Johannesburg, South Africa - August 2016: BetterMan is the new kid on the block, but has quickly matured to become the perfect gentleman. Quietly creating an exciting meeting place where brands and companies can connect with a targeted group of men. Since inception in 2014, growth has been rapid. The BetterMan Facebook page currently eclipses the pages of some of the most well known South African men’s magazines with over 47 000 followers. The daily email is sent out to a dedicated database of more than 12,000 men. The BetterMan mission is simple: To make men unstoppable. This is done by putting the community first and providing them with qualitative, tailored and relevant content that goes beyond boring click bait articles. “BetterMan is seen as the trustworthy friend and cool big brother, it is also the influencer they admire and the role model they are looking up to, “says Erik Kruger, Founder of BetterMan. “Now we want to offer brands and companies the opportunity to get involved and to to connect with our very targeted and engaged group of men in various ways.” BetterMan offers tailored made solutions for every clients’ needs including: sponsoring of e-mailers delivered directly to the loyal BetterMan followers’ inbox; digitorials, client surveys and brand experiences, posts on the social media platforms; sponsored podcasts or webisodes; and custom-made experiential events hosted for the specified target market. BetterMan is about becoming a better man every day. In any way. No matter how small. In the way you act, speak, and live your life. Being a gentleman has become synonymous with the BetterMan life. The typical BetterMan reader is between 25-34 and describes himself as driven, ambitious, motivated, and determined. It’s clear that men who gravitate towards Betterman do so, because they want to rise above mediocrity. A glimpse of the BetterMan platform (30 June 2016): Website Page views per month: 13 000 Facebook Page …
Samsung welcomes new Brand Ambassadors
Samsung South Africa’s new Brand Ambassadors effortlessly embody the company’s values JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – 8 August 2016 – Samsung South Africa has announced five new celebrity Brand Ambassadors who epitomise Samsung ideals and characteristics across a range of product categories. “At Samsung, excellence and innovation are key and we believe these local ambassadors embody our corporate identity in appearance, demeanour, values and voice,” says Michelle Potgieter, Director of Brand and Communications at Samsung SA. The five new Brand Ambassadors include Olympic swimmer Cameron van der Burgh, actor and TV presenter Maps Maponyane, celebrity chef Reuben Riffel, renowned Afrikaans singer and actor Bobby van Jaarsveld and former Miss South Africa and businesswoman Jo-Ann Strauss. “These Brand Ambassadors are all leaders in their respective fields and Samsung South Africa is proud to be associated with them,” says Potgieter. Samsung is specifically partnering with these five individuals because of their qualities that are embroiled in the company’s character. Each of these Brand Ambassadors are also highly respected and just as Samsung, enjoy an outstanding reputation - an ideal fit with the brand. Swimmer Cameron van der Burgh, is an exceptional athlete. He combines top performance in his sports with elegance and power and represents precision and excellence in the Samsung TV and audio-visual categories. As an Olympic gold medallist and budding businessman, Van der Burgh perfectly suits the Samsung Television and audio-visual image. “Like me, Samsung puts a lot of effort into being the best and staying ahead of competitors,” says Van den Burg. Maps Maponyane, representing pioneering style in the Samsung integrated mobility and wearables category, is an actor, presenter and entrepreneur and has been voted GQ’s Best Dressed Man and Cosmopolitan Magazine's SA’s Sexiest Man. “I’m proud to be a Samsung Brand Ambassador,” he says, “because …
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Samsung Electronics Delivers Air Conditioning that’s Effective in Summer and Winter
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa– Samsung Electronics South Africa has vast experience in the development of air conditioning and has long been committed to creating cooling solutions that are both powerful and convenient, thereby ensuring optimum comfort for users. However, what many consumers are unaware of is the fact that Samsung air conditioners are equally effective at warming up a room and they can perform more efficiently than the average heater. Although South Africa is renowned for its long, warm summers, when the winter hits, the cold can really affect internal living spaces. The traditional method of dealing with the cold is to utilise a bar or fan heater, but these products tend to work best as personal heating appliances and are less effective when attempting to warm an entire room. Michael McKechnie, Director of Digital Appliances Group at Samsung Electronics SA, points out that Samsung’s air conditioners may have a reputation for being cooling appliances, but they are just as good when it comes to heating a room. “You simply cannot obtain