularity seems largely unaffected, one can attempt only predict what the effect of the Cell-C billboard, Chester Missing on Steve Hofmeyr and the Woolworths boycotts will be.

The Woolworths boycott case has been reported on extensively in print, online, radio, television and social media. Social media for the Woolworths boycott accounts for 85% of the media attention.

If one removes social media from the equation, online news accounted for 42% of the press and broadcast a massive 40% for the Boycott Woolworths Campaign over the past month.  The biggest peak was on 19 November and can be attributed to the shareholders supporting the boycott and the endorsement by Cosatu.

“This sounds very impressive,” says Tonya Khoury, MD of Media Monitoring and Intelligence Company, ROi Africa. “But the pressing issue at hand is how do we measure the real effect the publicity had on the brand image? This is an issue that has been widely contested in global PR circles, but no definite conclusion has ever been reached. One thing that authoritative bodies like PRISA (Public Relations Institute) agree on is that the traditional measurement using advertising value equivalent (AVE) might not be the most effective way in measuring media publicity,” she says.

Due to a lack of a definite alternative, the majority of public relations practitioners use the Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE) measurement method regardless of its lack of support by the authorities. This measure compares the cost of a paid advertisement with the same amount of space or airtime of an unpaid publicity item. Says Khoury: “Ironically, the ‘value’ of AVE is widely recognised as unreliable and invalid but many people still use it. It’s because they need to attribute a rand value to media coverage.” 

With diminishing advertising prices and hard earned content, AVE has often resulted in exaggerations due with the use of multiplier factors based on prominence, image impact, prestige of the media channel and other criteria.

This aside though, markets have become increasingly unsure about how to add a rand value to the successful minimisation of negative publicity or bad news. “One cannot say that the fact that a clever PR strategy kept a brand out of the negative media spotlight is worthless in rand terms,” Khoury says.

“My stance on AVE: it is rubbish!  It also does not take into consideration the monitoring of social media, which is an issue in itself. Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. are overflowing with new users that interact with and follow brand profiles. Just think what the Oscar Pistorius Trial would have been without Twitter! There are so many more reasons why AVE is absolutely pointless, let’s take some examples from the case studies we’ve been doing:

The Sunday Times published an article about Woolworths titled “Humble Pie for ‘arrogant’ Woolies” The article appeared on page 9 of the main body of the publication in black and white, resulting in an AVE of just under R80k – is it true to say that R80k is the level of damage the article made to Woolworths?  Is it true to say that if Woolworths had managed to keep this article out of the press it was worth an extra R80k in advertising toward Woolworths? What exactly does R80k for the article mean? Nothing!

Social Media has been the primary vehicle for #boycottwoolworths, as there is no accurate measurement in terms of Rands for Twitter. Are we as a market saying that the hashtag campaign was worth no money at all? I believe Woolworths would beg to differ as would BDS SA.”

ROi Africa believes that each medium needs its own best measure and a host of other metrics that can ascertain the success or failure of your PR  

Khoury adds, “Changing the Public Relations industry’s perception is more than a tough task and for that reason ROi Africa still offers AVE, and actually we offer rands and cents measurement on all media including social. We do, however, hope that the market will move to global measurement over time. We are using Source Rank, Moz Rank, Target Sections, Circulations, traffic and so much more than AVE to measure thus giving the brand a more accurate view of what the actual publicity value truly was.”  

Oscar Wilde said “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about” and in some instances that is true.  There is also positive bottom line value in some negative press. “Julius Malema is one controversial figure in the media space and he draws on negative qualities like fierce temperaments, controversial statements and much more and it works.  Media loves Juju, that’s a fact.  At ROi Africa we have often seen our charts and analytics painted EFF Red because of clever and largely negative PR.”  

But how would you measure your PR? And that of your brand? This is a question we need to find an answer to, especially if the consumers turn against you or your brand. Not everybody is a Juju or a Steve Hofmeyr.

