Our take on the @GarethCliff “saga”

There has been quite a lot of media attention paid to the recent story on Memeburn that 5FM DJ Gareth Cliff “sells” his tweets or Facebook endorsements for a decent chunk of change.

The argument in short basically goes that Cliff fans can’t judge his integrity if they know that he is actually being paid to say nice things about specific brands.

As of this morning Cliff had 126451 followers on Twitter plus another 315570 on Facebook. Obviously there is plenty of overlap amongst those two numbers but in short there is plenty of value in Cliff saying nice things about your brand. If you were to advertise on a blog, website or newspaper then you would be forking out some serious ammo for reaching those kind of numbers.

For me there are a couple of things to consider in all of this.

1. The person who started the whole story was a PR agent. Without being a cynic, who got the better mileage out of the story? If Angelo generates business from his Twitter feed then is it a question of ethics / morals? If Angelo tweets about his clients do we simply assume that he does business only with brands that he believes are relevant and trustworthy? If that is the case then why can’t the same be assumed of Gareth Cliff?

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Cape radio station suggestions

One of the entrepreneurs in the Rival Pioneers community is looking for some tactical marketing in the Cape student market. This would involve making use of some of the radio offerings in Cape Town.

Essentially they provide a platform to market discount products to students and are a very interesting entrepreneurs story as well. It would be good for them to get some additional exposure as we think their business venture has a lot of merit.

With us based in Johannesburg its hard to give too many comments or strike up relationships with any DJs or producers to at least make some suggestions for them to work with.

Anybody got any suggestions for us / them?

Controversial: Dave Randall (Faithless) on 5fm

There seems to be quite a lot of controversy surrounding the Dave Randall advert on 5FM which called for the boycott of Israel. Some argue that 5FM shouldn’t have played it as it has become a political statement, others argue freedom of speech and that it was a paid for advert.

The ad is below. Give me your thoughts:

Eugene Khosa on the Fresh Drive

Funny man Eugene Khoza dropped into the The Fresh Drive this week for a laugh and a quick update on his one man show “Khoza Can”.

Video courtesy of the team over at Zoopy.

(TV)5 IS COMING

So apparently 5FM is launching its own television show shortly

Details are still pretty limited but according to the posting on the 5FM blog we can expect:

  • (TV)5
  • Friday 4 February 2011
  • SABC3
  • 19:30
  • News, gossip, music, parties and fashion gigs

Interesting decision to go cross channel for such an offering but maybe trying to compete with e-TV’s showbiz report?

Thoughts on whether this has any appeal?

Anybody have any ideas what we can expect from this?

Sasha’s Essential Hit Picks 3

5FM DJ and motor racing enthusiast Sasha Martinengo has become something of an institution on the radio. If you want to know something about F1 then Sasha is the man.

He regularly puts together a compilation CD and this year is no different with the release of “Sasha’s Essential Hit Picks 3″. You can buy this disk online by clicking HERE or on the CD cover below. The three disk CD pack includes the following tracks:

Click Here for the coolest, wildest T-Shirts

Disc 1
1.   DJ Team- Alors on Danse (Deluxe Mix)
2.   Crazy White Boy- Love you better
3.   Pleasurekraft- Tarantula (Extended Mix)
4.   Alex Peace- From inside the speaker (The Yank Mix)
5.   Yolanda Be Cool vs.D cup ft Nabilon-We no speak no Americano
6.   Gramophonedzie- Why don’t you
7.   Kate Project- California gurlz (The Factory Team Remix)
8.   Edward Maya ft Vika Jigulina- Stereo love (Mollela Mix)
9.   Locnville- There (D.O.N.S Radio Edit)
10.   Paul Oakenfold ft Matt Goss- Firefly
11.   Swedish House Mafia- One (Radio Edit)
12.   Mischa Daniels Feat. J-Son- Where You Wanna Go (Radio Edit)
13.   Pittbull ft Akon- Shut it down
14.   Kurd Maverick & Rudee- Ring Ring Ring (Radio Edit)
15.   Dennis Ferrer- Hey hey (Vandalism Remix)
16.   AfroJack ft Eva Simons- Take Control (Radio Edit)
17.   Junior Caldera ft. Sophie Ellis Bextor- Can’t fight this feeling
18.   Armin van Buuren vs. Sophie Ellis Bextor- Not giving up on love
19.   Paul Almeida ft. Candy Stone- Angel (Melodia Deep Mix)

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Don’t Touch me on my Summer

5FM and Savannah held their “Don’t Touch me on my Summer” Party at Cubana in Green Point. The event was hosted be Grant Nash and featured DJs Euphonik, Shaun Duvet and Milkshake.

Check out some of the action from the event:

Via the team at Zoopy

Poker Face: The Rise and Rise of Lady Gaga

As of this morning Lady Gaga had more than 7.1 MILLION followers on Twitter… She is perhaps the most influential modern “pop” celebrity in the business at the moment.

This unauthorised biograpghy is based on over 50 original interviews with friends  and music industry veterans and gives some insight to the  cultural phenomenon that is Lady Gaga.

It will make a fascinating Xmas gift for anybody who has even the slightest interest in this 24 year old has surged to the top of the music industry.

You can buy the book online from Kalahari for R212.50 by clicking HERE or on the image below.

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Rammstein are coming to South Africa!

There seems to be a lot of excitement about Rammstein coming to rock SA shores next year. Just watching the blogs and Tweets, I’ve been surprised how much appeal there is for the group.

Hehehehe every time I think of Rammstein I think of that shocking, nerdy guy from Idols doing his audition. I must see if I can find the YouTube clip…

The band will be performing on:

  • 9th February at the Grand Arena in Cape Town
  • 11th February at the Coca-Cola Dome Johannesburg

So who is excited?!

For the Darren Scott fans

If you are a Darren Scott fan you might be interested in his new book which is now available on Kalahari.

It is entitled: “No fries on us” and it details the story of how he lost a hell of a lot of weight and turned into the “lean, mean fighting machine” that he is now.

In No Fries on Us, Darren Scott, Dan Nicholl, his writer and long-time friend, and personal trainer Lisa Raleigh recount the story of Darren’s remarkable transformation. Darren’s story is one most men can identify with and this, coupled with the technical know-how that Lisa provides, explains how you don’t have to give up life, tasty food and even the odd good time with a Jack or two to reach your weight and fitness goals. Filled with dietary tips, fitness suggestions and the self-deprecating, biting humour Darren is known for, No Fries on Us is an honest, amusing and informative look at Darren’s life, dieting and how best to achieve your target weight.

You can buy the book from Kalahari for R144 by clicking HERE or on the book cover above.