How a Flair for Marketing and Great Content Turned 2oceansvibe into One of SA's Top Blogs  

Giving people the content that they want, developing a unique voice and showing a willingness to embrace new technologies are three of the keys to building a successful online publishing business in a crowded and competitive market.

That's the word from Seth Rotherham, the editor of South Africa's most successful and influential blog, 2oceansvibe. Rotherham was speaking at a Re-Fresh online marketing session, hosted by Acceleration Media and Gloo Advertising in Johannesburg on 17 August and in Cape Town on 19 August 2010.

Says Gloo Advertising, CEO and creative director, Pete Case: "The Re-Fresh sessions are a journey that we're taking alongside our clients with the goal of showcasing mavericks blazing new trails for the South African online industry. They aren't about our clients or ourselves - so there are no Gloo or Acceleration Media sales pitches.”

"The sessions are a space where we can explore the boundaries of digital and talk about tools, technologies and case studies that offer relevant insights for companies trying to harness the online medium."

At the sessions Rotherham revealed to delegates how he grew his lifestyle blog into a profitable business that allows him to lead a life of luxury and leisure. 2oceansvibe is one of South Africa's major online publishing success stories, attracting around 60,000 unique users a month and earning the support of major brand sponsors such as Puma, Vespa, Boschendal, and the Cape Royale Hotel. Most of its readers are professionals with tertiary educations who earn more than R20,000 a month.

The 2oceansvibe story goes back nearly eight years, to a time when the word 'blog' wasn't even in common usage yet. Seth Rotherham - not his real name, but a brand carefully built over the years - started the site after returning to South Africa from the UK. Armed with an irreverent sense of humour, strong Internet skills and experience earned in the UK and a feel for the content readers wanted, he started up a site where he blogged his life with words and pictures.

Rotherham says that 2oceansvibe has grown into one of the country's biggest blogs simply by giving readers the content that they want, in a market where few publishers are doing so. The example he points to is the way that staid South African newspapers ignore big stories such as the launch of the Apple iPad, when they are front-page news around the rest of the world.

2oceansvibe offers content and a voice not available anywhere else on the South African Internet, strongly differentiated from the offerings available from most of the country's major portals. But putting the right content in place is only part of the reason for the blog's success. Rotherham's marketing savvy has been equally important to the success of 2oceansvibe. He has marketed his blog using techniques such as linking to other powerful blogs; in addition, he has leveraged relationships with famous school friends he met when he was at Bishops. Creative marketing stunts such as a carefully orchestrated public spat with Idols judge, Randall Abrahams, helped to catapult the site into the big league.

The credibility, audience and content 2oceansvibe has built up over the years means that the site doesn't need to look for sponsors - most of its advertisers and sponsors have come to Seth with proposals rather than the other way around.

Rotherham unveiled his site's new look-and-feel at the session. At the time 2oceansvibe started, there were few powerful and low-cost blogging engines on the market. That meant he needed to hack his own content management system together rather than using a solution such as WordPress.

2oceansvibe has since migrated onto industry-standard technology. But Rotherham points out that it is important to keep evolving along with the market - hence a fresh new look for the site. Rotherham has also launched an online radio show to capitalise on the availability of uncapped broadband in South Africa.

Says Diane Charton, managing director of Acceleration Media: "2oceansvibe is a wonderful case study in the reach and power of the web in South Africa. Seth's story about how he harnessed the web and a host of low-cost online marketing techniques to build a profitable business is an inspiring one."