​Media 24’s Tasmia Ismail in conversation

With almost a quarter-century at Media24, Tasmia Ismail stands at the forefront of the media industry’s digital transformation. Her extensive education includes an MBA, Sales Management, Media Management and leadership courses. Tasmia’s leadership has garnered multiple accolades, including the 2019 Media24 Values Award and recognition at the INMA awards. As the general manager for Media24 commercial sales team, Tasmia has spear-headed cutting-edge digital strategies that strengthen partner relations in the ever-changing digital realm.

Overall, what have been the growth/encouragement areas for you in your media company in 2024?

While print is still a huge part of the Media24 world, our speed at leading digital transformation in a publisher environment is truly encouraging. From innovative adtech, digital retail solutions and AI integration, we are continuously challenging ourselves to think out of the box to provide tailored solutions to our clients.

Is AI having a major impact on your business? In what ways?

I believe the advertising agencies are moving faster than we are with AI integration however AI is being speedily adopted in our newsrooms and in our tech (IT) divisions. We are now ramping up our efforts to integrate AI in advertising.

How is your relationship with the big tech platforms?

We have a civil and transactional relationship with the bigger tech companies but we do challenge our advertisers on supporting locally owned and operated media by ensuring that due consideration is given to local publishers and platforms when working with clients digital budgets.

Innovation and strategy. Can you share any innovative strategies your organization is implementing?

How are you leveraging technology to enhance your media offerings? We are at a crossroads where the print is currently taking the strain. The innovation is driven by creating solutions for advertisers where print could leave a gap. For retail, digital leaflet solutions is a key focus, for government sector online recruitment, tenders and notices have been developed and launched. Innovative brand storytelling on content marketing requires elements like shoppable video, product reviews and tech solutions that encourage user engagement.

Are subscriptions the panacea for future reader involvement/monetization?

In what way does advertising support your subscription drive? Subscriptions are a critical strategic growth pillar for M24. We contribute by including corporate subs as part of every proposal to relevant brands we deal with on the advertising side. Talking to our subs strategy in client and agency workshops also enforces our messaging around continued support for credible journalism and the longevity of our newsrooms. It resonates well in these settings with corporate SA brands.

Brand Building. What are the key elements of building a strong brand in today’s market?

How do you maintain brand relevance in a rapidly changing environment? We recently started a series of Digital Evolution Workshops around the country. Four in total since July. This has been extremely well received as the advertising market remains keen to see what publishers are doing to reinvent themselves and futureproofing their relevance. The content of the 3-hour workshops is a combination of newsroom (editorial), advertising, subscriptions and content marketing heads that lead the conversation on digital transformation in a publisher world. The setting is an exclusive venue and in-person sessions. We are thinking up or themes for next year already.

What differences do you see in media consumption across various areas/regions you operate in?

How do you tailor your strategies to different markets? In SA the advertising market remains cutthroat with local radio, community newspapers, regional newspapers, digital publishing, TV, Out of Home and now more especially Digital out of Home. Not forgetting our dear friends on search and social. While brands keep their preferences on what is relevant for them, our hard task is positioning ourselves as a media partner that offers Reach with Trust. Not all clients get it or can afford it but we have success with specific industries like financial, FMCG, Automotive and Retail. Media24’s diverse offering allows us to offer brands an integrated (and innovative) solution across print, digital, magazines and TV across the English, Afrikaans and Mass markets of SA.

What is your overall view of the state of the advertising market? How are you adapting to any decline?

Our market I would say is pretty saturated, Too many platforms and too little advertising budgets. All the more reason to be first to market with innovation and solutions that talk back to solving our client's problems. Ensuring that we are aligned internally to have the best products to market enables the conversation around where clients should prioritize their ad budgets.

How do we build long-term relationships with agencies and advertisers?

We have adopted a few changes. We have three teams that include government (print and digital), Integrated (brand/retail print and digital) and a Digital only focussed team. This allows our sales teams who still have a print focus to start building migration strategies ahead of the time. We are focused on working more with brands directly but keeping agencies in the loop. Agencies simply cannot position our offerings with the same passion and energy as we would. We also ensure our most senior person (GM of Sales) presents workshops herself as it commands presence and urgency. Everything we endeavor to accomplish is for the long haul.

