The new division, called inBroadcast, was created in response to the multiple, different and cost-efficient opportunities that are emerging to challenge the traditional broadcasters' role — from platforms built to amplify a single message through to brands themselves becoming broadcasters.
inBroadcast is headed by Jon Savage, one of the South African directors to feature at the Cannes Film Festival. Savage says that inBroadcast ensures that the agency keeps pace with the evolutions enabling brands to reach consumers in relevant and powerful ways.
"Keeping up to speed with change is almost useless if done from a distance," Savage says. "Running inBroadcast means [that] we are actively recruiting and building the skillsets needed to take advantage of the new opportunities and media platforms. We want to ensure [that] we always have the full knowledge and skill set. It's the difference between knowing about culture and being immersed in the culture."
"inBroadcast also incorporates The Eye — a facility that runs third-party radio stations — which is what makes it an economical solution for brands," adds Savage. "[As] an innovation in digital radio, it uses the ways in which people engage with social media as the template for content and who hosts it. This is a massive departure from traditional radio and [it is] paving new roads for how brands can engage in the digital space."
"The Eye is also connecting more deeply with culture by hosting on-demand shows presented by developing new talent — from Lao Molele and her Ask Nicely show (she started on The Eye at 14 years old), to AMPD's Live host Jo Lumka, to established culture icons like Slikour, Reason and Mos Def," he says.
Co-founder of HaveYouHeard Jason Stewart, says, "Our online publication called thisisin_ provides our clients and subscribers with insights into culture that matters, and explains how these cultural evolutions are shaping brands, society and people."
"Part of what makes HaveYouHeard distinctive is our ability to evolve by becoming a part of real-world culture, and not just providing a telescope into it. That's what inBroadcast is. "By becoming part of the dynamic broadcast media landscape, with our in-house facility, we have the freedom to create, experiment and become part of the communities and cultures we are helping brands immerse into. It's just the way we like to do it," Stewart adds.
The first HaveYouHeard clients to work with the new division include Old Mutual, with its AMPD studios in Newtown Junction, Johannesburg, and Sportscene, a high-impact 24-hour digital radio station that is dedicated to sports news and discussions.
For more information, visit www.haveyouheard.co.za. You can also follow HaveYouHeard on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.