Online shoppers comprise all ages and incomes now

From the ‘unboxing’ of a new purchase to the many abandoned transactions that are costing online retailers billions—the marketing gurus behind The 2021 South African Digital Customer Experience Report will unpack the compelling, and sometimes, surprising results from the survey during an exclusive panel at the upcoming CEM Africa, taking place from 10–11 November.

CEM = Customer Experience Management
CX = Customer Experience

It is the third major annual study undertaken by marketing and advertising agency Rogerwilco, market research company ovatoyou and certified customer experience professional Julia Ahlfeldt.

“Money left on the table”
The report states that “ecommerce has finally come of age in South Africa, one of the few sectors to find a silver lining in the COVID-19 cloud”. The data shows that income and age are no longer barriers for participation in online shopping. For example, the 50+ category is just as likely to be conducting research and making online purchases as their counterparts in their 20s and 30s, while 73% of those with a monthly household income of less than R10 000 per month are shopping online.

However, the report emphasises that basic flaws in the online experience for customers are costing etailers billions in potential turnover.Cart abandonment, where a consumer adds a product to their cart but does not go through with the transaction, is high among South African online shoppers according to the report (76% of those surveyed), and is estimated to cost online retailers more than R20.4bn.

“Cart abandonment is money left on the table, plain and simple”, notes Julia Ahlfeldt. “A customer has invested the time to choose a retailer, investigate products, and then jumps ship because the experience falls short. This leaves a double whammy of lost revenue and an annoyed customer.”

‘Unboxing’ the purchase
Amanda Reekie, from ovatoyou, believes that even though the fulfilment landscape has matured, challenges remain: “It is going to take real creative thinking and collaboration to open up improved delivery options that are less expensive”.

Delivery, however, was surpassed in the report by the 34% who said unboxing their new purchase was the most memorable aspect of their online shopping experience (the balance spoke to the point at which they made the purchase (19%), the thrill of the research (10%) and the after sales support (4%)).

“Good UX minimizes frustration”
The report further reveals that Takealot is one of South Africa’s most loved and trustworthy brands, thanks to (among others) the user experience (UX) of the online customer.  

According to Rogerwilco CEO Charlie Stewart, good UX minimises frustration, reduces second guessing and stops customers from switching across to a rival site: “Retailers need to recognise that consumers are becoming more loyal to the experience than they are to the brand. Anything that improves the experience creates stickiness”.

CEM Africa’s exclusive panel on The 2021 South African Digital Customer Experience Report will include the authors: Charlie Stewart, Amanda Reekie and Julia Ahlfeldt. Joining them are Joseph Sindaha from Nestlé, and Janine George from Carrol Boyes. The discussion will be streamed live on Day 2 from 09:30am–10:15am SAST on 11 November. 

Honest retellings of CX experiences
The CEM Africa Summit has been around for a decade and has played a leading role in South Africa’s customer experience journey and has connected thousands of CX professionals over the years. 

Confirmed event sponsors so far include Freshworks, Verint, Insider, Infobip, Rogerwilco, Simplify360 and Inquba.

CX experts from some of the most recognised and successful brands on the continent, including Multichoice, Woolworths, Shoprite, Superbalist, African Bank, DHL and Rand Merchant Bank, will share their successes, failures and lessons learnt during the event.

How to join them?
CEM Africa returns via a world-class virtual event platform offering access to the live keynotes, panel discussions and the agenda. Attendees will be able to engage with the speakers and participate in Q&A sessions, polls and surveys. They can also contact exhibitors via chat or video call, exchange business cards with other participants and download brochures. To register and access the full programme, click here.

About CEM Africa
CEM Africa is the largest online CX event on the continent and is organised by Kinetic Events, which is a partner of The Vuka Group (formerly Clarion Events Africa).

