Junk Mail Publishing
Encyclopedia
Junk Mail Publishing is South Africa's leading publisher in the Classified advertising
industry, publishing various products through different Media
such as print, World Wide Web
, Mobile Web
, SMS
, and Phone
.
the classifieds industry was dominated by large newspaper groups. In 1992 Classifieds were all proprietary. Classifieds were an essential component of profitability for the newspaper groups. However, in April 1992 a new classifieds advert concept came to the district of Gauteng
. A French entrepreneur living in Finland
, Gerald Corniel, backed by big German Classified group partnered together to launch the free advert classifieds publication in South Africa. The free advert concept is a very old concept, born in the 1970s in Canada and ignored for a long time. It became very popular in the 1980s in Europe. The concept giving free classifieds and selling the publication became very popular and successful. It worked all over the world, in Germany
, Italy
, South America
and other countries.
A free ad paper is a very simple concept. Free adverts are given to private advertisers, published free of charge. The publication is sold to the public. Having adverts free of charge makes it very attractive. It's free and very easy to use. Adverts are accepted via fax, phone or via the internet. This model ensures that the biggest amount of classifieds are published, making it attractive to prospective buyers buying the publication. Advertising space is sold to businesses / companies wanting advertising exposure to services and products that they are offering. Junk Mail started to provide their advertising services to the population of Gauteng province in 1992. The company was launched out of a garage in Pretoria
. Advertisers were canvassed out of other publications. Since only 3 distribution companies existed in 1992 (all owned by big newspaper groups) Junk Mail launched its own distribution division in December 1992. In 1994 Junk Mail ceased canvassing operations for adverisers, only allowing callers to place their free adverts. By this time Junk Mail's call center already had 10,000 adverts were being published weekly. This made the publication self sustainable, a community was forming and growing naturally and this meant that the free advert concept was finally working.
By 1995, 20,000 adverts were being published weekly. In 1995 Junk Mail Gauteng split up into 2 regions, 1 for Johannesburg, 1 for Pretoria. This was considered to be suicide by some people, but this was a success because Junk Mail is a community driven paper. Splittling the original Junk Mail Gauteng
into 2 regions led to more copies being sold and more adverts being placed by advertisers. The Motor Mail supplement for the Junk Mail Publication was launched in the same year. In 1996 Junk Mail launched its publication for Kwazulu Natal. This meant that Junk Mail could now extend its distribution network beyond Gauteng's borders. In 1997 Junk Mail Publishing launced the world's first job classified free advert paper, Job Mail. This publication
was published forthnightly. Job Mail is the only independent publication of its kind in South Africa (and weekly since late 2006). In 1998 Junk Mail Online was launched. Junk Mail Online was one of the first commercial websites in South Africa. Junk Mail Online is one of the top 10 visited websites in South Africa. After considering and re-evaluating all aspects of the Junk Mail publications for 6 months, the new look Junk Mail publications were launched in January 2001. Junk Mail Publishing also introduced an option to place adverts via SMS in 2002.
Advertisers in the Western Cape
Province of South Africa can advertise privately for free in the CapeAds. The same rules and advertisement procedures apply for CapeAds advertisers. Advertisements for employment vacancies are allowed for the CapeAds providing that the advertiser provides a basic salary for the position.
Classified advertising
Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals which may be sold or distributed free of charge...
industry, publishing various products through different Media
Media (communication)
In communications, media are the storage and transmission channels or tools used to store and deliver information or data...
such as print, World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
, Mobile Web
Mobile Web
The Mobile Web refers to the use of Internet-connected applications, or browser-based access to the Internet from a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet computer, connected to a wireless network....
, SMS
SMS
SMS is a form of text messaging communication on phones and mobile phones. The terms SMS or sms may also refer to:- Computer hardware :...
, and Phone
Phone
Within phonetics, a phone is:* a speech sound or gesture considered a physical event without regard to its place in the phonology of a language* a speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties...
