To find out more about the app and the work that went into it, Media Update went behind the scenes with World Wide Creative's CEO and co-founder, Fred Roed.

When is the app being launched, officially?

The official date is set for Tuesday, 1 September 2015. Gareth and his team will announce it on the show as soon as it is available for download on the app store. iStore in Sandton will host a public launch on Friday, 4 September, with loads of celebs and a big party afterwards. This project been a massive labour of love for everyone involved, so celebrations are due.

How did the idea come about? Did WWC approach Gareth or vice versa?

We first met Gareth when he spoke at one of World Wide Creative's Heavy Chef Digital Marketing events in May 2014. The idea for a custom-built native app came out of a number of discussions between World Wide Creative and a mutual partner of ours and CliffCentral's.

It was very clear that an app was required; CliffCentral's growing audience was crying out for it. Online radio in this country is still in its infancy, but people will inevitably make the transition. The benefit of on-demand choice is too strong to ignore. Despite it being fairly cumbersome to access the show via mobile in the year since launch, CliffCentral's audience has been growing at an impressive lick.

We suggested a native solution that would be significantly more user-friendly and that would accommodate various data preferences. We believe we have succeeded in creating a strong solution for launch. We're very excited for next week.

How closely did WWC work with Gareth Cliff and his team on the app?

Both Gareth and CliffCentral co-founder, Rina Broomberg, were very closely involved. We created a 'dream team' to deliver the app in double-quick time. World Wide Creative provided the direction and strategy, which was led by the inimitable Sammy-Jane Every, creative director at WWC. I called upon Mike Hardy, an old school friend of mine, to work with us on the development through his app-development agency Fonk. Fonk have participated in some remarkable projects in South Africa and Europe, and under the leadership of Andy Skinstad in Cape Town I believe they are a team that will scale great heights.

This project was led out of WWC's Johannesburg Office, run by Louis Janse van Rensburg and managed by the amazing Deborah Whitlock. Deborah and Louis were in weekly contact with Gareth and Rina - as well as CliffCentral's Greg Cohen, who possibly deserves the most recognition for making this project come to life.

How long did it take to develop the app?

Together with the Cape Town WWC team and Fonk, we managed to conceptualise, brief and deliver the project within five months.

What were the kinds of things that you had to keep in mind with developing the app?

Many apps make the mistake of becoming 'swiss army knives' with too many features. Louis, Deborah, Sammy, Mike, Andy and I were determined to ensure the app would be simple, clean and beautiful to interact with. Gareth, Rina and the CliffCentral team shared this vision from the outset. Gareth is intensely passionate about digital communication and has a deep understanding of what was required.

How is the app going to enrich people’s experience on CliffCentral?

When you first see the app, you will be amazed at how focused it is. The CliffCentral app is built for purpose, without distraction, and I believe the user-experience alone will entice more people to adopt digital radio and podcasting for pure on-demand convenience. This also means that more people will be able to access the incredibly rich content that is being produced via CliffCentral.

CliffCentral has shown that it is brave enough to tackle the salient topics that South Africans are confronted with on a daily basis. Gareth, Rina and their team are hell-bent on retaining their core tenets of truth, diversity and integrity. For obvious reasons, these are important qualities in our nation right now.

Any last words?

I'm incredibly grateful to work with such a passionate and dedicated bunch of people. This project was a lot of fun. Gareth and his CliffCentral team are doing strong work and I believe the CliffCentral app will be a game-changer in South Africa. The team recognises that this project has established a foundation for greater things in the industry. It's exciting to be part of it.

The CliffCentral app will be live and available for download from Tuesday, 1 September. Keep your eye on CliffCental on Facebook and Twitter for more details.

For more information, visit the World Wide Creative website. Alternatively, connect with the agency on Facebook and Twitter.