Dates and location:
Dates: 10–11 November 2021
Venue: Online

Website: https://cemafricasummit.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cem-africa-summit/
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/CEMAfrica/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CEMAfricaSummit

Media registration: You can register to attend for free here

Media contacts:
Adam Fletcher, Chief Marketing Officer, CEM Africa
Mobile: 071 130 9160
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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

For too long small businesses have been sitting on the sidelines of Google search results, watching the more prominent brands dominate on every generic and niche search term. And even though SME’s are trying to compete, they simply to do not have the resources or skill to push out enough targeted content or have the budget to compete for search advertising placement bids.

Challenges Most Small Businesses Face Breaking Into The Digital Sphere

Small businesses starting out don't always have the capital to push into developing a website in the first place. If your products or services are not web-based, it often seems a waste of money to invest in this platform from the beginning, but unfortunately, that decision means you’re losing out on customers who are online looking for your services.

If you have made the transition to online and own website, you now have to think about marketing it to gain traffic. Using other sources like social media, SEO, Google Ads, Email, Display Ads, Remarketing, the list goes on.

Having a website costs money, you need to spend on marketing, website hosting fees, development and upkeep.  You can try to do it yourself, but you either don’t have the time, or it’s just not your forte.

What small businesses in South Africa need right now is a platform that is easy to use and manage. A service that lets them highlights their brands most import information and offerings at a minimum cost (even better if it's free). Unfortunately, there wasn’t an option for many small businesses until now.

Introducing The  nichemarket Community

nichemarket is the brainchild of two seasoned digital marketers from sunny Cape Town, South Africa.  For years we have been helping businesses build their brands online and noticed a common trend.

The corporates had the budgets to dominate every marketing channel from social media and email to Google Ads and Organic search results. And even though online marketing costs much less than traditional advertising, smaller brands did not always have the budget, the time or the expertise.

After turning away so many promising small businesses, we decided we want to create a destination where they too can thrive and get their piece of the internet pie.   And that’s how nichemarket was born, a social marketplace community that is fully set-up to get your brand visibility online and lower the barrier to entry, instead of having to compete with larger corporations.  

nichemarket acts as an entrepreneurial hub for small businesses to promote their services and consumers to find their services online.

You sign up for FREE and create a business profile for your business, and we do the hard work of marketing your business to the South African Public.

What Do You Get With A Free nichemarket Business Listing?

So now you probably asking, what do I get with this free business listing and is it worth my time!

The Simple Answer:

It takes 5 minutes to sign up and your business get tons of online marketing benefits for free!

The Longer Answer:

By signing up to nichemarket, you can enjoy the following for FREE:

• A Fully Optimised Landing Page for your brand which can even act as a website if you do not have one yet.
• With 19 categories to choose from, you get an equal opportunity to dominate your niche.
• Free exposure to an average of 70 000 visitors to our site per month.
• A chance for your brand to reach and interact with a broader audience in both your local area and the greater South Africa.
• Increase your credibility by getting customers to rate and review your services online.Access to expert advice as our blog now provides over 500 in-depth articles on business and digital marketing from a wide range of local and international experts.
• Access to expert advice as our blog now provides over 500 in-depth articles on business and digital marketing from a wide range of local and international experts.

Give Your Brand A Kickstart With nichemarket

With more benefits and zero downfalls, we can’t think of a reason for any South African business not to register. To get started head to www.nichemarket.co.za and hit sign up!

Helpful links:

• How to Join The nichemarket community
• How to Create a nichemarket Business Listing

Real & Works updated their range of Google NAP listing solution for local businesses interested in optimizing their online presence and drastically increasing the required criteria for Google 3 pack selections that leads to faster and better ranks this fuels increased customer inquiries.

Real & Works, a company providing SEO marketing solutions for local and international businesses, launched an updated range of Google NAP listing services for clients interested in making their business more visible.

The company has extensive experience providing comprehensive and superior marketing services, including fully managed SEO packages, page optimizations, local SEO solutions and project management.

More information can be found at https://realandworks.com/local-nap-listing-ranking-in-2019.Whenever someone searches for a local service online, Google shows a map among the organic search results without requiring people to perform another click. This pack of local businesses is displayed after any paid ads and before the organic search results, so it is very important for local businesses to get featured into this pack.