Website: www.roiafrica.com

PRESS RELEASE BY PAARDEBERG SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE ON THE AUTHORISATION BY THE CITY OF CAPE TOWN OF A WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITY UNDER THE GUISE OF AN AGRICULTURAL OPERATION It is with utmost regret that the entire community along Slent Road, Klipheuwel, Western Cape has learned that the City of Cape Town’s Council under leadership of Mrs Patricia de Lille, will rubber stamp a recommendation by officials to authorise a waste management facility, in an area where, until recently, the focus was on sustainable farm operations. Notwithstanding various submissions and please to the DA-lead council and finally submission of almost 300 individual petitions, the majority from xhosa-speaking farm workers, it all fell on deaf ears and was turned into nothing more than the dust generated on Slent Road by the monster trucks from Reliance Compost. And the plea to Council was simple, only a request to properly investigate the matter taking all factors into an account and to not arbitrarily decide on a matter that involves one of the City’s very own service providers. A service provider who was allowed by the City to operate illegally without any action taken.

A resident of the area had the following to say: “The Reliance composting plant is situated along the edge of the Winelands border, more specifically on the notorious Slent Road in Agter-Paardeberg, close to Paarl.  Notorious, because  the poor state of the road has caused many accidents, a situation worsened by about at least 2000 trips per month of between 15 and  30 Ton Reliance trucks and other vehicles generated by this site. But let’s look at the cost of the Reliance “greening” exercise:  According to their own reports, Reliance trucks do 96 trips PER DAY:  Should they adhere to their prescribed operating hours and days of operations, then one can (conservatively) estimate that about 2 000 trips per month is made, so about 23 000 per annum.  (Traffic volumes were measured a few years ago, in the meantime this operation has almost doubled the amount of heavy vehicles they have on the road).

Let’s take it a step further.  I call it “so-called” green waste because it also brings in much more than green waste. Pieces of plastic from waste have landed up in adjacent farmers’ lands, been ingested by cattle, and according to these farmers led to the loss of livestock and their lands unsuitable for grazing. This so-called “green waste” is carted in from far flung drop-off sites:   Mostly Wynberg, Ladies Mile (Constantia), Woodstock, Athlone and a few trips from Gordon’s Bay, Kraaifontein and Tygerdal.  When one conservatively calculate the distances these trucks travel on a daily basis one can safely assume that they do about 9 000 km’s on a DAILY basis, approx. 45 000km’s on a WEEKLY basis and about 180 000km’s on a MONTHLY basis - to take away waste from the City of Cape Town and dumping it in the Agter-Paardeberg on the border of the Winelands.. And THIS is what they call “carbon neutral”.

One cannot help but wonder WHY, when the farm on which this plant operates and which once proudly exported organic grapes to overseas markets, has been converted into a massive composting plant with monster trucks, massive industrial turners, screening machines and front end loaders blasting, revving, smoking, belching and polluting the air for most hours of the day (and often nights as well), Why is it permitted   HERE on the edge of the Winelands? Surely there are many alternative sites, closer to source on less valuable land and far away from anyone’s back yards? We know there are other more suitable ways of disposing of green waste, such as delivering it as mulch to many farms, who would use the mulch to improve their soils. Or biodgesting it for electricity production? Or both?

But then it becomes clear why, when you are made aware that Reliance in 2009 was awarded a sole contract to the value of R208, 412, 782.00 – to transport/remove waste from various drop-off sites and AWAY from the City of Cape Town. So, no – it will not make any sense for this operation to actually GO GREEN in the true sense of the word.  In first world countries, green waste is converted on waste/land fill sites or at least as close as possible to source.  In 2012 the contract was renewed.

Let’s look at the cost to people in this area:  Lives have been lost on the Slent Road (including Reliance employees), and numerous accidents, fatalities, injuries may be attributed to the presence of this plant and the impact their trucks have on the Slent Road. Seldom will you find public transport on this road – the taxis are unwilling to use this road - the only form of public transport is the local school bus service, which transports children who live outside of a 4km radius.  For the remainder of the small, primary school children walking unsupervised up to 4 km’s to school and back every day,  it is a perilous exercise while huge trucks and other traffic simply covers them in a thick layer of dust and makes them invisible – the school is situated about 1km from this plant and the road has no safe sidewalk.  

