media m
on
Publicity
UPDATE
Expose. Educate. Empower.
PUBLICITY NEWS
T y n a g o
Communications,
previously Symbiotic
Communications
Johannesburg, has
rebranded after a refocus
within Symbiotic Communications. Symbiotic
Communications in Durban will remain an associate
of Tynago’s, as does Paula Wilson Media Consulting in
Cape Town. “The name ‘Tynago’ is in honour of the
first clients who signed with us as letters from their
company names have been used to create our new
brand name. Without their loyal support – we would
not exist,” said Nicola Featonby-Smith, who heads
here for more.
Tynago Communications. ClickLhere
Inroads Communications (Pty) Ltd and
ChilliBush Communications (Pty) Ltd, two of
South Africa's communication houses, have
announced their merger. As part of this fusion, two
new companies will be formed effective 1 March.
They are: ChilliBush Inroads Communications (Pty)
Ltd and ChilliBush Inroads Public Relations (Pty) Ltd.
Jackie du Rand will be the Group Managing Director of
both entities. The new board of Directors will include
the original founding members of both organisations:
Makhaola Mohanoe, Metsing Malebo, Bongi Mkhungo
here for more.
and Dale Hefer. ClickLhere
Red Ribbon
Communications
is opening an office in
Johannesburg in
March. The office will
be run by Deirdré van Zyl Smit who has extensive
experience in managing marketing and PR
campaigns in the technology industry. Deirdré has
been with the company since February 2007. “This
move comes as a result of enormous opportunities in
the Johannesburg market”, says Ronelle Bester,
owner of Red Ribbon Communications. The agency is
five years old in March and has been growing steadily
over the past few years. Opening an office in
Johannesburg adds the final touch to our success.
Red Ribbon Communications is a full-service
marketing and public relations consultancy focusing
solely on the technology industry in South Africa.
Kadoro Events and
Communications, in
association with leading
healthcare advertising
agency Fine Healthcare, recently handled both the
internal and external launches of DSM- I-Flex - a new
arthritis product for flexiblility, constituted with rose-
here for more.
hip as the principal ingredient. ClickLhere
newsclip
itoring
managing media intelligently
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
Wwww.publicityupdate.co.za
The IABC Johannesburg Chapter will be
hosting a workshop to explore the changing role
of media monitoring in the corporate communication
environment. Hosted by Daniel Munslow,
Publications and Media Manager at Newsclip, the
workshop will offer insights into the local media
landscape and arm you with the knowledge of how it
works and what its benefits are. The workshop will
also cover: trends in South African media; the basics
of media monitoring; an introduction to media
evaluation and statistical interpretation (including a
demo on a live media monitoring system). The
workshop will take place from 09:00 to 14:00
(including lunch) at Foxwood House, 13 Fifth Street,
Houghton. The cost is R450 for members and R750
for non-members. If you would like specific questions
answered at the workshop, email them directly to
daniel@newsclip.co.za. To attend, RSVP by
Daniel atLdaniel@newsclip.co.za
7 March by contacting Tertia Dafel on 082 377 5554 or
Ltertiad@mweb.co.za
tertiad@mweb.co.za.
NEW ACCOUNTS
The Scholar Ship, the world’s
first ocean-roaming
university sailing from continent
to continent in quest of cultural
knowledge, has appointed
Marcus Brewster Publicity
(MBP) as its agency of record for
South Africa. MBP will be involved in brokering
strategic partnerships for the Scholar Ship, apart
from chartering her course in South African media
waters. ClickLhere
here for more.
Bob Martin, leader in pet
healthcare, has appointed
Grapevine Communications to
launch a new product range of pet
supplements. Grapevine was
identified as the ideal PR partner due to its extensive
fmcg experience.
Headlines has been
appointed to handle all the
media relations for The Loerie
Awards 2008. Since being
revamped in 2005, The Loerie Awards has become
more than just an awards ceremony focused on
creativity, it is now a major reference amongst
marketers and agencies and has grown to encompass
every area of brand communication.
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
Nadia Vosloo has been appointed as Account Director
in the Johannesburg office of Marcus Brewster
Publicity. ClickLhere
here for more.