Specifically, when a potential customer is not searching for their business name but doing a search for the type of service they offer, Google will list the most relevant businesses in what is called a 3 pack. Thus, of the top 3 businesses on Google, the customer is most likely to select one of these 3 and very seldom search for other options.

According to Real & Works, there are two main aspects of optimizing for the Local Pack. First, clients have to prepare their GMB page and then they have to optimize their website for a local SEO run.

When creating or claiming their GMB profile, every small business owner has to include the business name, business type, the premises address, hours of operations, the main phone number and a link to their website. This is an essential component to get their listings higher, so it is very important that their NAP (name, address and place) is exact and correct.

The fastest way to get listed in the 3 pack is with the help of a professional team that knows exactly how to list businesses on Google.

Real & Works offers a wide range of services for local businesses, including fixing old citations to get high authority citations, featuring businesses on high authority sites that lead to high authority NAP citations, and getting their clients’ businesses ranked in the 3 pack.

Interested parties can find more by visiting the above-mentioned website or mailing: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

- By Genesis Articles Global

Introduction  

Leading supplier of specialised Business Management (BMS) and Business Intelligence (BI) solutions    Lorge Consulting Services has done it again. The Midrand-based powerhouse service provider   celebrates yet another milestone achievement by successfully supplying and installing a turnkey software solution for a market leader with niche’-specific and intricately demanding operational needs. This time it was for none other than iconic Digital Signage Specialist, Ethniks.

About Client:  Ethniks  

Well, there’s a slim to zero chance that you haven’t directly or indirectly been exposed to Ethniks and their diverse range of innovative solutions. While you may not exactly know of them as “Ethniks, the Digital Signage Experts”, you’ve certainly come across their products and encountered their services on a frequent basis.  

For instance, they put a smile on so many faces at the many MacDonald’s franchises through the supply and maintenance of digital menus and other informative, alluring and high-tech signage. In other instances, they help you locate your favourite store in major malls and shopping centres through robust wayfinder technology. You will typically feel their presence at the likes of corporates, multinationals operating in a host of industries, banks - as well as public and private spaces that either rely on, or can be advanced by digital signage and similar products suited to divergent applications.  

Lorge mandated to deliver technologically adept solution for Ethniks  

In January of 2016 discussions ensued between Ethniks and Lorge. The primary focus was to identify and implement a solution that would effectively address a major logistic and operational area. This dealt with being able to equip field technicians to not only communicate more efficiently in terms of day-to-day tasks, but also execute such duties with greater ease. In other words, the solution needed to enable enhanced functionality and interactivity. This would be in lieu of delivering technical, support, customer related as well as internal requests with superior efficiency and superb accuracy while working in the field or on the move.  

The recommended solution  

As a platinum certified Sage partner for over two decades, Lorge is a preferred supplier and implementer of associated products including Sage 300. This in conjunction with a relevant and comprehensive CRM solution was proposed and accepted as the solution of choice. A crucial component of the solution installed by Lorge, involved mobile technology. This represented a groundbreaking leap for the already well-established digital signage giant. While the installation as well as sophisticated tools and technology used can be rather technical, in layman’s terms this meant that the field technicians would be able to receive repair and related instructions via their mobile devices. They would also be able to attend to specific changes and reparations remotely – all in real time. It is interesting to also note that Ethniks digital solutions are underpinned by satellite transmission, making their adaptability, dynamic nature and service support extremely stable and responsive. The installed system needed to factor this consideration into the product, installation, and after-sales requirements.  

CRM Product Manager at Lorge, Gustav du Plessis, Sage 300 Product Manager, Riekie Roux as well as Senior CRM Consultant, Glen Taylor, discussed the extent of the project as well as the intricate requirements for a successful installation. They confirmed that despite the complex nature of the implemented solution - which needed to be installed in a manner consistent with the high service-standards established by Lorge - the project rollout was seamlessly facilitated from March of 2016, with the system going live effective July 2016.                

