I had pulled it from Drum magazine. While my peers raved about soccer stars and swore by the names of movie icons of that era, for me, radio broadcasters were the true stars. And without a doubt, Bob Mabena was up there.
The first time I saw a Black radio station use its star broadcaster to position its brand in the hearts and minds of its listeners was when Radio Metro (now METRO FM) used Bob Mabena’s image in its marketing drive around 1994/95.
Metro, as a brand, was taking off and embedding itself into the lives of its audience. In Bob Mabena, they had found someone practically everyone loved.
Metro knew Mabena was a big deal, and they went all out. Well, also to the townships, you might say.
I remember one particular billboard with Mabena’s picture and the message “DRIVE HOME WITH BOB MABENA,” placed on an electric light pole in Mabopane Block C, overlooking the busy road separating Blocks C and X. At that time, Mabena owned the afternoon airwaves. In the words of Wilson B. Nkosi, “Bob Mabena was big in the afternoon.”
Metro was clearly setting itself apart. I felt a sense of pride each time I saw that billboard.
One of Metro’s top executives, Sis H. Tlhabz, once remarked that Mabena was “our blue-eyed boy. Whenever we hosted family days, we had to get security for him.” Mabena was a radio giant.
