Vol 24, No 2 (2005)

Emphasis on product placement as a variable in the marketing communication strategy
of organisations seems to be a relatively new focus. However, evidence exists that as
early as the 1940s product placement was used in feature films to brand products and
services. The initial use of product placements in feature films received new opportunities
through the introduction of new electronic media, such as video, DVD, mobile messaging,
electronic billboards, Internet clips and websites. Product placement is not confined to
cinema feature films. New electronic media offer unique opportunities for product
placement, which necessitated the renewed focus on product placement as a vehicle of
deliberate product exposure within the broader integrated marketing communication
(IMC) context.
The use of product placement has increased rapidly over the last few years. Product
names are increasingly being featured in films and television programmes. Companies
are increasingly seeking to broaden their marketing campaigns to include product
placement in broadcast media to confirm the product’s brand identity or to reach different
audiences effectively.
This article aims to describe the context in which product placement is categorised. It
also explains the relevance of product placement as a vehicle of communication in the
integrated marketing communication strategy.
In order to reach the set objectives of this article, a literature review of existing information
was conducted. The article does not claim to be a comprehensive work on productplacement in general - it rather attempts to provide a theoretical framework in which product placement could be studie

Problems associated with the management of communication (in the broadest sense of
the word) are a recurring theme in both Corporate Communication Management and
Human Resource Management literature and in research on the implementation of
affirmative action1 as part of the Employment Equity Act2 in the South African context.
Therefore, the following research question was formulated: “How do South African
organisations manage communication about affirmative action (against the backdrop
of employment equity3)?”.
This article provides an overview of some dimensions of an exploratory qualitative study
that investigated this research question. The ever-increasing strategic importance of
organisational performance regarding the EEA highlights the need for research in this
area. This study is one of only a few empirical studies in the field of Corporate
Communication with the emphasis on topics related to the management of communication
in this specific transformational context.
Since this study focused on aspects that had not been researched previously (or verified
empirically), an exploratory approach had to be followed, with the purpose of gauging
possible current trends related to the management of communication about AA in a
selection of South African organisations. A case study comparison of three organisations
yielded the following results on four sub-questions derived from the overarching research
question. The organisations researched (1) comply with their legal duty to inform and
consult with stakeholders about the process of EE as stipulated in the Code of Good
Practice for the EEA (Department of Labour, 1999); (2) the management of EE is viewed
as a transformational change process, as opposed to a once-off incident; (3) the

management of communication in this context is viewed as a critical success factor, but
a disparity exists between the emphasis placed on strategic external and internal
communication efforts; and (4) leaders at all hierarchical levels have different
communication responsibilities in relation to this transformational process.
Based on the results of this study, the major recommendation for the management of
affirmative action communication pertains to the need to address the perceived gap
between internal and external communication efforts. Since strategic internal
communication is not only viewed as critical for the dissemination of information, but
also as the vehicle through which transformation is facilitated, the value thereof should
not be underestimated.

In developing countries, the popular media can be used effectively to address social
problems (Vaughan, Rogers, Singhal & Swalehe, 2000:82). In recent decades, various
developmental, educational and other socially useful messages have often been included
in the content of soap operas (Mody, 1991).
The producers of South African soap opera Isidingo are acutely aware of their social
responsibility and therefore attempt to make a contribution towards social change and
nation building. As such, Isidingo employs positive role models to transmit pro-social
messages to its viewers. This paper will report on a study that explored the application
of the entertainment-education (E-E) strategy in the local soap opera Isidingo by
investigating the perceptions of female viewers in respect of self-reported knowledge
acquisition, attitudes and behavioural changes due to watching this programme.

