3. Getting to know Thando
My name is Lerato Thando Manaka,
by I prefer to go by Thando. I am a
brand management student at the
Vega School of Brand Leadership.
Through my journey at Vega, I have
acquired a wide range of knowledge,
specialising mainly in leadership
practices, design thinking practices,
business and brand strategy
development.
My mission is to be an asset
in developing innovative brand
solutions.
My vision is to ultimately create
a network that works towards
developing a sustainable future for
the South African youth.
My values are built on four
pillars which are collaboration,
sustainability, transparency and
adaptability.
My personal tagline is that “when
we work in unity, we are capable of
changing our world”.
I am seeking agencies and
businesses seeking innovative
solutions, that will cultivate them into
industry pioneers.
I am proficient in Microsoft programs
and familiar with the Machintosh
operating system. Having gained
experience market and consumer
research and insights from interning
at MindShare South Africa in the
business planning department.
At the essence of who I am, I
believe in collaborating to develop
sustainable innovations, and at
the core I am a committed and
dedicated woman. Youthful,
energetic, creative and mediator
are the kind of words I would use to
describe myself.
I am what the Myers-Briggs
Personality Test would describe
as an mediator or INFP; which is
introverted, intuitive, feeler and
I was raised to always work for what
you want in life, which has made
me a focused, self-determined,
ambitious, self-motivated and
enthusiastic learner. I seek any and
every opportunity to develop myself
and believe that knowledge, used, is
the most powerful tool.
As the introverted, intuitive person
that I am, I believe in taking a
moment breath (inhale) and reflect.
There are many moments that I find
my thoughts creating spiderwebs in
my head and it is important that I
can re-organise to find the answers
that I seek. For this reason, I
visiually represent myself as yoga
poses.
Yoga means unite or unity and the
most widely used method used
to gain enlightenment, or gaining
insight (get it?). By practicing this art
I believe I am able to grow towards
realising my vision, finding my own
peace of mind to better engage with
those around me.
As airy-fairy as all I have stated
may appear, I still believe in
conducting myself in a professional
manner, being proactive in the work
environment and ensuring that
what I produce is of the best of my
capabilities.
As part of the wide range of
knowledge I have gained from
studying at the Vega School of
Brand Leadership, I have acquired
skills in business communications
and digital media, critical thinking,
organisational management.
From these skill-sets I offer agencies
and businesses peace of mind
and quality work. While allowing
them to be creative, innovative and
progressive.
Having also worked for KG
Promotions and Offlimit
Communications, as a promoter,
I have learnt that importance that
each member of an organisation
plays in the overall business of the
brand.
I want to be a partner, equally
invested into the business that I
work with and enable grow and
development within the business.
So, to you I will say that I am a
brand strategist that provides
sustainable innovative solutions,
through critical thinking and
collaborations.
Thank you, I trust you will enjoy the
rest of your read.
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4.
5. Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge all the
participants that helped make this
what it is today.
Starting off with thanking Zakhona
Zama Sithole for taking the
time to model for this portfolio
and being such a great friend. I
would also like to give credit to
the photographer, Jenny in the
studio, for taking such beautiful
shots. I must thank Emile as well,
for assisting me in executing the
concept for the portfolio.
In this portfolio I have featured
some of the work that I have
done in the process of my career
development at Vega School of
Brand Leadership, of the work
showcased I could not have made
them what they are without the help
of my group members and friends.
It has been an amazing journey of
growth and memories made.
I would love to begin by thanking
Prasanthan Nagan and Shaheed
Roberts for helping me with
Sunlight brief, where analysed and
made recommendations for the
brand’s marketing metrics. They
were supportive and proactive
throughout the process, showing
me the real value of collaboration.
I would also like to thank Litha
Vimbi, who is the Client Lead at
MindShare South Africa for Land
Rover and Jaguar, for making
time and providing us with rich
information, which informed our
strategic recommendations.
It was an interesting experience
working with Kgolagano Mathlaga
and Thuso Makitla, on the
MindShare South Africa brief for
Organisational Studies, providing
a fresh perspective and mining
through the bulk of information
we had. I would like to also thank
Phillicia Moodley, the Head of
Talent at MindShare South Africa,
for taking time out of her busy
schedule to ensure that we had the
relevant information to develop our
strategic recommendations.
For my Creative Development brief,
Body Un/comfortable, I would like
to thank the lovely Naledi Xoko
for the beautiful photos taken, one
of which I have included into this
portfolio.
