Building on its already impressive repertoire of endorsements and accolades, Sandton City (www.SandtonCity.com) in Johannesburg has now been recognised on a global scale for marketing. This past weekend, Africa’s top retail destination was awarded with two honours at the International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC) Global Marketing Awards in the U.S. for professional marketing excellence. The ICSC Global Awards are the most recognized achievement in retail marketing. 

The centre’s 2023 festive season activation, titled Momo’s Magical Adventure, won a silver MAXI Marketing award, while the LEGO, Your Dream Car Generation won a gold Global Visual Victory award. The winners were announced at a prestigious ceremony in Las Vegas, this past weekend, that saw the world’s leaders in the retail industry congregate to recognise excellence and retail innovations.

Momo’s Magical Adventure was an original live theatre production, staged in a bespoke tent in the Sandton City centre court, over the December 2023 holiday. Visitors of all ages flocked to the show to enjoy the heart-warming story with endearing characters and a delightful storyline. The production was commissioned by Sandton City and brought to the stage by an award-winning creative team. Produced by visionary Lyall Ramsden, and under the playful directorial eye of Kirsten Harris, with a musical composition by James Bassingthwaighte, the show was a sensory delight, creation an unforgettable holiday experience. Also this week, the lead actress Tebogo Molepo won best performance in a production for young audiences at the South African Naledi awards, that honour excellence in theatre.

In another first, Sandton City was the first destination on the African continent to host the LEGO® Your Dream Car Generation activation. Spanning over approximately 300sqm, the experience transported shoppers to a riveting deconstructed car manufacturing garage, leveraging high-end technology, to ‘’generate’’ their dream car. With multiple touchpoints throughout the build, including graphics, animation and an interface control panel, the shopper journey enabled car enthusiasts to get creative and add their personal touches to their car design details.

“Sandton City is widely recognised for its iconic activations throughout the year, but especially during holiday seasons, as shoppers of all ages, including from beyond our catchment area, look forward to what we offer,” said Michael Wilson, Chief Marketing Officer for Excellerate Brand Management – EBM, the centre’s marketing agency. “Sandton City continues to leverage key partnerships with iconic and beloved international brands such a LEGO, but we also understand the importance of conceptualising local opportunities, which was the key driver for the creation of Momo’s Magical Adventure. I am thrilled that we have been applauded on an international stage, with Sandton City being the only winner on the African continent,” he added. 

Sandon City’s General Manager and Asset Management Executive, Dimitri Kokinos shared his excitement at the wins: “Last year Sandton City celebrated its 50th birthday, and it was crucial that we continued to host standout activations and experiences that surpass consumer expectations throughout the year. The awards are testament to our commitment to our tenants and customers and demonstrate the world class offering at Sandton City.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Sandton City.

For more information and regular updates go to www.SandtonCity.com or follow the centre on social media @SandtonCitymall.

Contact us:
Management Offices, Ground Floor, Atrium on 5th 
Sandton City
PO Box 78100
Sandton, 2146

Tel: +27 11 217 6000 
Web: www.SandtonCity.com

About Sandton City​:
Sandton City Shopping Centre is renowned amongst both local and international visitors as one of Africa’s leading retail destinations. With an impressive retail, office and leisure space ranking as South Africa’s top performing retail destination in terms of trading density, Sandton City has an effective tenant leasing strategy and a low vacancy level. The shopping centre is home to over 300 of the most exciting local and international brands and presents you with a world of luxury in the exclusive Diamond Walk.

Sandton City is six-star green-star rated by the Green Building Council of South Africa. This is the first super-regional shopping centre on the African continent to achieve such a prestigious rating, representing world leadership in environmentally sustainable operational efficiencies. In accordance with the SHORE accreditation standards by international certification body SAFE Asset Group, Sandton City is certified COVID-19 compliant and has also achieved gold level status as a safe retail destination for its ability to prevent, adapt, respond to, recover and learn from operational disruptions. Adjacent to world-class hotels and mega corporate headquarters, winning multiple Best Shopping Mall awards each year, Sandton City continues to be a leader in mixed-use properties.

Sandton City is co-owned by Liberty Group and Pareto Limited, and managed by JHI Retail Proprietary Limited.