the same amount of comfort or efficiency in heating from another source, as these appliances are designed to control the entire room’s temperature. Moreover, an air conditioner allows you to maintain your desired room temperature more effectively too,” says McKechnie. “Consumers may be concerned that an air conditioner will use more power, but even this is not necessarily the case. Our products have a built in inverter that sets the appliance to idle once the room reaches optimal temperature, switching on again only if the temperature drops below this level. A heater, on the other hand, is likely to remain on throughout the day in order to keep a room warm, so it clearly draws a lot of electricity.” He adds that another, intangible benefit of using an air conditioner for heat is that by more consistently controlling the temperature of the room, you are less likely to get ill from constant changes in …
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Optimising your Samsung TV for Olympic Games Viewing Experience
Tweak your TV settings to ensure an optimised and immersive sports encounter JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – 28 July, 2016 – With the Rio 2016 Olympic Games due to take place between the 6th and 21st of August 2016, even the most passing of sports fans will likely find themselves glued to their TVs at some point, supporting the various South African athletes participating. With SuperSport promising six dedicated HD channels, as well as a 24-hour Olympic news channel, watching the biggest sporting event in the world is certainly going to be an entertaining experience. So why not make sure you watch it in the clearest and most vivid manner possible, by optimising your TV to suit the nature of the programme you are viewing? This, of course, is sometimes easier said than done, but it is of vital importance, since even the best TV on the market, if incorrectly setup, may well look worse than a mediocre TV that is properly adjusted. “Since sport broadcasting often happens during the day, watching these in real time means the sun will often be shining through your windows, creating an obscuring reflection. Therefore, to view your chosen event properly, you must compensate for this by adjusting the picture to a brighter setting,” says Matthew Thackrah, Deputy Managing Director at Samsung South Africa. Thackrah points out that simply turning up the brightness won't necessarily help. He explains that this setting actually has more to do with the black contrast set-up of the TV. “Thus, setting the brightness too high may result in black colours within the visuals appearing as grey, which could reduce the depth of the picture.” “To fix this, you will have to increase the contrast – sometimes called ‘picture’ - which controls the white level. However, this too should not simply be increased. Ideally, you want to take your time and find a scene with a bright, white image contained in it and then adjust the contrast to the point where the white object is bright, but …
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Cycle4Cansa Classic returns to traditional route
A strategic decision to switch the dates of the road and mountain bike races at the Bestmed Cycle4Cansa Classic, which is hosted by Sun City in late August, has cleared the way for the feature road race to return to its original route. The 103km event, which made its debut in 1998, was forced to make use of an alternative course over the past three years to combat the increase in traffic - particularly heavy mining trucks - on the R551 from Thabazimbi. Darren Herbst of ASG Events said this has seen the size of the field remain largely static in recent years and he was confident that the new "reversed" programme would provide the impetus for further growth. The 25 and 50km mountain bike races, which are in their 10th year, will now take place on the opening day on August 20 with the road events, including the shorter 70km, on the Sunday when there is less traffic. Herbst, the route director, said he was delighted with the changes to the weekend's festival of cycling. "It will add immense value and we feel the race now has a realistic chance of drawing a field of up to 8 000 riders as in the past." Herbst also placed much importance on the mountain bike offering. "This element has grown steadily over the years and we're very pleased with that." He felt the Saturday slot would entice a lot more mountain bikers from the Gauteng area to make the trip to Sun City. Although the main race on the road was now about six kilometres shorter than last year, it would provide a similar test, said Herbst. "The difficulty is about the same, but the slightly shorter distance will make a difference." He said the event had a reputation as a flat and fast race and that its dynamics were perfect for cyclists who were easing into the second half of the season after winter. A further incentive, said Herbst, was that the Cycle4Cansa Classic is an official seeding event for the Cape Town Cycle Tour. Besides the main events, there are two children's races - …
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Bakwena conducts reseal and resurfacing construction on N4 toll route