Where does print fit into your advertising portfolio, if print is still relevant to you? How do you sell print advertising?

In isolation? Part of an overall portfolio proposal? How do you get print on the radar of (mainly young) media planners and buyers? Print is still relevant on our world and like other publishers remain on the decline. On of our strategic priorities is to migrate or convert as much of that spend to digital as fast as we can. Off course ensuring that clients continue to see value in the ROI. In our world the print buyers have been at agencies for years and its far easier to have a digital conversation with a younger planner or buyer. Kind of works itself out.

Events. What do you do in this space? Exclusive events for subscribers perhaps? How do you create them?

A specialized/dedicated team to run them? Events are a big focus for us. This is driven mainly from the brands or news verticals, packaged by the commercial team to secure sponsorship. Our Lifestyle/magazine division has mastered the art of events, and their year calendar is crazy impressive. We are taking some learnings and mentorship from them to help us grow in that space. It’s new and a long game, so planning in advance is critical. We have a newly appointed publisher that also heads up our content studio that will help get this going on the News side.

Audio. Are Podcasts in your wheelhouse? Successful? Resource heavy? How do you monetize?

Podcasts are handled by our content studio, no massive uptake but we have clients who build this into their campaigns which is where we make a small sum. Some podcasts do great, some not so much. We are not giving up yet.

Other revenue diversification. Anything particularly successful? Branded content? Ecommerce?

Content marketing with shoppable video seems to be in now. We also have a beautifully conceptualized e-magazine called 24Mag that has done extremely well in the luxury market, targeting high-net-worth individuals. We are also trusting geolocation and dynamic pricing for retail.

What about future advertising trends? What are you seeing? Is video advertising the future? Social platforms?

Diversification into the likes of TV and radio as some have done? Will print have a future? Will it all ultimately be about mobile? Where does AI fit into that landscape? In my opinion sold newspapers will see its end, community free sheets will have a much longer lifespan if they focus deeply on hyperlocal content. Digital publishing is a tough space but if we maintain great levels of journalism, get more people to subscribe and cleverly build audiences, we stand a good chance of winning more of the digital budgets It will continue to be mobile first in SA and AI will aid to optimize internal processes and if we get it right we can stay ahead if we innovatively adopt AI in advertising.

Future of Media overall. How do you envision the media landscape evolving over the next decade?

There will always be space for news; how we deliver it is key. Subscriber loyalty will determine the value of news, and for now, other than print (sold titles specifically), other traditional platforms will remain relevant a little while longer in SA.

Challenges and opportunities. What are the biggest challenges facing media companies today?

Where do you see the most significant opportunities for growth? Again the global tech players that are eating our breakfast remain our immediate frustration. We need more people paying for good journalism, we need to create platforms that brands see value in when looking for their audiences and we have to be seen as more than just a news source. Revenue diversification is key but you got to find that special thing no one has yet found.

As we look towards/into 2025, can you offer any comfort or words of wisdom to those media companies who have seen ad revenue losses this year?

We have to step out of our comfort zones. We must find ways to stay relevant to ensure that our clients go on the journey with us because of the years of trust and loyalty that exists both ways. Fail and fail fast. Take a chance, you will never know which crazy idea will yield you the best results.

Are there any peculiarities about your country/market in the advertising arena?

Having the opportunity to engage with some global publishers, SA trends are no different to that of the rest of the world.

More about Mark Challinor: Mark is a commercial and media advertising strategist. He recently led the International News Media Association’s (INMA.org) Advertising Initiative (the news industry’s deeper dive into media advertising). He has also been European and global president of INMA. He produces a monthly Future of Media Advertising newsletter on Linkedin, as well as running an advertising committee made up of senior executives from across the world’s media. Mark is now CEO of News Media UK Consulting. Follow Mark on X: @challinor and LinkedIn.

Last week, we met with Monicah Ndun’gu, chief operating officer of Nation Media Group. You can catch up on the News Horizons hub.