Benefits to Ethniks  

In addition to the specific operational advantages of the above software solution, extensive system-wide benefits include considerable time-saving on previous processes - from quoting to technical updates executed. This naturally translates to improved technical and associated responsiveness, more effective communication, cost-savings in the medium to long term, minimised downtime, increased productivity, stronger customer service delivery and ultimately an improved top line.  

Spokesperson for Ethniks and company accountant, Jaco le Roux, also confirmed that the organisation is already experiencing the positive impact of the relatively new system. They remain firmly confident in the training, ongoing support and effectiveness of the new software solution provided by Lorge. He also indicated that Ethniks has just begun to scratch the surface so to speak of the vastly intelligent software solution and its extensive capabilities.              

To fully understand the solution delivered by Lorge it is worthwhile to consider the broad service and product offering of Ethniks in a little more detail. As a veteran of close on 30 years specialisation, Ethniks provides premium-quality infrastructure in conjunction with pioneering software and creative content integration - including customisation, implementation, technical and customer support. Products range all the way from general digital signage, to interactive information kiosks, to platforms suitable for employee training, solutions capable of interfacing with virtually any data source such as point-of-sale systems, others capable of integrating mobile friendly features like social media and much more. Furthermore, it’s no surprise that they deliver internationally acclaimed solutions, being partnered with SCALA software that power more than half a million screens in over one hundred countries.  

Lorge leads the way  

Lorge, as a multi-award winning organisation, is a preferred supplier and implementer of Sage X3, Sage 300, Sage CRM and Qlikview business and technology solutions in Africa. The company has implemented over 10 000 users across divergent economic sectors and is a trusted supplier for over 250 companies, more than a third of which are listed on the JSE Securities Exchange.  

Additionally, the Ethniks project symbolises a new chapter in the expanding specialisation of Lorge’s service capabilities. This is paramount in a technologically advancing era that demands solutions which are increasingly mobile-friendly, more robust and align to progressive business and end-user trends. The success of this project also paves the way for the digital marketing industry as a whole, notwithstanding other industries that provide innovative solutions for the modern consumer and rely heavily on field technicians.  

For further information on Sage 300, or to discuss your current enterprise needs, simply contact our Sales Department on 010 594 9800. 

Media Contact

This Press Release is proudly brought to you by communications specialists Genesis Articles on behalf of Lorge Consulting Services

Organisation: Genesis Articles Global - a division of Genesis Group

Website: www.genesisarticles.co.za 

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

Contact person: Mark David Sing

Contact Number: +27 76 450 6739

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

Online Business Directory With A Difference

ZaCart Online Business Directory an online directory and classifieds website with social network features and inbuilt SEO System will optimize the business submissions and will post information to directories and search engines. Again a service which is valuable to both the business(es) and to the members as their names become more prominent online.      

Pretoria, South Africa -- The Business Directory and classifieds website was launched on 06th October 2015 and will provide information about small, medium and big business(es)to all visitors. The site designed and developed by ZaCart Online Media, a digital marketing company based in Pretoria, has a large public offering, many pages for non-members and members only with dashboards, one for each type of member. Members will be encouraged to use the site to keep up to date with trending posted listings , to make professional contacts, to showcase their products and services to the visitors and to improve their interactions with potential visitor customers.      

ZaCart Online Business Directory is a newly and uniquely formed business directory and classifieds' platform site representing the interests of people working in and with promoting their businesses or their profiles online. The aims of the platform are to develop a social network integrated ino the business community which thereafter makes the all experience very interesting and attractive, educate business owners about the benefits of using our site to promote the interests of members and their businesses.    

The development team at ZaCart brought together skills from the core disciplines of Business -Social Networking with integrated User-Visitor Online Chat, 24/7 Online Live Support System, Digital Marketing, Listings & PPC Banner Advertising SEO Company. With the work following on from a commission to undertake market research and develop a brand identity.    

Membership is unlimited - anyone any business is welcome to use the site. ZaCart will develop a community business(es) and social lites, will encourage the sharing of information, will work hard to develop a profile for individual members and will help members to achieve their commercial goals.

