"The new website looks to showcase the DMMA's commitment to our new role as a representative of all players in the digital marketplace. The site will continue to develop and evolve overtime, demonstrating that the transformation of the association runs much deeper than a simple name change," says DMMA head of marketing, Karen Dempers.
The DMMA, which was previously known as the Online Publishers' Association (OPA), was recently relaunched and renamed in a bid to be more inclusive. At the time of its original launch, and as evidenced by the original name, it represented the interests of online publishers. Today, that scope has been broadened to include all key players in the local digital industry, including online and mobile publishers, advertising and media agencies and now also digital development agencies.
The new site reflects this broader scope and aims to provide visitors with comprehensive information on the association, its role in the industry and the initiatives in which it is involved, as well as facts and figures on the digital environment, the performance of the marketplace and a high-level demographic profile of South African internet browsers. In addition, it provides a platform to showcase association members and share their news.
The site was developed by BlueWorld Communities (BWC), a 24.com-owned internet technology company founded and run by Bradley Voges and Charl Norman.
Norman explains that the site is powered by BWC's Trinity content management system which enables any association exco member to publish content seamlessly onto the site, and also allows for the dynamic updating of member profiles to ensure that they remain current. In addition, BWC has integrated Facebook graph tools alongside Twitter and Linkedin controls to allow for fast and efficient content sharing across a wide variety of platforms.
Voges comments that, in his opinion, the site does a great job of reflecting the association's new positioning.
"Developing the DMMA website has been a great opportunity for us and we look forward to partnering the association in enhancing and evolving the site to ensure that it continues to represent the digital community effectively and efficiently," he says.
Adds Adrian Hewlett, Chairperson of the DMMA: "The evolution of the OPA into what is now the much larger DMMA has been an important tipping point in the local digital industry. Building and creating a destination to support this body has been a critical part of that journey - giving both our members and the broader industry access to a library of information and tools to do better digital business. This is something we are very proud of and hope our member use to enhance the value that they receive from the association."
He concludes by thanking BlueWorld Communities for donating company time and expertise to create this physical representation of the new organisation, and Karen Dempers, for making it all happen - on time, according to brief and to an outstanding end result.
