Local community newspaper, The Zululand Mail, part of the Zululand Observer stable, has been launched in KwaZulu Natal to service the Melmoth, Eshowe and Gingindlovu areas. The paper will be represented by SPARK Media.
“The three Zululand towns of Melmoth, eShowe and Gingindlovu form a micro-economic hub with Melmoth and Gingindlovu having both recently acquired large shopping centres with major chain stores anchoring these developments,” says SPARK Media’s Channel Manager, Graham Sinclair.
“This means that many residents of these towns are becoming increasingly independent and not as reliant as they were in the past on the larger neighbouring towns of Ulundi and Empangeni, necessitating the need for its own community paper.”
The paper has a distribution of 8000 copies and is aimed at the upper income earning consumer. The Zululand Mail will meet the needs of these three closely knit communities, bound together by agricultural and tourism enterprises.
To raise awareness of the launch, SPARK Media invited a handful of clients and agency representatives to experience the Zululand areas first hand. “It was the perfect way to highlight all the major development taking place in the area from a retail perspective,” he says. “We visited Empangeni and Richards Bay, the two major hubs in the area. Our clients were treated to a two night stay at the beautiful Thula-Thula private game reserve, which is part and parcel of the Anthony family legacy, better known for its patron, the late Lawrence Anthony, the Elephant Whisperer.”
Between game drives and soaking up the splendour of this magical place, clients received a presentation on the Zululand Observer media offering and its proud history.
“As community newspapers are one of the few categories to buck the declining print trend, we are always looking at increasing our footprint, providing advertisers with the key to unlocking successful marketing campaigns,” states Gill Randall, Joint CEO of SPARK Media. “Research clearly indicates that people shop locally, and with this in mind The Zululand Mail provides advertisers another opportunity to reach these consumers at a micro-level.”
To find out more, or to connect, discuss or engage with SPARK Media, call 010 492 8390, visit www.sparkmedia.co.za, follow us on Twitter – www.twitter.com/SparkMediaSA or find ‘SPARK Media’ (sparkmediasa) on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Spark Media DNA
Established in 2015, SPARK Media, a division of CTP Ltd, are experts in retail and location based marketing solutions. The company owns and represents a myriad of print and digital products that deliver locally relevant, effective audiences for advertising clients. SPARK Media are Strategic Partners in Audience Research and Knowledge and offer ‘Insights that Ignite’.