For more information, please visit either www.SandtonCity.com, www.Liberty2Degrees.co.za, www.Pareto.co.za or www.JHI.co.za.

At drupa 2024 (Messe Düsseldorf, 28 May – 7 June 2024, Hall 8a) under the theme ‘The Power to Move’, Canon (www.Canon-CNA.com) is highlighting key partnerships and initiatives that demonstrate the power of collaboration to drive positive change and create experiences that enrich lives and businesses. In line with its Kyosei philosophy of living and working together for the common good, Canon is partnering with a number of businesses and charities and will donate 20,000 books produced during drupa to a variety of causes.

Across the stand, visitors can see many of Canon’s key collaboration activities, including:

World Unseen

At the centre of the Canon stand is ‘The Core’, offering visitors an immersive, multi-sensory exploration of print’s emotional impact and how technology and expertise converge to create imaging experiences that can enrich lives and businesses. The Core brings to life Canon’s ‘World Unseen’ (https://apo-opa.co/3KqYO5x) initiative with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and invites visitors to experience images, shot by renowned photographers, in a unique and inclusive way (see separate press release).

Printworks B2B partnerships

The ‘Printworks’ area of the Canon stand is about ‘People, Planet and What’s Possible’. Visitors can gain inspiration from exploring the various strategies Canon customers have adopted for successful sustainable growth with projects such as ‘Creative Futures’ (see separate press release). This annual project sees Canon collaborating with ‘The Drum’, a global publisher for the marketing and media industries, and other selected expert industry partners. UK-based start-ups are invited to compete for the opportunity to accelerate their marketing through an individualised, omni-channel strategy and print campaign. This year’s winner, Bower Collective, a provider of natural household and personal care products in reusable packaging, has its products and story on display on the Canon drupa stand.

Another initiative within Printworks is Publishing 2030 Accelerator which is focused on bringing about meaningful global progress on sustainability in publishing. Visitors will learn more about Canon’s collaboration with this publishing industry initiative, born out of Canon’s Future Book Forum community, and how Canon is playing an active role in scoping out the conditions for success for a Distributed Printing Network, which could propel the whole industry forward and slash the carbon footprint of every book sold.

Partnerships for good

Printworks will also present information about a number of charitable partners that Canon is supporting through the donation of around 20,000 books. These include the UN SDG Book Club African Chapter, which helps children with a reading list to familiarise themselves with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Lucy Swanston, the founder of UK literacy charity ‘Topic Heroes’, an online book service helping children to enjoy and learn writing, will also be on the Canon stand to raise awareness of this important mission. The charity gives children the chance to write their own stories and submit these via the Topic Heroes’ website. The manuscripts are then digitally printed on demand and the children are presented with a physical copy of the book containing their story. Additional copies are also then given to their school to be read by their peers. Thanks to charitable donations, Topic Heroes is able to support schools and children in lower income areas of the UK by offering this service free of charge. Supported by the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, Canon and finishing partner Meccanotecnica will donate 1,000 Topic Hero books to Ukrainian children in need of educational materials.

In line with Canon’s goal to minimise the environmental footprint of its exhibition participation, around 10,000 postcards, posters and brochures printed on the Canon stand during drupa will also be donated to German non-governmental organisations.

As part of its commitment to making the arts more accessible, Canon will also be showing its support for the inclusive choir, The White Hands Chorus Nippon (WHCN) (https://apo-opa.co/4bZsByt). The choir, founded by Artistic Director Erika Colon, brings together children with and without physical disabilities, with deaf members conveying sound and emotion through sign language, movement and facial expression. Images from the chorus’s visual interpretation of “Ode an die Freude/Ode to Joy” from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, as well as some of the white gloves and Canon technologies used in the event, are on display on the Canon stand alongside further information about the initiative.

Jennifer Kolloczek, Senior Director, Marketing&Innovation, Production Printing, Canon EMEA, comments: “Images, literature and music enrich lives and we believe that these experiences should be accessible to everyone. Canon has and supports a range of initiatives aimed at fulfilling this ambition and we’re proud to showcase and raise awareness of these causes on our stand at drupa 2024. They are all examples of how we live our corporate philosophy of Kyosei – living and working together for the common good. Through a range of partnerships, we’re working to inspire positive changes for the broader print sector and beyond.”