In an informal survey conducted by a student for the community, the response was overwhelmingly negative towards this operation –this included farm workers, school-children and their parents. Specialist studies and comments received which formed part of the report of the Environmental Impact Assessment practitioners for their client – Reliance - raised concerns regarding this operation at this specific site and the impact on immediate neighbours, including workers, farm workers and their children on this property. Conveniently, only certain aspects of these reports were addressed in the subsequent EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) report, in which specialist reports give a completely different picture of the operation: 

 An air quality assessment showed clearly that neighbours, site workers, farm workers and their children living permanently on this site is and will be susceptible to  upper respiratory complications due to pathogens being released during the composting process of 100’s of thousands of tons of waste. Pathogens generated by the composting process were found a few kilometres away. (A chicken farm over the orad closed its operations long before the chicken industry woes, due to unacceptable levels of Infectious Bronchitis in its broilers. This led to retrenchemtns and redeployment of workers The counter-argument from Reliance  was: “Only on-site workers will be affected”.  Families of farm workers (including their children) live less than 30m’s from this site and are not mentioned in Reliance’s counter argument.

And the Western Cape Government, in the form of Minister Anton Bredell,  was satisfied with- and echoed this response.  Now they have rewarded this operation with rights to further expand on this site.  Min. Bredell finds it just fine that this operation brings in a further 8000 t/month of green waste, 3000 t/month of pig, chicken and cattle manure, 40 000 t of grape waste (over a 3-month period annually) and a further 2000 t/m of rotting fruit and vegetables. The concern that the farm children may in all probability help themselves to rotting fruit – as kids sometimes do – is conveniently ignored.

Could it be that the Western Cape Government still holds the rights of big, white business in higher regard than that of marginalised farm workers, who are not in a position nor have the means to fight for their Constitutional rights? I wonder whether the onsite and Reliance farm workers and their children have been informed about the health hazards of working and living on this site?  But even so – will they complain? Unlikely, as their jobs depend on keeping their mouths shut. A further irony then is that neither the owner nor any of his managers’ lives on this site ... could it be due to fears they may have for their own families’ health, safety and sanity? Do we as neighbours to this operation support the CoCT’s endeavours to minimise waste and landfill – yes, absolutely -  but when people’s lives are put in danger, when their health as well as their psychological wellbeing are placed in a secondary position because of “big money” and the true cost to the environment is this high, we say NO!  According to Reliance management alternate sites, far away from people’s backyards and actually closer to source, is just not financially viable. And yet we have been told  of fully financed alternatives, with payback varying  from 4-8  years, dependent on the technology employed, that have been put to the City?? And whilst workers, children, neighbours and farmers on the Slent Road have to endure constant noise, nuisance and choke on pathogen laden dust, the owner sits far away in his Paarl mansion and occasionally ventures with his Porsche onto the Slent Road and to the Reliance site.

After 100’s of complaints of non-compliances by Reliance over many years, illegal commencements, notices served against this operation, dust, noise pollution, uncontrolled fires, etc - it seems that the Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town have made concerted efforts to protect this operation and to turn a blind eye to their many transgressions.  In this process the City of Cape Town has not only shown dismal disrespect for Land Owners’ and farm worker’s Constitutional Rights, but also made it clear that the “small people” still don’t count!” 

Residents truly believed that the City of Cape Town will also work for them, it now appears that they were wrong.

Ornico Launches The Media Report 2014  

Sandton, South Africa – Wednesday 26 November 2014. Brand Intelligence™ and media research company, Ornico, today launched its second annual edition of The Media Report. Aimed at helping brands, marketers, media companies and advertising agencies better understand the forces that shape the sub-Saharan media sector, The Media Report 2014 is an electronic magazine available free for download from MarkLives.com or Ornico.co.za 

With over a hundred pages of insights on Africa’s media and research industry, The Media Report 2014 includes contributions from amongst South Africa’s most influential editors and advertising personalities. Gareth Cliff, SA’s ‘enfant terrible’ of radio, talks about streaming media and the reinvention he and his team effected with CliffCentral.com.  

Undoubtedly the most influential and powerful woman in the media in South Africa, former Editor-in-Chief of Huisgenoot, You and Drum, Esmaré Weideman – the CEO of Media24 – speaks about her responsibility for the commercial success of Africa’s largest publishing group, and talks about freedom of expression, advertising, independence and media monopoly. 