Bakwena, the concessionaire of the N1N4 toll routes, has commenced with maintenance on the N4 west from the M17 Garankuwa interchange to the R512 Brits interchange. “The section of the road being resurfaced was constructed in 2003 and, since then, it has been maintained according to international and local road safety standards. However, 13 years on, the road is showing signs of wear and tear which is why more intensive maintenance is required,” explains Bakwena's Commercial Manager, Liam Clarke. “While we understand that road maintenance is never convenient for the road user, it is important to reiterate that if this is not done, the road structure will become damaged, leading to more severe deterioration and what would be a more costly rehabilitation or reconstruction process later on. This would mean longer reconstruction times and extended delays for road users.” Clarke adds that the road resurfacing procedure will be twofold. First, a slurry will be placed over the existing surfacing as a texture corrector. This will need to set before vehicles can use it, or it will drive off, sticking to tyres and causing damage to vehicle paintwork. Once the slurry is cured, a double seal will be placed over it. This seal consists of a first layer of bitumen and a layer of larger stones, followed by a second layer of bitumen and a layer of smaller stones. Finally, a third layer of bitumen will be applied - to ensure to the stone remains intact before the road can be opened to traffic. Again, if roads are opened too soon, vehicle and surface damage may ensue. As this section of the road is predominantly a single carriageway, stop-go’s are the only cost- and time-effective way to manage traffic. As per road maintenance regulations, there will only be 2km closures on the working section with a minimum distance of 4km between working areas. “Bakwena will do everything in our power to ensure that delays are kept to a minimum, however, as this section is heavily …
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Greater collaboration between stakeholders needed to ensure effective transformation
South Africa’s leading mining bodies; the Mineworkers Investment Trust (MIT), National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC) and the Mineworkers Development Agency (MDA) are calling for bold steps to be taken to ensure that effective transformation continues to be a key narrative that serves as a blue print for economic emancipation in South Africa. Luthando Brukwe, the Head of Transformation at the National Union of Mineworkers says stakeholders in the mining sector need to ensure that there is an accelerated implementation of the NEDLAC endorsed social accords. Paving The Way for Solutions He stresses that there needs to be an alignment of mining and construction charters in the B-BBEE Amended Codes that were released recently by the Department of Trade and Industry. “Another way forward which speaks to the objectives of saving, creating and maintaining employment in the National Development Plan is that there needs to be a campaign against transfer pricing, offshore listing, mergers and acquisitions resulting in massive job losses. We believe that there should be sufficient support for social wages and we will continue to demand a living wage and enforce the equal pay for equal work principle across the industries we organise. As a way forward it is also imperative that we continue to demand unwavering enforcement of legislative and regulatory frameworks that benefit workers and communities at large as well as champion sanctioning for escalating non-compliance,” adds Brukwe. Currently, there is a serious lack of co-ordination between government’s owned entities, government departments and industry are not being held accountable for non-compliance. This serves as a major obstacle towards reaching transformation objectives. Brukwe acknowledged that the department of mineral resources is legislatively empowered to monitor and report on the compliance and transformation in the mining industry, however there have been various …
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International Rugby Academy Returns with a New Position-Specific Course
After two successful sets of courses in KZN, the Investec International Rugby Academy will be returning to St Charles College in Pietermaritzburg these school holidays, adding position-specific courses, for both players and coaches, to the course line-up. The 5-day course aims to provide high school players with the skills and expertise they need by matching them with former national and international players in their position and teach coaches to learn alongside these players. The exciting line-up that attendees can look forward to working with are former Springbok flank Ian MacDonald and utility-back Brent Russell, former Springbok assistant coach Dick Muir, ex-Wallabies kicking coach Braam van Straaten, former Sharks coach Grant Bashford, Sharks forwards coach Ryan Strudwick, Sharks under-19 coach Paul Anthony, Super Rugby referee Archie Sehlako, as well as local coaches Greg Miller, Greig Wegerle and Ryno Combrink. Behind the scenes training is also a feature of the academy and specialists