South African media group Johnnic Communications has joined forces with the Proudly South African campaign to promote South African books and music, new business opportunities for South African companies and a stepped-up consumer education campaign to promote “buy South African”.
Johncom said in a statement on Monday that its six business divisions had joined forces with the campaign to promote the best of South African business, products, services and creativity with the aim of encouraging consumers to boost job creation by supporting local products.
The partnership will see the two organisations investigating the feasibility of drawing on Gallo Music’s enormous South African music archives — the most extensive African music archives in the world — with a view to compiling a series of “the best South African music of all time”.
They will also cooperate in the promotion of South African literature and other published products, encouraging local readers to support local authors and titles through the use of the distinctive Proudly South African symbol.
For Proudly South African’s 1 400 member companies and organisations, which range from micro-businesses to large corporations across every sector of the economy, the partners are negotiating a deal that will result in access to a
flow of new tender leads and opportunities via the group’s electronic trading hub, Tradeworld.
Johncom Group marketing director Neil Jacobsohn said the group was excited to be partnering with Proudly South African.
“We intend to work closely together across our business units to promote the concept of buying South African, by developing new products and promotions that will keep the concept alive and fresh.”
Proudly South African CEO Martin Feinstein said Johncom’s extensive media, publishing, retail and interactive experience could prove of value to the campaign’s members.
“We want to bring new tender information to our members to build their order books. We want to promote local music and publishing. And we want to educate South Africans on the meaning of the distinctive proudly South African tick. Johncom can help us achieve all this and more, while emphasising its South African roots and pedigree.”
Proudly South African chairperson Tim Modise said: “South Africa will not sustain the transformation of the past decade without a resounding economic transformation. Companies like Johncom have a real role to play in making this happen.
“All South Africans have the power to break the cycle of unemployment and make a difference to small business and the mainstream economy. The man in the street needs to be educated, he needs to know that our daily choices feed into economic scenarios and that every effort counts. Johncom can help us do this job, and also showcase the best of South African achievements across many spheres of our lives,” he said. — I-Net Bridge