The dashboards enable different member types to have a different experience when interacting with the site, one which is tailored to their needs. For example members and suppliers can post job vacancies, services, products, business profiles, test and buy premium services, promote their products/services/business(es) or One's Self. Members will also be very privileged to make and take use of the sites powerful SEO Feature where YouTube video URL, Meta Tittles, Meta Descriptions, Meta Keywords and Meta Tags will be Filled in to better their Search results ranking in search Engines.    

ZaCart team is being retained to publicize the information members submit to the site in the form of Ad Listings, Ad Banners, blogs, news items and Business Profiles. This in turn will help to promote the platform and will enable members to convert visitors into leads and sales. ZaCart will optimize the submissions and will post information to search engines and directories. Again a service which is valuable to both the platform and to the members as their names become more prominent online. 

Contact

To learn more about this ZaCartOnline, please contact: Misael Cruise Mutege

Office: +2-712-140-0617
Cell: +2-778-641-1181
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
https://zacart.co.za

With growth come responsibility Who is responsible for your online security? Who's responsibility is it that you stay on the right side of the law at all times? Yes... you are! The latest e-commerce stats from Statista.com show that 40% of worldwide internet users have bought products or goods online via desktop, mobile, tablet or other online devices. This amounts to more than 1 billion online buyers and should continue grow steadily.

This shows us the tremendous growth of eCommerce. With this positive growth comes negatives as well, online scams are increasing, payment fraud is on the uptake, consumers are abusing the CPA when it comes to refunds, returns etc. Protection of personal information is becoming more and more important, information is being stolen and social media is full of schemes and fraudsters.

Thus... The eCommerce Law & Security Conference was born! By attending this conference on 3 & 4 June 2015 delegates will learn from experts how to avoid and prevent all of the above mentioned from affecting you and your company. Speakers will share their knowledge and expertise on industry topics to ensure you leave the conference with an updated wealth of knowledge and strategy on how to implement all of this including the POPI Act in your organisation. More information click here...

Expert speakers include: Robby Coelho - Webber Wentzel Andrew Kirkland - Trustwave SA Rosalind Lake - Norton Rose Fulbright Ashleigh van Kerckhoven - KPMG Rosalind Davey & Khomotso Makapane - Bowman Gilfillan  

Early Bird Registrations Open Register 2 delegates for ONLY R4798. Normal registration fee for the full 2 day conference is R3199 per delegate. Included in the registration fee: *Full access to the conference, panel discussion and workshop *Sit-down buffet lunch both days *Free Parking *3 Refreshment breaks per day *Digital copies of each presentation *Networking Opportunities with speakers and delegates *2 days full of informative up-to-date presentations   Register NOW!    

Exclusive Workshop Attendees will have the benefit of attending a workshop on 4 June inclusive in the conference package. Understanding & Managing the Risks of Social Media presented by Rosalind Davey and Khomotso Makapane from one of SA's top law firms Bowman Gilfillan. Read more

'Consumers are thorough in the way in which they research and book their holidays', according to research recently conducted by Essential Travel Info in association with Vanessa Sand Tourism Marketing.  

Vanessa Sand, has been involved in tourism marketing since publishing the first edition of the Self-Catering Getaways guide in 1988. “It is important to find the most cost effective ways in which to reach travel bookers. We looked at some outstanding research done in overseas markets and could not find similar research for our local market. Hence the decision to perform such a survey. If tourism products want to fine tune their marketing budgets, the best way to do this is to know how their guests are researching and making decisions about the travel products they buy.”  

The research looked at how accommodation is researched and booked, which websites are top of mind for leisure travellers, which airline websites are used for researching and booking, whether restaurants and activities are booked online ahead of time or on arrival, and based on information sourced from where, as well as how important star grading is, which review sites are used most, whether people access the web on their desktop/laptops or on their smart phones or tablets among other things.   Results were processed and confirmed by De Facto Media and Marketing.  

The results give a very clear direction as to what marketing options are more or less worthwhile.   The research results may be ordered from www.vanessasand.com/order-survey.   If tourism products are looking only at the local market then the local research results are adequate.   However establishments who are keen to get international guests may order a composite report packaging the local research results with research done overseas in some of our major inbound markets.