For more information around these and other initiatives supported by Canon Central and North Africa, speak with our experts on the Canon stand in Hall 8a at this year’s drupa 2024, or visit Canon at https://Canon-CNA.com .

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA).

Media enquiries, please contact:
Canon Central and North Africa
Mai Youssef
e. Mai.youssef@canon-me.com

APO Group – PR Agency
Rania ElRafie
e. Rania.ElRafie@apo-opa.com

About Canon Central and North Africa:
Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA) (www.Canon-CNA.com) is a division within Canon Middle East FZ LLC (CME), a subsidiary of Canon Europe. The formation of CCNA in 2016 was a strategic step that aimed to enhance Canon’s business within the Africa region – by strengthening Canon’s in-country presence and focus. CCNA also demonstrates Canon’s commitment to operating closer to its customers and meeting their demands in the rapidly evolving African market.

Canon has been represented in the African continent for more than 15 years through distributors and partners that have successfully built a solid customer base in the region. CCNA ensures the provision of high quality, technologically advanced products that meet the requirements of Africa’s rapidly evolving marketplace. With over 100 employees, CCNA manages sales and marketing activities across 44 countries in Africa.

Canon’s corporate philosophy is Kyosei (https://apo-opa.co/3yLA5WZ)– ‘living and working together for the common good’. CCNA pursues sustainable business growth, focusing on reducing its own environmental impact and supporting customers to reduce theirs using Canon’s products, solutions and services. At Canon, we are pioneers, constantly redefining the world of imaging for the greater good. Through our technology and our spirit of innovation, we push the bounds of what is possible – helping us to see our world in ways we never have before. We help bring creativity to life, one image at a time. Because when we can see our world, we can transform it for the better.

For more information: www.Canon-CNA.com

We rounded up last week exhibiting/demonstrating Excelitte – Our Cyber Security Toolset that provides 100% Data Loss Prevention (DLP) as its classified by Gartner for data in spreadsheets, files, images, videos, archived emails etc at the just concluded GITEX AFRICA (www.GITEXAfrica.com) 2024 tech event in Marrakech – Morocco.

Download document: https://apo-opa.co/3wQHpA9

At Excelitte (TEMS Consu Pty Ltd – An Australian based firm with its head office in Brisbane, Queensland) we note that that the list of reported successful cyber incidents globally less than halfway through the year continues to grow exponentially across both public&private sectors and it is likely to only get worse.

United Health, Medisecure, North Korea breaching the accounts of 100 South Korean ministry of defence personnel, Australian utility provider Sumo, Firstmac – US Mortgage Lender, Dropbox, London Drugs – Canadian Pharmaceutical company, U.S. drug Cencora etc, the list is endless and continuously growing.

Governance, Best Practise, Punitive Legislation, existing Information Technology security techniques such as Firewalls, Zero-Trust, 2-Factor authentication alone don’t seem to be mitigating Cyber Attacks and is unlikely to work anymore.

To stand any chance of mitigating these attacks or stopping these headliner news items, there needs to be a significant mindset change on how to fight Cyber Crime especially by IT Security Experts, Cyber Security, and IT Professionals alike.

Methods and techniques that worked 15 to 20 years ago are unlikely to suffice now, especially since the amount of sensitive data we now generate, capture, or save has grown exponentially.

Cyber Crime attack patterns have also become a lot more sophisticated, highly organised and automated.

The mindset must now be to also use advanced automation techniques across encryption, several factors of Authentication, Biometrics, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Predictive Analytics to pre-empt, deter, defend, and impede these attacks.   

The tactics and approach to fighting Cyber Crime needs to be completely steeped in automation and newer advanced Information Technology Precepts otherwise many more organisations will become victims and all our data globally will remain vulnerable to successful Cyber Attacks.

At Excelitte we are continuously researching and developing alternative, nontraditional automated tools or techniques to impede Cyber Crime, please get in touch if you want to learn more.  

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of GITEX Africa.

Watch: https://apo-opa.co/3yLGrWm

Media Contact:
Email Address – temsteam@temsconsu.com

Social Media:
LinkedIn – https://apo-opa.co/4aNNA5C