Other contributors include Chris Roper, Editor-in-Chief of the Mail & Guardian, who answers questions about editorial independence and honest information. Herman Manson, founder and editor of Marklives.com, talks about the marketing site’s investigative approach to trade media. Anton Harber, Adjunct Professor of Journalism, writes on the fine balance that delivers autonomy in newsrooms and enables journalists to produce more interesting, impactful and useful journalism. 

The Eyewitness News Editor-in-Chief, Katy Katopodis, answers 15 questions on her life, her values, the hurly-burly of daily news, and media independence. But that’s not all. Paulo Dias of Primedia Broadcasting explains the difference between technology and trust in radio, while Lyn Jones, Marketing Manager of Continental Outdoor Media, explores effective out of home advertising in Africa. 

The theme of The Media Report 2014 is independence. “Despite the fact that media independence and open information are the hallmarks of democracy, what we’re seeing is that there is an ongoing attack on media freedoms both in Africa and across the globe,” says Oresti Patricios, CEO of Ornico. 

“The most recent findings of the World Press Freedom Index, which is undertaken by Reporters Without Borders annually, shows that media freedom is on the decline on all continents,” bar Asia. “Africa is one of the biggest culprits and the freedom index indicates that when it comes to media transparency, this continent is in real trouble,” he says.

“Independent media is critical to Africa’s growth, not only because the press can be a watchdog that reports on abuses of power, but also because it educates and informs. Media independence is important to Africa because the media sector plays such an important role in economic growth and social development. Which is in part why we’ve invested resources in creating this media annual,” says Patricios, who adds that this media annual will become a permanent feature of SA’s publishing landscape.

Download your free copy The Media Report here: http://website.ornico.co.za/newsletters/  

-ends-

ABOUT ORNICO:

Ornico provides Reputation, Media and Brand Intelligence™ research across the African continent, making sense of the tsunami of brand, advertising and media information flooding the media space. By collecting and analysing media data and brand publicity across many media channels, Ornico helps put marketing decision makers in the know about the most important strategic decisions they'll ever make regarding their brands. Ornico employs a dedicated team of over 120 people in offices in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana, and has clients that include many of Africa's top companies.

Ornico - Know how. To grow.

CONTACTS: Oresti Patricios – CEO

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Twitter: @orestaki  

Mongezi Mtati – Marketing Manager

Call: 011 884 5041

Ornico Head Office: Tel: +27 11 884-5041

Fax: +27 11 783-6931

Twitter: @OrnicoMedia

Web: www.ornico.co.za

Firstly we would like to thank all our fans, followers, friends and partners for your continued love and support. The emails you’ve been sending asking questions and the calls you’ve made show us how much you care for us and how important Red Diamond FM has been to you whether for inspiration, entertainment or the growth of your music career as an artist. We would like to assure you all that this establishment is permanent.

Red Diamond FM went through structural and organizational changes over the past two months. We decided to sit down and plan and strategize, we went back to the drawing board to revisit our mission which was to help unsigned musicians and start up record and music labels grow. Having than this, we chose to expand our media platforms in Red Diamond World for the benefit of South African musicians, in all genres. We are working on building a community of young celebrities who deserve to be celebrated because of the hustle they have put in towards their success.

Today Red Diamond FM is under the media division of Red Diamond World (Pty) Ltd (K2014198007), a South African tech company run by young innovative entrepreneurs. The company holds various major market shares in the South African technology industry and above that has founded two unique social networks and a world class eCommerce store.

The multimedia division of Red Diamond World aims to bring innovative internet radio, television and great features via the online magazine T·R·E·N·D·S. This division also assists unsigned South African artists get their music on to over 40 digital stores including iTunes, Amazon and Google Play.

The scope of involvement at this stage of the process transcends the traditional approach to multimedia. What Red Diamond World aims to achieve through its multimedia division goes beyond merely fulfilling the market’s need. Multimedia is a tool for social engineering and it is important that it is used for such. ‘Conscious broadcasting’ is integral to the vision of Red Diamond World. Today, technology has limited the boundaries which were yesterday exploited for much monetary gain. The music industry has become so open with much accessibility to music production that separating the entertainer and the entertained is becoming impossible. Social commentators have also expressed the coming age where genres will be done away with. Music is not the only multimedia division experiencing changes. The worlds of art and fashion have also been demystified through the embrace of pioneers who dare to legitimize the unusual- multimedia has no boundaries.