such as Mark Steele (former Springbok conditioning coach) and Ruan Fourie (former Sharks and Lions physiotherapist) will be educating players on conditioning for the season and injury prevention. “The academy affords players the opportunity to meet, interact and learn from the greats of the game. It can only have a positive effect on one’s development,” says former Springbok, Brent Russell. World renown kicking coach, Braam van Straaten, who has been a coach at the academy for the past seven years, is passionate about his role at the academy. “In a week you see boys become men. We get players to function outside their comfort zone,” says van Straaten. Players’ courses on offer in July are the Prestige Players’ Course (aged seven to 10 years), the Intermediate Players’ and Coaches Course (aged 11 to 14 years), the 5-Day Players’ and Coaches Course (aged 14 to 17 years). Former Eastern Province player and GM of the Investec International Rugby Academy, …
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South Africa raises over a R1 million by doubling up Add Hope for World Hunger Day
In support of World Hunger Day on 28 May, KFC urged customers to Double Up their Add Hope donations and double the difference it makes to the plight of the millions of South African children who go to bed hungry every night. Our customers generously responded by doubling up their R2 donations, donating over R1 million towards the fight against hunger over the two week Add Hope Double Up campaign. “The Add Hope Double Up campaign was an opportunity to increase awareness of the prevalence of hunger in South Africa and to illustrate the impact it will have on our country’s future if we don’t do something about it,” says Thabisa Mkhwanazi, KFC South Africa Marketing Director. “The success of Add Hope shows that South Africans want to get involved and that if we all pull together, even the smallest contribution can have a major impact.“ Add Hope has raised over R300 million in funds to secure the future of South Africa by helping children learn, grow and thrive through providing them with a nutritious meal, every day. Add Hope makes sure that over 100 000 children receive nutritious meals every month, with the help of 110 beneficiary partners around the country. The collaboration between KFC, its beneficiaries and its customers is vital in fighting hunger and the total donated to these beneficiary organisations increases every year. As part of this Double Up campaign, and in support of World Hunger Day, a number of prominent South Africans visited Add Hope beneficiary organisations to get a first-hand experience of the incredible impact the donations have on young lives. Actress Hlubi Mboya visited Afrika Tikkun in Diepsloot, Gauteng. “These children have my heart. Food, education and shelter are basic human rights. It’s powerful to see the impact that Add Hope has on places like Afrika Tikkun and on these young lives and it is a blessing that places like these are open to the vulnerable. I was completely blown away by all the facilities, and the energy, positive and …
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The sizzling MTN Joyous 20 tour is heading to Mafikeng this winter
Since its inception, MTN Joyous Celebration, has successfully managed to deliver unparalleled quality productions to millions of fans across the globe. From their majestic vocals and harmonies, to their signature dance moves and world class costumes, the internationally acclaimed gospel sensation continues to form a huge part of South Africa’s musical landscape. Following the success of their performances in both Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, MTN Joyous celebration will once again deliver another stellar concert in the North West which carries the unique Joyous sounds through the musical guidance of its founding members, Lindelani Mkhize, Jabu Hlongwane and Mthunzi Namba. Now in the fourth leg of their much-awaited national tour, MTN Joyous Celebration is heading to the North West on Wednesday, 15 June 2016 for a not to be missed one-night-only performance of their latest album release titled, Joyous 20. From traditional Gospel to Avant-garde, Jazz and Rock, North West fans can look forward to a spiritually charged evening of praise and worship. “Over the past 20 years, MTN Joyous Celebration concept has managed to build a legacy that has inspired several young aspiring musicians. And what better way to celebrate our very own talented young voices in the ensemble than on the eve of June 16, when the whole country will commemorate the youth of 1976. We’re looking forward to the youth in Mafikeng coming in their numbers to celebrate with us in song and dance as we reflect on our own successes”, commented Lindelani Mkhize. “MTN Joyous Celebration 20 Tour has instilled pride and joy for us as partners. As we bring yet another exciting performance in North West, we are looking forward to interacting with the customers and rewarding them. We have no doubt that they will come in numbers to support the best of South African music talent”, added Larry Annetts: Chief Consumer Officer at MTN SA. Tickets to the North West concert which is taking place at the …