Media, content, streaming and the like

Jul 26, 2022 |

Recently, I had an interesting back and forth with a friend who is media owner, debating the merits of the different revenue models available to us, including subscriptions, paywalls and the like. In my mind, the main challenge with all of this is that the data and information we have on these is primarily from the US, which is a very different market. I still contend that an American media consumer is more included to pay for content that an African consumer, regardless of the country, including South Africa. This is partly due to priority and means. I reckon, on the list of things many of...

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Owning Your Platform

Mar 1, 2022 |

In October 2021, Facebook experienced an outage which also meant that Instagram and Whatsapp also went down. And everyone turned to Twitter to complain. In early February 2022, Twitter also experienced some problems with loading Tweets. When these outages happen, I am always reminded of discussions I have had, over the years, with various corporate and media platforms on the importance of owning your platform – in other words a website that you pay for - and using social media as a way of amplifying your stories. Social media has become pervasive in ways that we initially couldn’t imagine....

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Doing business with purpose

Apr 13, 2020 |

The definition of 'purpose' that has always resonated with me is " the reason for which anything is done, created, or exists." (Free Dictionary). In 2018, I had the opportunity to sit on a panel at the Holmes Report's (now PRovoke) In2Summit Africa. The topic of discussion was “Finding Post-Truth Purpose: Why Addressing Societal Needs Is More Important Than Ever" and we explored the concept of Purpose-Driven Communications. My view then - and now - is that every organisation needs to have a purpose, to begin with. If you consider some of the standard objectives that businesses have,...

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Telling Stories At My World Of Tomorrow

Sep 28, 2015 | ,

The evolution and, in some instances, disruption of media platforms has thrown the world into perpetual flux. The cries of this being dead and that being the future reverberate around the world endlessly. But, when we look at the reality, particularly from a business perspective, it isn’t that clear-cut, even more so in Africa. TV, radio, magazine, newspaper, websites, social media, etc. are all undergoing constant change and with the level of innovation the world is experiencing, there may be something just around the corner that will create even greater turmoil. We are just trying to find...

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A layman’s thoughts – Nokia developer competition

Jul 29, 2009 |

I love gadgets & technology. I’m not an expert but I like what gadgets & tech can do for my life. I own two cellphones. Yes, one is a Nokia. If you have interacted with me, you will know that I am passionate about Africa. And I believe that, if there ever was a time for Africa to start realising its true potential, it is now. Information, content is king. The means of accessing and hoarding information is easier. Well, easier than it was trying to establish oneself during the industrial age. No-one expected the cellphone to penetrate the African continent the way it did. And Africans...

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