Red Diamond World is committed to furthering the cause of innovation and creativity. The aim is to bring entertainment to the entertainer. The recognition of upcoming entertainers is pivotal in all our initiatives. Music, art and fashion on radio, television and T·R·E·N·D·S will be geared at exposing fresh innovative expressions of multimedia today.

The underlying principal behind ‘conscious broadcasting’ is the philosophical belief that profit is NOT worth getting by using every means necessary. Red Diamond World understands the failure of unregulated capitalism. Good initiatives end up existing solely for capital gain when their pursuit for profit is achieved at the expense of the basic laws of humanity. Thus, ethical broadcasting is at the forefront of our multimedia division. We have taken great cognisance of the need to humanize every initiative we are involved in including the various companies who have aligned themselves with us. We aim to solidify the image of our partners as well as help achieve their goals in so far as we are able to. ‘Conscious broadcasting’ is geared towards broadcasting with a purpose. It is an ongoing balance of enjoying, shaping and gaining from our world.

Website: rediamondworld.com

09 October 2014 | Durban, South Africa

Social By The Sea presents

A social media evening  for Durban #SocialByTheSea  

Coming soon is a social media evening for Durban.  Delegates will be able to learn best case practices. This event is perfect for those in advertising, marketing experts, ceo’s, government departments, school heads, ngo’s, entrepreneurs, small business and anyone who wants to learn about social media.  The workshop will feature leading industry speakers, including Fred Felton (Falconscove) and Nazareen Ebrahim (Socially Acceptable). Emma Sadlier –Media law consultant and speaker will be joining us.  She is the co-author of ‘Don’t’ Film yourself having Sex’.  Mike Wronski will also be joining us via Skype to chat South African Internet and Social Media Stats.

Date: 15 October 2014    

Time: 6:30pm  Cost: R50 (Discounts to IDEA Members)
Venue: IT Varsity, 8th Floor, Sage Life House, 21 Joe Slovo Street (Old Name – Field Street)
DurbanTopic: State of Social Media in South Africa for Business                                                                                                                

Please RSVP by 14 October 2014

Tickets and more info: www.socialbythesea.blogspot.com 

About Nazareen Ebrahim Socially Acceptable is headed by Nazareen Ebrahim who has a long career in media & communications. The agency, under the umbrella of Naz Consulting – Corporate.Media.Academia, offers the core services of digital media content, PR and Media liaison.  Socially Acceptable has worked with: Topco Media, Picasso Inline, DUT, South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, Harbour View Super Spar, Radio Al-Ansaar, The Journey Foundation, Durban Chamber of Commerce, Newsclip Media Monitoring, BWA, immedia, among many others.

About Fred Felton Falconscove is headed by Fred Felton who owns this media agency based in Durban.  With over 10 years in the business you can be assured of professional work.  The agency provides services such as digital media, social media, copywriting, pr, publicity, blogs, media consulting and communications strategy.  Falconscove has worked with:  Durban Chamber of Commerce, Native, Twitter Blanket Drive, PSASA among many others.  

For more details or sponsorship enquiries: 

Website: www.socialbythesea.blogspot.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Cell: 076-977-5788
Twitter: @socialbythesea
Facebook: Social By The Sea
#SocialByTheSea

Media Enquiries and Interview Requests: Fred Felton, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , phone 076-977-5788, twitter @fredfelton  

During the last year, Tonya Khoury, MD of ROi Africa, has established herself as one of the most credible sources for media monitoring statistics in South Africa. Since the funeral of former president Nelson Mandela, to date, Tonya is a regular face on some of the foremost media like, SAFM, Carte Blanche, ANN7, Beeld, Associated Press, Rapport and 702, providing reliable and insightful statistics on the Oscar Pistorius Trial, the 2014 FIFA Soccer World Cup, the 2014 Elections, the Olympics, the Nkandla debacle and many more leading news stories.  