In the Business Communications
and Digital Media brief, Beauty
Ideals, I want to thank the
cinematographer Zolani Bokwa
and visual director Noncebo Bokwa
for making the video look amazing
and teaching me a few tricks in
directing videos. I would also
like to acknowledge Zoya Nkosi;
Lee Mavuso; Yonela Gwijana;
Nompumelelo Galela; Tsepiso
Nqoko and others for participating
in the interview and sharing their
stories with us. Without this team, I
would not have been able to realise
my vision.
Last, but not least I want to thank
my brand challenge team. After
five long weeks of hard work;
deadlines; conflict resolutions and
pizzas shared we finally made it to
the end of concluding our complete
strategy and concept executions. I
walked away having learnt so much
more about the process, myself and
group dynamics, all while having
fun. My group was made up by
Adeline Monsengo; Cari Lowenthal;
Dominique van der Walt; James
Taylor; Raeesa Ladha; Salathiso
Siwisa and Teneal Bird.
Thanks guys, you are all awesome.
3
9. Woolworths Holdings Limited
According to Woolworths Holdings
Limited’s (WHL) website they are a
retail brand operating in the southern
hemisphere, with head offices in
South Africa and have been listed on
the Johannesburg Limited Securities
Exchange (JSE) since 1997.
The brand was established in 1931
and are now one of the leading
South African retailers, which offer
a variety of private brand products.
The brand offers variety of quality
commodities, clothing, food products,
as well as financial services. Their
private clothing brands include
Woolworths; Studio W; RE:; JTONE
and Distraction.
I have conducted a Vega Healthy
Brand Analysis on Woolworths
Holdings Limited, as I have assessed
their Good Business Journey Report
that indicates what they are currently
doing to be a sustainable brand.
Vega defines a brand “as a particular
and unique construct that creates,
communicates and sustains value
for all its stakeholders through its
products and/ or service”.
According to Cook et al (2010), the
concept of a healthy brand is one that
considers the idea of identity, value,
sustainability and communication
authenticity, as well as being able
to move away from being solely
profit-focused and business driven
(Sustainable insight, 2010).
The Healthy Brand criteria are used
to assess a brands positioning
as well as establish its overall
wealth. In a world where the ‘new’
consumer mindset reigns we begin to
understand the urgency to understand
issues that deal with sustainability
and responsibility. Brands need to
adapt to the ongoing environmental
change as society continuously
impacts the planets capacity to
provide for us.
The seven steps of the Vega healthy
brand criteria proposed by Cook,
Erwin, Carmody and Enslin are as
follows:
PARTICULAR MEANING
A specific and clear purpose that
embraces a value set. A meaning to
exist.
WHL’s mission is to be the first choice
for customers who care about value,
innovation and sustainability in the
southern hemisphere.
WHL’s vision is to be the leading
retail group in the southern
hemisphere.
The group’s values guides the
way they operate, from leadership
to passionate brand support,
they look to embed their values
across the business. Their values
are that quality; style; value;
customer service; innovation;
integrity; transparency; energy and
sustainability.
UNIQUE MEANING
A means of differentiation, it is what
makes a brand one of a kind.
Sustainability is one of Woolworths
Holdings Limited’s values and
four strategic focus areas, it is
incorporated into their strategic plans
and balanced scorecard process to
make sure that their operations are
consistent. Each business unit and
functioning company has a set of
their own Good Business Journey
objectives against twice they are
measured twice per year.
Their sustainability vision and focus
areas are; transformation, social
development, health and wellness,
ethical sourcing, sustainable farming,
waste, water and energy.
EFFECTIVE AND ENGAGING
COMMUNICATOR
A brand must be effective in
communicating in every interaction
with its consumers.
Based on the ‘Are You With Us’
campaign with Pharell, Woolworths
shows to be an effective
communicator as they engaged with
their consumers to participate in a
sustainable future. As well as, they
provide consumers with the relevant
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10.
11. information on their packaging
advising them of the origins, content
and recycling options available to their
consumers.
ADDS VALUE
A brand needs to be absorbed both
internally and externally for it to add
value.
Social development is implemented
through corporate social investments,
such as their flagship programme
that is managed and initiated by Food
& Trees for Africa where they are
able to help disadvantaged schools
and communities gain skills that
will allow them to grow their own
food, through their partnership with
EduPlant; their MySchool Fundraising
programme and Making the Difference
Educational Programme; a system
where they divert surplus foods from
their stores towards impoverished
communities through structured
charity organisations as a means of
addressing the issue of food security;
and the donation of extra clothing,
as well as previously owned clothing
through the Clothing Bank.
TRANSPARENT
For a brand to be successfully
transparent, knowing the customer is
where it essentially begins.
Woolworths Holdings Limited has a
Good Business Journey Report that
indicates how they ensure that they
address the impacts that they have
on the social and environmental
landscape, which is published yearly,
along with the integrated and annual
financial report.