For more information:
Vanessa Sand
tel: 011 713 2000
visit: www.vanessasand.com/order-survey/

Helen de Coster
tel: 011 440-2911
visit: www.vanessasand.com/order-survey/ 

Mobile devices are more than mere communication tools today. Globally, smartphones and tablets are now contributing to roughly 25% of the user traffic on eCommerce and travel websites. Sales through smartphones and tablets contribute to around 15% of the total online sales. With the rapid adoption of smart phones and tablets across the globe, these numbers can only go north.

Online sales through mobile devices as a percentage of the total online sales globally Challenges in Mobile Web Marketing Mobile marketing is relatively new and advertisers face several challenges to run an effective mobile marketing campaign. Some of them are:
• Advertiser's and Publisher's mobile presence is fragmented between mobile web and mobile apps.
• Identification of a user across mobile web and mobile app and messaging across these two channels.
• Identification of users across multiple devices (such as mobile, desktop) and messaging across channels.
• Patchy support to cookie and other tracking mechanisms on mobile browsers and apps.

How does it work:

1. While the user is on the advertiser mobile website, products like Vizury MobiConvert, records anonymous user behaviour such as products viewed, duration of visit, drop off page etc.

2. This user behaviour data is then used to create and display customised ads for the mobile user across mobile internet.

3. However, unlike desktop, mobile uses a different technology for banners- HTML5, the one that works across mobile devices.

The need to go mobile is more imminent today more than ever. Mobile has taken centre stage in your users' purchase cycle and it's time to go mobile! More on 'Shades of Mobile Retargeting' coming soon.

Learn more about Vizury MobiConvert and other products by Vizury at their stand at the eCommerce Africa Confex. This exciting 2-day conference and exhibition takes place on the 3rd-4th February 2015 at the Cape Town International Centre.

Register as a delegate or find out more about sponsor and exhibitor opportunities by contacting Kirsten Pow Chong on 021 180 4700 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Kinetic is pleased to announce the latest additions to our speaker line up for the eCommerce Africa Confex. With just over 2 months to go, the agenda is jam-packed with the best that Africa's eCommerce industry has to offer as they address current topics and share valuable insight into establishing a successful eCommerce business.

Mike Cotterell, Head of Online for Pick n Pay, and Peter Allerstorfer, Founding Partner of Silvertree Capital, will be sitting on a panel that will discuss the trends for delivery of online orders. They will be joined by Business Development Executive of DPD Laser, Hilton Eachus, and Justin Drennan, CEO of wantitall.co.za, to elaborate on the importance of good infrastructure and the transnational cooperation of all companies involved to meet customer needs.

Want to know what the best consumer and business brands are doing to drive a greater user experience? The following eCommerce professionals have all reserved their seats for the panel discussion that will answer this very question:

• Lee Zuk, General Manager, justplay.co.za
• Gysbert Kappers, Co-Founder, Wyzetalk
• Clinton Arnot, Head of Online Distribution, Protea Hotels
• Amanda Cromhout, Founder and CEO, Truth
• Stephan Ekbergh, CEO, Travelstart
• Bryan Porter, eCommerce Manager, Comair

The 2-day conference sessions will wrap up with Mohammed Parker, Deputy Director: IT Strategy, eCommerce and Governance from Western Cape Government, and Andrew Dean, Managing Director of Calleo. They will discuss the security and regulation of data collection as well as online sales in Africa. Joining them will be Alastair Tempest, COO of Direct Marketing Association of South Africa (DMASA), and Craig Shapiro, Partner at WCIS Attorneys.

Africa's premier eCommerce conference and exhibition is taking place on the 3rd-4th February 2015 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre and seats are filling up quickly. To avoid disappointment, register to become a delegate or find out more about sponsor and exhibitor opportunities by contacting Kirsten Pow Chong on 021 180 4700 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

www.ecommerce-africa.com For all the latest updates, follow us on Twitter: @eCommerceConfex and @KineticEventsSA or like our Facebook page: eCommerce Africa Confex

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