Khoury recalls how she initially started providing statistics to the media. “I was surprised by the amount of coverage the death of former president Nelson Mandela yielded and decided to share these statistics with the media. After that I started following and analyzing coverage of the Oscar Pistorius Trial I followed it from the start, devoting hours every day to finding new angles to cover to keep publishers and readers engaged, providing them to journalists, and feeding content to social media sites. Every morning and some evenings, daily stats were sent to a growing list of contacts,” she recalls.

At the beginning of the trial, she reached out to the four main media houses who own most of the channels in South Africa. The first publisher to pick up her stats, 702, asked Khoury to read them each morning on the radio show set up to cover the trial. The media quickly contacted her for more information, so they began emailing stats updates once or twice a day. “From there the demand got bigger and bigger, as new news stories and global events broke,” she adds.

According to Mathapelo Matjokana, the producer of the Afternoon Talk with Ashraf Garda Show on SAFM, one of the first media to use Tonya’s statistics on a regular basis, says that, “With the arrival of Khoury’s statistics people were able to understand, for example, the Oscar Trial better as complex legal matters were broken down into simpler terms. It also allowed them to follow the World Cup and Olympics through a bird’s eye view with these analyses.”  

Amalia Christoforou, Managing Editor of the Oscar Trial Channel (Carte Blanche) adds that Khoury’s analysis offered a simplified and entertaining comparison, giving a local and global assessment of news around the trial, as compared to other breaking news. Joshua Carstens, producer of Afternoon Drive on Radio 702, says, “It helped me focus on what is important and what the audiences are talking about. In essence it made the scene less cluttered.”   

The producer of the Jenny Crwys-Williams Show on Radio 702, Gary Oberholzer, added that, “Certainly for our #OscarExtra presenters to be able to frame the growing or waning media interest, to describe the trends from a bird’s eye view, Tonya’s statistics were crucial. Especially on something as lengthy as this trial.“  

Christoforou agrees adding, “”The ROi Africa analysis graphically depicted the way in which the OP trial narrative and news was able to sustain local and international audiences and media attention, which is unusual for a story that has spanned so many months with so much dipping and peaking of elements of interest . A large focus of the Oscar Pistorius Channel was depiction of the way in which the narrative of the trial was digested online through digital media platforms and social media platform users. The ROI Africa stats gave us in-depth analysis of this world and the way in which it was ingesting and delivering the trial story.”

The statistics of ROi also provided the media with new avenues to generate content. Matjokana adds that, before ROi they never used to have a roundup of stories that have made headlines globally throughout the week and when she and presenter, Garda, saw the value that Khoury brought on to the show with updated and reliable statistics, “we realised that it could be of interest to our listeners”. 

Garda concurs and adds that, with the detailed, colourful, credible and immediate statistics Khoury set herself above the rest by delivering this information regularly and on the turn. “To add, Khoury was not just the communications spokesperson for the information - she was the embodiment of the statistics. She literally ‘lived’ the statistics, which showed in the way she presented her statistics over the radio. She delivered the stats in a most engaging, spontaneous manner and that's really important when dealing in the radio and TV space where information must not only be credible but it has to be delivered in a most entertaining way.”  

Laura Wiener, 702 Producer, add that what made Khoury’s statistics so crucial is the fact that it was credible – “It is important for us at the Oscar Extra channel that the statistics be credible and accurate as we would not want to be disseminating inaccurate information and statistics to our listeners,” she stresses.    

Catrine Malan, freelance journalist of the SABC, echoes this, adding that finding statistics for a case like the Oscar Pistorius Trial, isn't that hard. “What is hard is finding the experts, who are able to explain and put these statistics into context in a manner that is understandable to even a teenager sitting at home. We found that expert in Khoury. She has the ability to summarise and compare not only the most important but also most talked about statistics out there.”    

Garda concurs, adding, “I love the fact that Khoury is adept at delivering the contact via email, then chatting about in air and at the same time tweeting the information. That synergy and convergence of platforms is really important to what I do on air,” he emphasises.   Malan concludes that Khoury’s work has always been spot on. “Especially on the trending topics like Oscar / World Cup, etc. her opinions and analysis was a top quality expert opinion that we will definitely use in the future,” she concludes.  