This study investigates whether the different home languages of the employees in a South
African corporate have an influence on their perception of the organisational structure
and processes. The study was conducted in the context of the ABSA financial institution
in the Western Cape.
The authors conducted a series of interviews with management-level employees who
speak Afrikaans, English and Xhosa as home languages, in an attempt to ascertain the
extent of the influence of individual cultures on perceptions and actions in corporate
society. Specific attention was given to how these individuals perceived meetings,
decision-making processes and conflict.
These interviews were transcribed verbatim and studied by means of narrative analysis
using a specialised software package to provide better insight into the roles that language
and culture play in a South African organisation. Based on the narratives provided by the
respondents in this study, the authors concluded that individual culture plays a significant
role in the perceptions of organisational structures such as conflict management,
interaction during meetings, decision-making and the acceptance of authority.
South Africa is now celebrating more than ten years of democracy following the country’s
first democratic election in 1994. In the past decade, corporate South Africa has seen
an unprecedented cultural diversity in its workforce. The dynamics of local organisations
have changed to incorporate the various cultural representations. In an attempt to explore
the multicultural phenomenon that exists in the workplace, the authors conducted a
study among the supervisory and managerial staff of a prominent South African financialinstitution, ABSA, in the hope of providing better insight into the roles language and
culture play in a South African organisation. Such an understanding could not only
establish a more effective organisational culture, but also ultimately help South African
business to deal with cultural diversity and conflict in the workplace in a more creative
way. This article describes a qualitative research project utilising narrative analysis to
investigate how employees’ home language influences their perception of corporate
culture.

Research shows that flirting is found in all cultures and societies. However, very little
research has been conducted on the differences in the courtship and flirting behaviour
of people from diverse cultures. Like all other communication behaviour, flirting behaviour
varies from culture to culture, and acceptable flirting behaviour in one culture might be
viewed as inappropriate in another. Likewise, because all forms of communication are
dynamic, generation gaps may lead to conflict as a result of differences in opinion about
the appropriateness of certain behaviours. Thus, the patterns of flirting behaviour are
culture-specific and even generation-specific. Although there are research findings
available on flirting behaviour in Western and Eastern cultures, very few scholars have
researched flirting behaviour in African cultures. This article provides a brief summary
of existing research findings. In order to gain insight into culture-specific views and
opinions, a qualitative research design in the form of focus group interviews with a
selection of black South African youths was utilised. The primary aim of the study is to
explore the similarities and differences between the flirting behaviour of a selection of
South African youths from an African background and Western research findings on flirting
behaviour. Secondary aims are to explore whether some black South African youths’
perceptions of acceptable flirting behaviour differ from their interpretation of their
parents’ views, and to utilise a qualitative research design in order to identify useful and
appropriate variables that could be tested quantitatively in follow-up studies. It is
cautiously concluded that there are both similarities and differences between the reported
flirting behaviour of South African youths from an African background and Western
research findings on flirting behaviour. Furthermore, most of the participants indicated
that the flirting behaviour they exhibit is unlikely to be viewed as proper behaviour by
their parents

This study examined new organisational environments and environmental variables
involved in the adoption and implementation of new communication technology. This
includes structures within the organisation and social communication networks. Social
communication networks determine the levels of the measurement of the processes
associated with managerial practices and policies regarding videoconferencing
implementation. Videoconferencing as a communication management tool should not only take into
account the numerous applications of videoconferencing, but also consider all the
implications for management. The study utilised focus group research, social network analysis and descriptive statistics
in the investigation of the manifestation of the above-mentioned variables in the Tertiary
Education Linkages Project (TELP), which is a linkage project between the Eastern Cape
Technikon and Texas Southern University. The study utilises triangulation for the
establishment of acceptable levels of reliability and validity. The data analysis revealed that videoconferencing facilitates organisational communication networks on the precondition that communication networks and the
communication environment are well managed. The nature of social networks reveals
that it will always be in existence where human interaction is present. However,
communication management strategies are indeed required to ensure that the quality
of information disseminated over the social network contributes to sound managerial
outcomes. It was furthermore established that communication management policies do
not necessarily affect individuals’ experiences of videoconferencing. However, as a
communication management tool, videoconferencing must be guided by effective
communication management policies and practices for the group to be effective.

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