For too many years the mass media in this country have ignored the fact that people such as radio presenters are celebrities, whether they like it or not, and as such are in quite considerable demand to give public talks, attend events and so forth. And in doing so they are of course promoting the brand of the stations they are working for.
According to PrimeTalent all the big names of Talk Radio 702 and 94.7 Highveld have signed up and hopefully the celebs from their Cape Town stations will also be included.
Of course, time will tell whether PrimeTalent is able to do the job properly or not. Up until, now all of these radio personalities have been managed by private agents who certainly seem to have been getting them a lot of work and, more importantly, getting them top dollar for a commission of round about 20%. Whether PrimeTalent will be able to get them as many gigs and match the fees they have been getting remains to be seen.
But, it is a brilliant idea in principle and hats off to Primedia for at least recognising that the celebrity status of their employees is actually a benefit and not a threat.
Unlike the newspaper industry in this country that remains absolutely paranoid about any of its columnists becoming celebrities, even if everyone else sees them as such. Somehow newspaper management has this fear that if their columnists or specialist writers or, in some cases their editors, become too well known, too popular, they will somehow hold their employers to ransom. Or start to ask for more money. In fact, many newspapers would rather see their “celebrity” editors or writers resign than pay what they are worth.
With the result that newspaper columnists hardly ever get any sort of support from their bosses in terms of adding value to the brand they represent by leveraging their talents outside of the newspaper pages.
But then of course, South Africa's newspapers and many online publishers who came out of the newspaper industry, have a history of not understanding the function of marketing, so it is hardly surprising that they are missing out on a quite remarkable branding opportunity.
Well done to Primedia for waking up to the potential of its greatest assets. Hopefully now someone in the newspaper and online publishing businesses will wake up and follow suit. I'm not holding my breath, however.
