If you haven't heard about it let me tell you more. Cybatar is a new social networking and collaboration application that allows users to send SMS messages to mobile phones for free. The network also allows users to share document files besides media files which is uncommon with all available social networks.

The company responsible for this product has developed their first application, being made available on stores and only available on Android devices for now. The development team on Red Diamond World is confident that it has developed an awesome product which will go viral a soon as the public becomes aware of it.

Cybatar comes as a more innovative service, on a different market with common social networking websites Facebook and Twitter and is not looking to substitute them but co-exist with them as the are very important especially for companies and professionals to increase their online presence which is a contribution Cybatar will make to users. This shows that Red Diamond World is in this for the long-run like big internet companies Facebook, Amazon and Google.Users can find the application on various Android application stores from today.

The application will reach more stores as time goes by and more application for Apple and Windows devices will be developed. Cybatar is currently available on HTML5 for all devices with internet access on http://www.cybatar.com and users are able to access all features.

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  

This day marks the launch of cybatar.com, a new social network created by another internet start up company. Cybatar enters the social networking market not to try and substitute Facebook and Twitter but to offer a few features which are not available on them.

The social network is not in a competition and is in it for the long-run. The company responsible for the product believe that the website will offer users convenience and will also ease communication between people all over the world.The website, being built through open source software caters for both Facebook and Twitter users.

It offers an in between service and also carries other features. Users will not only be able to share audio, video and image files but will also be able to share document files which brings relief to users and cuts the extensive need for email.The company promises a quality product and believes that users will enjoy "cybing".

Visit www.cybatar.com to register your account today.

17 and 18 November 2014 will be key days for not only South Africa’s Business Intelligence community, but for anyone who wants to learn how Big Data and Analytics can bring big business results. These are the dates set for Cape Town to host Mammoth BI (http://mammothbi.co.za), a dynamic 2-day conference themed ‘Big Data in Action’ that will see global thought leaders and local experts share their insights in an exciting new IT conferencing model!

The conference aims to myth-bust conventional ideas of Big Data and Analytics and to create an informed local community understanding the latest in Business Intelligence. Speakers include prominent local business leaders and global industry heavyweights including a trio of top PhD’s - Marc Smith (Chief Social Scientist at Connected Action Consulting Group in Silicon Valley), Eric Siegel (author of best-selling publication “Predictive Analytics”), and Data Warehousing Analyst Barry Devlin (author of the book “Business UnIntelligence”). They’ll be joining a significant line-up of handpicked heavyweights that sees Anthony Miller (CEO of Lightstone Group) and Dr Jasper Horrell (General Manager for Science Computing at the Square Kilometer Array, or SKA) sharing insights from their wealth of industry expertise. 

Jason Haddock, founder of Mammoth BI and a member of the TEDx Cape Town team, will ensure that this is no ordinary conference. Drawing from his experience with TEDx, he has implemented an unconventional, interactive approach to the event. Speakers will need to deliver key thoughts in no more than 20 minutes and workshops will be held throughout the conference. The workshops will facilitate networking and a practical understanding of Business Intelligence and Analytics. 

With tickets selling for only R700, the conference aims to appeal to not only IT specialists and general businesses but also to students. Education, collaboration and the desire to make the notion of Big Data accessible has been the organizer’s focus. What’s more Mammoth BI is giving away 100 free tickets to students as further evidence of its commitment to boosting education.

The conference is a must for anyone who wishes to know how to practically adopt Big Data, BI and Analytics to work towards their competitive advantage. Keynote presentations will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, with breakaway workshops to be held at other venues in the city, to be announced as part of the conference programme. Watch http://mammothbi.co.za for real-time updates on speakers and venues. And remember; don’t think big, think MAMMOTH!   Tickets are available online at MammothBI or through Quicket.

EVENT DETAILS:

Date: 17 & 18 November 2014 Main Programme

Venue:  Cape Town International Convention Centre Workshop

Venues: To be Announced as part of the conference programme

More info: http://mammothbi.co.za

[ENDS]

About Mammoth BI:

Mammoth BI - http://mammothbi.co.za - is a two-day ‘Big Data in Action’ Conference. The event, hosted in Cape Town on the 17th and 18th of November 2014, will bring global industry experts together with local leaders to share the latest in Business Intelligence.  

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY: Lauren Shantall (Pty) Ltd

Contact:
Leon Jamarie
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: 021 685 1382

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 

Companies are rapidly seeing the benefits of social media. In fact, social media is becoming indispensable for business, but with all the benefits come threats and risks as well for the workplace. Frost & Sullivan’s Global Workforce Study found that 64% of respondent companies limit employee access to social media through content filtering and website blocking technology, 51% restrict access by setting and enforcing policy and 25% have no restrictions on the use of social media by employees.  

Businesses should define clear social media usage policies, specifying who can access social media, what sites they can access, when they can access them, where they can access them and what devices they can use to access social media during work hours. There should be no room left for confusion. Policies should be clear, well defined and communicated to employees.  

Professionals who would benefit by attending include HR Managers, Digital Marketers, Chief Risk Officers, Social Media Strategists, Office Managers, Marketing Managers, HR Consultants, Employee Benefit Managers, Legal Advisors, Digital Projects Managers, e-Commerce Managers, Risk Managers to name a few...  

Rosalind Davey and Khomotso Makapane will facilitate the workshop, teaching all attendees how to understand and and mitigate the risks of social media in the workplace. Both of the facilitators are qualified attorneys from one of South Africa’s top law firms Bowman Gilfillan and specialise in employment law and Rosalind is one of the few attorneys specialising in social media law.  

