WHY are there no big black-owned advertising agencies in SA? There’s no shortage of small and medium agencies, but there’s no mighty leader.
Could it be, as some claim, that advertising industry odds are still stacked against black advancement? Or is it that empowerment offers too many carrots encouraging talent to move to established agencies?
In 1991, when Peter Vundla and Happy Ntshingila created Herdbuoys, SA’s first significant black-owned agency, there was a sense that black advertising was coming of age. When it merged with the local operation of a global agency to create Herdbuoys McCann, the feeling intensified.
However, McCann is once again McCann, and while there are plenty of promising black agencies, none has reached Herdbuoys’ prominence.
It’s not that local agencies can’t succeed. KingJames, Joe Public, and FoxP2 are among others that have grown to rival the subsidiaries of multinational powerhouses such as Ogilvy & Mather (O&M), FCB, TBWA and Publicis.
...
NOR is there an absence of black leadership. Among the current stars are Abey Mokgwatsane, who succeeded Nunu Ntshingila as head of O&M SA; Alistair Mokoena, MD of its Johannesburg agency; and Jerry Mpufane, group MD of M&C Saatchi Abel.
There have also been plenty of respected black practitioners, such as Muzi Kuzwayo, Ivan Moroke, Nkwenkwe Nkomo, and Tso Modise.
But big agencies? Kuzwayo, one-time advertising copywriter, former CEO of TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris and now head of his own agency Ignitive, says it’s important that a black agency becomes a market leader, to act as a beacon for others.
"I have been told to my face that black people don’t understand advertising. Someone has to show the world that we can not only do it well, but also successfully," he says.
But it will take time. Some black agencies promote themselves as such and rely on black clients for most of their business. That doesn’t work for big companies, which want the most effective agency, regardless of background. "I think they would like to hire black agencies, but they are waiting for them to prove themselves," Kuzwayo says.
...
ASSOCIATION for Communication and Advertising CEO Odette van der Haar says broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) is only one of many elements clients consider when selecting an agency. Under regulations gazetted for the marketing and communications industry, accredited agencies must achieve 45% black ownership by March 2018.
Van der Haar says that is only part of the hiring formula. Clients also want the best creative ideas, strategic thinking, return on investment, value for money, skills, and service. She says agencies should not be defined by race any more, as long as they are B-BBEE-compliant.
"Transformation is critical to our economy," she says, "but the market also needs creativity, innovation, fresh thinking, experience, and an assurance of a return. That applies to all agencies.
Ideally, agencies should be fully transformed in terms of ownership, management control, and talent."
Ogilvy’s Mokgwatsane sees no point in agencies marketing themselves as black.
"What gives a black agency a competitive edge over an agency that is diverse and representative of the country’s demographics?"
...
FESTUS Masekwameng, managing partner at MKT Media, says: "As a client, you must ask yourself if you’re choosing an agency to make a political statement, or to do good business."
Mike Abel, CE partner at M&C Saatchi Abel, observes: "If you concentrate on colour, you risk cutting yourself off from large swathes of the market. You don’t position yourself as a black agency or a white agency, but as a great agency, while mindful that you have to redress the inequities of the past."
Kuzwayo says black agencies are often the only outlet for black advertising talent. The new B-BBEE codes will require agencies to increase the percentage of black employees, and this could make it even harder for emerging black agencies to retain talent.
Masekwameng says: "Most black professionals are still working in traditional agencies, often as part of the transformation agenda.
"From an entrepreneurial point of view, very few have taken the plunge or stuck it out."
Kuzwayo says a lot of black talent has left the industry because of lack of opportunity. Claims by some agencies that they struggle to find black talent because advertising is not considered a "sexy" career among black people is nonsense, he says. "It’s a lie perpetuated by those looking for an excuse not to bring in black people."
It’s a view shared by Black Business Council CEO Mohale Ralebitso, former chairman of the FCB SA and Jupiter Drawing Room advertising groups, and current chairman of the Black Ops agency.
"Transformation in this industry has stalled," he says. "Agencies remain frozen in time. It’s a pity, because this is an industry where there is considerable local talent."
...
THAT talent, says Van der Haar, can be used much better. "One cannot ignore that more than 70% of the South African population consists of previously disadvantaged individuals (PDIs). Who better than PDIs to understand PDIs? It is, therefore, important that agencies have sufficient PDI personnel to contribute to, and influence, the business of brand-building."
Ralebitso says unless the industry wants to experience an endless cycle of "same-old, same-old", clients and black consumers must use their economic muscle to make change happen. "Entities that are significant advertisers have to make different decisions around how they spend their money and choose their agencies. Consumers need to take their protests to the tills.
"Given the experience of the last 22 years, I have no faith we will see change, unless we have a catalyst to make it happen."