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Tonya Khoury                                        073 874 5377
E-mail:                                                 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Twitter:                                                @tonyaroi / @roiafrica
Facebook:                                            Facebook.com/roiafrica      
Website:                                              http://www.roiafrica.com 

On behalf of youthH2O   REVIVAL LABS ANNOUNCES USA BEST SELLER, YOUTHH2O NOW AVAILABLE IN THE South Africa  

Revival Labs, a health and wellness company announced today that the Company's best selling and buzzing Anti-Aging supplement, youthH2O is now available throughout South Africa via a new ecommerce portal www.youthH2O.co.za. Started in the USA, youthH2O has become a best seller at many prominent health retailers throughout the country and is making headlines with ABC News, OK Magazine, The TODAY Show, E!, Glamour, People Magazine and many more US hit media for its breakthrough age defying superfood benefits. Now in the hands of many celebrities including its own spokesperson, celebrity fitness and beauty icon, Evelyn Lozada who passionately speaks about her own personal experience with it as well as the Registered dietician, Manuel Villacorta, a respected world expert on Peruvian super foods who is also educating the media on youthH2O’s Peruvian miracle ingredients. Peruvian superfoods are making news as the next hot discoveries in health and wellness. Many predict purple corn, maca and camu camu are the next ingredients to make their way into our daily beauty and wellness routine. All of YouthH2O’s exotic ingredients come from Peru and in addition to having beneficial beauty results thus making the product essential for overall beauty, health and wellness. Youth H2O stimulates/awakens the body's youth hormone awarding beauty, energy, wellness all in one w/age defying organic superfoods. 

You're getting 3 very powerful & rare superfoods all in one liquid high concentration from Camu Camu (the highest natural vitamin c source), purple corn (highest antioxidant source) & organic maca root which adapts to your body's unique needs restoring vitality w/out caffeine. "I’m delighted that youthH2O, is entering the international market where we see so much demand for the product already," said Sherry Zikria, Chief Marketing Officer of youthH2O. "Being able to meet the international demand in South Africa is central to our growth strategy as we bring the availability of these powerful and data driven South American Superfoods to every household in our mission to help the health epidemic this world is facing.” Now everyone in South Africa can purchase youthH2O at www.youthH2O.co.za

About youthH2O Used by celebrities and professional athletes, youthH2O is an award winning age defying system that awakens the youth hormone benefiting Beauty, Performance, and Wellness through organic age defying superfoods. It can be found at many health retailers and running on special promotions at GNC during the challenge. For more information, please visit www.youthH2O.co.za, and @youthH2O for facebook and twitter. As seen on The Today Show, ABC News, People Magazine, E!, In Touch weekly, Glamour Magazine, OK! Good Day LA, Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post and The Insider.   About Evelyn Lozda   Native New Yorker, Evelyn Lozada is one of the most sought after USA reality personalities to date. This Puerto Rican beauty, who takes great pride in her heritage, is the fashion contributor for OK! Magazine, fitness expert and blogger for The Huffington Post, brand ambassador for youthH2O (an age-defying solution, Global Brand Ambassador for PETA’s “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign, creator of ‘Healthy Boricua’ (a Puerto Rican lifestyle guide to living a healthy life) and creator of her own beauty line “Vida Lux Cosmetics”. Evelyn released her debut book, “Inner Circle: The Wives Association” in June 2012, and released her first fitness DVD “Real Fit Female” October 2013. Lozada resides in Los Angeles with her daughter Shaniece Hairston, new son Carl Leo Crawford and fiancée Carl Crawford. Visit www.evelynlozada.com.

About Manuel Villacorta   Nationally recognized award-winning registered dietitian with more than 18 years of experience as a nutritionist, Manuel Villacorta, M.S., R.D., is a respected and trusted voice in the health and wellness industry.  Manuel is the founder behind Eating Free, an international weight management and wellness program, and one of the leading weight loss and nutrition experts in the country. He is also the author of Eating Free: The Carb-Friendly Way to Lose Inches, Embrace Your Hunger, and Keep the Weight Off For Good  and his latest book Peruvian Power Foods: 18 Superfoods, 101 Recipes and  Anti-aging Secrets from the Amazon to the Andes.  He is a contributor for Univision Television Network, Huffington Post and Fox News Latino.  

For more information pleaseemail: 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