During the half day workshop social media statistics, constitutional rights, RICA, freedom of expression and the law of defamation, liability for defamatory content on social media and vicarious liability, handling social media misconduct, loss of confidential information and contacts as well as mitigating the risks of social media will be addressed. View full agenda and download registration form at www.aoevents.co.za

Workshop registration fee: R800 pp. Groups of 3 or more receive 10% discount.

Email the completed registration form to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to secure your seat.

With 2014 being the year of Big Data it is essential to stay up to date with all the developments, challenges and laws of big data as well as how to analyse and manage big data. Attending the Big Data Analytics & Management Conference on 30 September is the best way to gain knowledge on all of this. The conference will be held at Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, Johannesburg.  

Data experts to address the conference:         

Gary Allemann - Master Data Management
Steven Burnstone - Eighty20 Consulting
Salome Coetsee - Ernst & Young Advisory Services
Stuart Cheverton - Hitachi Data Systems
Werner Coetzee - Hitachi Data Systems
Willem Conradie - PBT Group
Ashleigh Van Kerckhoven - KPMG
Dave Ives - Karabina Solutions  

Gert Botes, Conference Organiser at Alpha Omega Events said: “Professionals dealing with data analytics, business intelligence, customer insights, risk management, fraud & security, data management, marketing, customer relations, strategy development & implementation, operations, product innovation & management, risk & compliance, data engineering and ICT services will benefit greatly from attending this conference.”  

Experts will present on 10 big data myths busted – practical suggestions for starting big data analytics, data analytics: building a competitive culture, explosion of data and how to cope, data protection & POPI, using big data for fraud detection and prevention, cloud computing – an effective big data enabler, social media and big data and more…  

Delegates registration are open and seats are limited so book your asap to avoid disappointment.

Registration form can be downloaded on www.aoevents.co.za and emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Registration fee is R2199.00 per delegate and includes full access to conference and free parking, conference material, speaker presentations, coffee/tea and refreshment, 3 course buffet lunch as well as free shuttle from and to OR Tambo.

Group bookings of 3 or more will receive 15% discount on registration fee.

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

With war breaking out in the Gaza strip, statistics have come to light revealing that in approximately 8 days, the death toll had risen upto 144 people.

To most people worldwide, this loss of life over such a short timescale is horrific. But lets take a closer look at those stats and compare the conflict in Gaza with the warzone that us as South Africans have come to accept as a everyday occurrance.

Over an 8 day period of conflict, Gaza had lost 144 people, injured people totalled 1300 and untold number of people were traumatized.

In South Africa, over the same time frame, we lost 365 people, injured people totalled 4433, and traumatized totalled 7290.

Jacob Zuma called for a ceasefire on Wednesday in Gaza.

“We call on the Israeli government to stop its air and ground offensive, which continues to cause loss of life and a devastating humanitarian crisis."

As a citizen of a country I love, I can’t understand why our humanitarian crisis is not being addressed.

Leaders in home security, Foscam, have said there is a large increase of people worried about their home security.  

“The public are prepared to spend thousands of rands on IP camera systems, hoping that by being able to login remotely and see for themselves what is going on, they can take matters into their own hands. DIY home security is fast becoming a trend.”

Contact details: Foscam South Africa
Tel: 011 469 5165
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

No, not another 2014 FIFA World Cup surprise, but a valid question. As one of the major sponsors of this global event, was the return on investment received what Adidas was expecting as one of the official sponsors, after having spent huge amounts of money?

Speculation is rife that FIFA's World Cup partners pay a hefty price for the privilege to be so closely affiliated with the event – apparently $1.5 billion revenues are taken to be associated as some form of World Cup Sponsor.

Gauteng-based media monitoring company, ROi, who has been reporting to the South African media on World Cup statistics during the event, generated an insightful study that contains the editorial mention of these brands in relation to this event. 

“It is surprising how little editorial coverage there is from each of the sponsors given the massive fee there is to be associated with this world event,” says ROi Managing Director, Tonya Khoury. “I do recognise that media publicity is not the only benefit a company like Adidas will get from such a sponsorship, but I was surprised that it was so low.”

The study, which does not include logo exposure or advertising in relation to the brands, focused on media mention of the various brands on millions of global social networks and 60,000 global online newspapers.

“As could be expected Adidas was the most exposed brand in the editorial space. With almost one third of the coverage against other sponsors, Adidas’ #allin campaign was a massive success,” says Khoury.

Another factor for the sponsor’s success is “largely attributed to the fact that Adidas was the main sponsor of the two teams playing in the final. They are also the sponsor of arguably the best football player in the tournament, Lionel Messi. To add to this 46 goals have been scored by players wearing the adizero F50, including three of the World Cup’s top scorers: James Rodriguez of Colombia, Thomas Muller of Germany and then of course Messi.

“The official soccer ball has also been a success. Brazuca, under the @brazuca Twitter handle, it gained more than 2.75 million followers during the tournament (more than 3.25 million overall), making it the fastest growing profile of the World Cup,” she adds.

When isolating the data set into “Partners” only, Adidas and Sony accounted for over 50% of the editorial coverage. Adidas was the most talked about brand during the tournament across all social channels, like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr and attracted more than 5 million new followers across these social platforms - more than any other sports brand.

“A company like Adidas was planning to generate €2 billion (about 28 billion Rand) in football related revenue this year and one wonders whether they have received adequate return on investment to achieve this. They have definitely achieved more than the other sponsors and they have gained valuable publicity, but I am seriously questioning whether they have received enough,” Khoury concludes.  

FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

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