Archive
Year: 2014
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Another Shuffle At the Department of Communications
May 27, 2014
President Jacob Zuma’s decision to replace communications minister, Yunus Carrim, with the controversial Siyabonga Cwele, has certainly raised a few eyebrows. Cwele is the former minister of state security and an advocate of the contentious Protection of State Information Bill (aka Secrecy Bill). His former wife, Sheryl Cwele, was convicted three years ago of dealing in drugs...
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Twitter Removes Barriers for Advertisers
May 20, 2014
Twitter has opened up its advertising offering to small businesses and the man on the street. Up until a few weeks ago, if you wanted to advertise on Twitter, you were expected to invest a minimum spend of R150, 000. Twitter is first choice when it comes to generating instant traffic and user engagement which is pivotal for any online strategy. The traditional way of promoting your brand through Twitter (without selling the farm) was...
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Malaysia Airline MH370 Missing Plane Crisis Escalates to Another Crisis
May 15, 2014
“What really happened to the missing Malaysia Airline plane?” This the alarming question faced by authorities at the moment. I mean an aircraft cannot just disappear and not be found even after two months of intense searching. The quest to find the plane that vanished on 8 March 2014 on its way to Beijing, from Kuala Lumpur, has involved a search of nearly 4.64 million square kilometers of sea and utilized more than 33 search...
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The 276 Girls of Chibok
May 13, 2014
09 April 2014 – It is with much interest that I’ve watched the news cycle and reporting of the 276 school girls who were kidnapped in Chibok, north-east Nigeria on 14th April 2014. The video of Boko Haram’s leader containing a description of what they plan to do to the girls went viral a couple of days ago and that’s when the conversation and the global news churn really went into overdrive...
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Freedom of Expression is Free until…
April 25, 2014
The 27th of April is the day we celebrate Freedom Day in South Africa. Every year, on this day, I post a Facebook status reminding the people in my circle how much was sacrificed for our freedom. And in the time leading up to that day I am taking time out to reflect on what freedom means to me as a South African, and also to reflect on what my understanding of this constitutional right...
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FleishmanHillard Named “Best Large Public Relations Consultancy” at PRISA’s Annual PRISM Awards Last Night
April 7, 2014
Johannesburg, 07 April 2014 — FleishmanHillard South Africa (FH) was named the “Best Large Public Relations Consultancy in 2014” and also received another five accolades at the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa’s PRISM Awards last night. Attended by over 300 local experts in the public relations industry, FH received three Silver Awards in the ‘NGO Campaign’ category for The Hudson Initiative, in the ‘PR on a Shoestring’ category for Discovery Networks - Skywire Live...
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Political Parties Seem to Have Missed the Social Media Boat in the Run Up to the 2014 Elections
March 11, 2014
The 2014 Elections are just less than two months away and South Africa’s political landscape is buzzing with a series of messages, campaigns, door-to-door electioneering, spats between journalists and politicians and so much more. With the election machine currently running at full-throttle with parties fighting to get their message heard, it’s surprising that a recent research report by World Wide Worx criticises most political parties for missing the boat on social media...
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Why Industry Awards Should Not Be Over Looked
February 19, 2014
As PR professionals we are not naturally geared for soaking up the limelight. Most of our hours are spent developing and executing plans that showcase the successes of our clients. We are often the unsung heroes who remain in the background when the lights go on. We work hard to craft well thought of, inspiring campaigns with brilliance that we often take for granted. There is a tremendous amount of thought, time and energy put...
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Why Are NekNominations a Viral Phenomenon?
February 12, 2014
There is a lot of controversy around the latest viral phenomenon that is the Neck and Nominate fad. For those that are unaware, NekNominations are a global viral drinking game where the nominee consumes a large amount of alcohol in a single gulp, and nominates two of their friends to follow suit. All of this is of course captured on video and posted on social media for the world to see (possibly something that can...
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Facebook Look Back Videos
February 11, 2014
By now I’m sure all of you have had some experience of the current Facebook fad - the Look Back video - maybe you have even made one for yourself, a 62 second flashback of your entire social adventure on Facebook. The Look Back video is Facebook’s ten year birthday present to its community of almost one billion users across the globe...