.
History of the company
In 1992, South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
the classifieds industry was dominated by large newspaper groups. In 1992 Classifieds were all proprietary. Classifieds were an essential component of profitability for the newspaper groups. However, in April 1992 a new classifieds advert concept came to the district of Gauteng
Gauteng
Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...
. A French entrepreneur living in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Gerald Corniel, backed by big German Classified group partnered together to launch the free advert classifieds publication in South Africa. The free advert concept is a very old concept, born in the 1970s in Canada and ignored for a long time. It became very popular in the 1980s in Europe. The concept giving free classifieds and selling the publication became very popular and successful. It worked all over the world, in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
and other countries.
A free ad paper is a very simple concept. Free adverts are given to private advertisers, published free of charge. The publication is sold to the public. Having adverts free of charge makes it very attractive. It's free and very easy to use. Adverts are accepted via fax, phone or via the internet. This model ensures that the biggest amount of classifieds are published, making it attractive to prospective buyers buying the publication. Advertising space is sold to businesses / companies wanting advertising exposure to services and products that they are offering. Junk Mail started to provide their advertising services to the population of Gauteng province in 1992. The company was launched out of a garage in Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
. Advertisers were canvassed out of other publications. Since only 3 distribution companies existed in 1992 (all owned by big newspaper groups) Junk Mail launched its own distribution division in December 1992. In 1994 Junk Mail ceased canvassing operations for adverisers, only allowing callers to place their free adverts. By this time Junk Mail's call center already had 10,000 adverts were being published weekly. This made the publication self sustainable, a community was forming and growing naturally and this meant that the free advert concept was finally working.
By 1995, 20,000 adverts were being published weekly. In 1995 Junk Mail Gauteng split up into 2 regions, 1 for Johannesburg, 1 for Pretoria. This was considered to be suicide by some people, but this was a success because Junk Mail is a community driven paper. Splittling the original Junk Mail Gauteng
Gauteng
Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...
into 2 regions led to more copies being sold and more adverts being placed by advertisers. The Motor Mail supplement for the Junk Mail Publication was launched in the same year. In 1996 Junk Mail launched its publication for Kwazulu Natal. This meant that Junk Mail could now extend its distribution network beyond Gauteng's borders. In 1997 Junk Mail Publishing launced the world's first job classified free advert paper, Job Mail. This publication
Publication
To publish is to make content available to the public. While specific use of the term may vary among countries, it is usually applied to text, images, or other audio-visual content on any medium, including paper or electronic publishing forms such as websites, e-books, Compact Discs and MP3s...
was published forthnightly. Job Mail is the only independent publication of its kind in South Africa (and weekly since late 2006). In 1998 Junk Mail Online was launched. Junk Mail Online was one of the first commercial websites in South Africa. Junk Mail Online is one of the top 10 visited websites in South Africa. After considering and re-evaluating all aspects of the Junk Mail publications for 6 months, the new look Junk Mail publications were launched in January 2001. Junk Mail Publishing also introduced an option to place adverts via SMS in 2002.
Junk Mail & CapeAds
Junk Mail is famous in South Africa for being the King of Classifieds. Users can advertise privately for free. There is no limit on the amount of adverts per advertiser. Users can place adverts via Call Center, fax, website, mobi website or SMS. There are 3 regional publications for Junk Mail: Pretoria (Northern part of the country), Johannesburg (Central part of the country) and KwaZulu-Natal plus the Eastern Cape. No vacancies for employment are advertised in the Junk Mail editions. Users are allowed to place adverts for "work wanted" (job seeker adverts) though.Advertisers in the Western Cape
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...
Province of South Africa can advertise privately for free in the CapeAds. The same rules and advertisement procedures apply for CapeAds advertisers. Advertisements for employment vacancies are allowed for the CapeAds providing that the advertiser provides a basic salary for the position.