Ignitive head Muzi Kuzwayo says claims by some agencies that they struggle to find black talent because advertising is not considered a ‘sexy’ career among black people is nonsense. Picture: ROBERT TSHABALALA
WHY are there no big black-owned advertising agencies in SA? There’s no shortage of small and medium agencies, but there’s no mighty leader.
Could it be, as some claim, that advertising industry odds are still stacked against black advancement? Or is it that empowerment offers too many carrots encouraging talent to move to established agencies?
In 1991, when Peter Vundla and Happy Ntshingila created Herdbuoys, SA’s first significant black-owned agency, there was a sense that black advertising was coming of age. When it merged with the local operation of a global agency to create Herdbuoys McCann, the feeling intensified.
However, McCann is once again McCann, and while there are plenty of promising black agencies, none has reached Herdbuoys’ prominence.
It’s not that local agencies can’t succeed. KingJames, Joe Public, and FoxP2 are among others that have grown to rival the subsidiaries of multinational powerhouses such as Ogilvy & Mather (O&M), FCB, TBWA and Publicis.
...
NOR is there an absence of black leadership. Among the current stars are Abey Mokgwatsane, who succeeded Nunu Ntshingila as head of O&M SA; Alistair Mokoena, MD of its Johannesburg agency; and Jerry Mpufane, group MD of M&C Saatchi Abel.
There have also been plenty of respected black practitioners, such as Muzi Kuzwayo, Ivan Moroke, Nkwenkwe Nkomo, and Tso Modise.
But big agencies? Kuzwayo, one-time advertising copywriter, former CEO of TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris and now head of his own agency Ignitive, says it’s important that a black agency becomes a market leader, to act as a beacon for others.
"I have been told to my face that black people don’t understand advertising. Someone has to show the world that we can not only do it well, but also successfully," he says.
But it will take time. Some black agencies promote themselves as such and rely on black clients for most of their business. That doesn’t work for big companies, which want the most effective agency, regardless of background. "I think they would like to hire black agencies, but they are waiting for them to prove themselves," Kuzwayo says.
...
ASSOCIATION for Communication and Advertising CEO Odette van der Haar says broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) is only one of many elements clients consider when selecting an agency. Under regulations gazetted for the marketing and communications industry, accredited agencies must achieve 45% black ownership by March 2018.
Van der Haar says that is only part of the hiring formula. Clients also want the best creative ideas, strategic thinking, return on investment, value for money, skills, and service. She says agencies should not be defined by race any more, as long as they are B-BBEE-compliant.
"Transformation is critical to our economy," she says, "but the market also needs creativity, innovation, fresh thinking, experience, and an assurance of a return. That applies to all agencies.
Ideally, agencies should be fully transformed in terms of ownership, management control, and talent."
Ogilvy’s Mokgwatsane sees no point in agencies marketing themselves as black.
"What gives a black agency a competitive edge over an agency that is diverse and representative of the country’s demographics?"
...
FESTUS Masekwameng, managing partner at MKT Media, says: "As a client, you must ask yourself if you’re choosing an agency to make a political statement, or to do good business."
Mike Abel, CE partner at M&C Saatchi Abel, observes: "If you concentrate on colour, you risk cutting yourself off from large swathes of the market. You don’t position yourself as a black agency or a white agency, but as a great agency, while mindful that you have to redress the inequities of the past."
Kuzwayo says black agencies are often the only outlet for black advertising talent. The new B-BBEE codes will require agencies to increase the percentage of black employees, and this could make it even harder for emerging black agencies to retain talent.
Masekwameng says: "Most black professionals are still working in traditional agencies, often as part of the transformation agenda.
"From an entrepreneurial point of view, very few have taken the plunge or stuck it out."
Kuzwayo says a lot of black talent has left the industry because of lack of opportunity. Claims by some agencies that they struggle to find black talent because advertising is not considered a "sexy" career among black people is nonsense, he says. "It’s a lie perpetuated by those looking for an excuse not to bring in black people."
It’s a view shared by Black Business Council CEO Mohale Ralebitso, former chairman of the FCB SA and Jupiter Drawing Room advertising groups, and current chairman of the Black Ops agency.
"Transformation in this industry has stalled," he says. "Agencies remain frozen in time. It’s a pity, because this is an industry where there is considerable local talent."
...
THAT talent, says Van der Haar, can be used much better. "One cannot ignore that more than 70% of the South African population consists of previously disadvantaged individuals (PDIs). Who better than PDIs to understand PDIs? It is, therefore, important that agencies have sufficient PDI personnel to contribute to, and influence, the business of brand-building."
Ralebitso says unless the industry wants to experience an endless cycle of "same-old, same-old", clients and black consumers must use their economic muscle to make change happen. "Entities that are significant advertisers have to make different decisions around how they spend their money and choose their agencies. Consumers need to take their protests to the tills.
"Given the experience of the last 22 years, I have no faith we will see change, unless we have a catalyst to make it happen."