1

A Newsclip Media Monitoring Initiative
EDITOR’S CORNER
Top communicators gather at Newsclip for
‘Understanding the Media’ talk
By Pat McClelland
On Thursday, 28 February, Newsclip, in association
with PRISA, hosted a seminar titled 'Understanding
the Media' aimed at enhancing the understanding of
the South African media landscape in relation to the
public relations industry among PRs. Representatives
from a number of Johannesburg-based PR agencies
attended the seminar.
The seminar was presented by Daniel Munslow,
Newsclip Publications and Media Manager and Editor
of Media Update; Publicity Update and totallyMAd.
Daniel's experience in the media industry spans six
years and he is currently an associate member of
PRISA; a PRCC honorary member; an IABC honorary
member; a judge for the IABC Africa Quill Awards; a
member of AMASA; an AMASA committee member; a
Pendoring Awards committee member and a judge
for the MPASA PICA Awards.
Daniel started off by using the famous phrase coined
by Marshall McLuhan, author of Understanding
Media, “The medium is the message”. McLuhan
argued that the form of the medium itself has a
greater impact on society than the information
transferred by it, or the 'message'. Each medium that
has been introduced to society in the past has
produced profound effects due to its very nature
many of which are only evident in hindsight. Daniel
highlighted the significance of the concept as we
move increasingly closer towards a society
dominated by the message of a new medium - the
internet.
Daniel then went on to give a brief overview of the
South African media landscape as it stands at the
moment, providing a breakdown of the various media
types. He also looked at some important figures that
should be taken into account by PRs.
Undoubtedly, the most
interesting topic of the
seminar was Daniel's
discussion regarding the increasingly important role
online media is playing with regards to public
relations and brand reputation. He explained how the
nature of online media allows consumers to vocalise
their opinions far more easily than before a fact that
becomes significant when coupled with the trend that
people are now far more likely to take the views of
fellow consumers into consideration, as opposed to
the views expressed by journalists in traditional
media. Daniel highlighted the benefits of using tools
such as blog aggregator, Amatomu and Google
Alerts, as well as media monitoring services, to gain
insight into what's being said in the South African
blogosphere regarding a specific brand/company.
Looking into the future, Daniel
noted the seriousness with which
many business organisations
(BMW; Reuters; IBM; Virgin;
Vodafone - the list goes on) are taking opportunities to
develop their brands within virtual worlds such as
Second Life.
Publicity
UPDATE
The significance of online has also meant a change in
the way PRs should go about getting exposure for
clients. While the traditional press release/press kit is
still vital and most certainly has its place for specific
occasions or journalists, it is also important that PRs
make use of the available technology to improve
accessibility and make their content more attractive
to both journalists, and the new 'influencers'
bloggers. Daniel discussed the advantages of
creating an online press portal and using optimised
press releases for both PR agencies and their clients.
These allow for improved search engine visibility and
attract the attention of online journalists and
bloggers, as well as mainstream journalists, who are
increasingly using the internet to generate story
ideas.
By directing a reporter to a single URL for updates,
one avoids spamming those who aren't interested;
and gives those who are an easily accessible online
press kit that can include the latest photo gallery;
logos in the format you want them used; graphics;
'backgrounders'; speeches; video clips and a search
function to make what they are looking for easy to
find. One can make create press releases that
incorporate social bookmarking, multimedia content,
comments and trackbacks. Using social media sites
to host content (YouTube, Flickr, Facebook etc) also
makes it easier for bloggers to link content they find
interesting to their blogs.
The seminar certainly provided some food for
thought, and served to remind everyone that if you
don’t pay attention to the message of the medium,
you risk being left trailing behind.
See you next week.
DANIEL
GET TO KNOW THE TEAM
Daniel Munslow
EDITOR
Pat McClelland
DEPUTY EDITOR
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Stefanie Jason
MEDIA RESEARCHER Roane Booth
MARKETING MANAGER Vanessa Evans
Publicity Update is published by Newsclip.
Daniel is a member of the Public Relations Institute of
Southern Africa (PRISA), the Public Relations
Consultancy Chapter (PRCC) and the International
Association of Business Communicators.
GET IN TOUCH
Want to make a contribution? Want to share your opinions
and stories about the public relations industry? We want
to hear from you.
You can email us at publicity@newsclip.co.za
publicity@newsclip.co.za or call
us on (011) 288-6600.
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PUBLICITY UPDATE IS A NEWSCLIP MEDIA MONITORING INITIATIVE
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