SUSTAINABLE
RELATIONSHIPS
A brand is to meet the needs of the
present without compromising future
generations.
The Good Business Journey Report
showcases one of the brand’s values
of sustainability, where they scored
86% based on the Global Reporting
Initiative (GRI) guidelines, JSE
Socially responsible investment
index criteria and other legislative
requirements.
PROFIT IS NOT A DRIVER
Profit is not a driver but a result of
fulfilling the first 6 requirements.
Woolworths Holdings Limited shows to
be a healthy brand, as they meet the
criteria of the first 6 requirements of
the Vega Healthy Brand analysis.
Vega Healthy Brand Analysis
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12.
13. Unilever: Sunlight
For this assignment we had to apply
our understanding of marketing
metrics and its role in brand
performance in a business, by
constructively describing, analyzing
and critiquing the metrics that were
implemented by the Sunlight brand.
We then needed to recommend
and justify the use of a changed or
additional marketing for the brand.
We began the assignment by
interviewing the previous Sunlight
brand Manager, Litha Vimbi, about
the metrics used to measure the
effectiveness of their branding and
marketing efforts, as well as their
overall philosophy in this respect
to measure their effectiveness and
return on marketing spend. How
regularly such metrics are calculated
and how they are reported to senior
management.
From our interview we found that as a
global house of brands, Unilever has
positioned itself as a brand that prides
itself on sustainable growth. They
recognize that higher equity does
not translate to higher sales. And the
valuable target market insights that
can be mined from their marketing
efforts.
Even with the introduction of new
competitors, Sunlight has managed to
maintain its positioning and not derail
from their set campaign objectives.
Unilever and Sunlight do not focus or
align their marketing efforts entirely on
competitor activity, but instead invest
in the wealth of information on target
market insights and trends to ensure
their internal house of brands is at
optimum and efficient performance.
Sunlight prefers to benchmark against
its past performance, as they have a
wide range of product offerings within
their industries.
Their philosophy is that targets and
KPI’s (key performance indicators) are
set at the beginning of every financial
year, either gaining market share or
increasing product/brand value. By
setting objectives based on where
the brand has been and wishes to
be in the future and the consumer is
the core of the business, the level of
satisfaction that they experience as
well as brand equity.
What we recommended for Unilever,
is that the brand should focus more
on what their competitors are doing,
as this is something that cannot be
ignored and valuable information is
available since they share the same
target market segment.
They should not be afraid of change
and innovation, established brands
like Unilever should not hesitate to
gain greater market share and target
different market segments.
We recommend that they incorporate
metrics such as market growth and
future demand, as they measure
the change in sales revenue over a
prescribed period and estimate the
future demand of the brand’s product,
respectively.
As well as the decomposition of
market share, which incorporates
penetration share that measuring
the comparative acceptance of the
brand within the category; share of
requirements that measures the level
of commitment to the brand by its
existing customers against the total
category purchases by consumers;
and heavy usage index that measures
the relative usage of a category by
consumers for the brand.
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14.
15. MindShare South Africa
In this assignment we were required
us to work in a group and involved
critically examining an organisation’s
approaches to leadership and
organisational culture.
We selected MindShare South
Africa, which is part of the WPP
global network and offers a
comprehensive and integrated range
of communications services.
Simon Sinek, author of ‘Start with
Why’ once made the valid point
that ‘customers will never love a
company until the employees love
it first’. In order for this to happen,
an organisation needs to have a
solid organisational culture that
compliments its employees, and
this in-turn will encourage them to
champion the business’ cause. They
will ultimately become leaders in their
own right, in an environment that is
conducive to growth, excellence and
a degree of autonomy. With that in
mind, the following document has
profiled MindShare South Africa
and discussed their approaches to
leadership and organisational culture.
The objective of this document is to
assess the organisation’s approach to
leadership and organisational culture,
in the context of organisational
behaviour theories, in order to develop
strategic recommendations that will
allow the organisation to retain their
employees, increase productivity;
effectiveness and efficiency (Paton,
2015).
Leadership can be defined as the
ability to influence a group toward
the achievement of a vision or set of
goals. The source of this influence
may be formal, such as that provided
by managerial rank in an organisation
(Robbins and Judge, 2013). But it can
also be informal, through individuals
who have leadership qualities, an
intellectual connection to the business
and an emotional commitment towards
its success. However, not all leaders
are managers, and not all managers
can lead.
The manager’s job is to plan, organise
and coordinate, whereas the leader’s
job is to inspire and motivate.
According to a face-to-face interview
conducted with the Head of Talent of
MindShare South Africa, they have
implemented leadership practices
developed by Jim Collins, in his
book ‘Good to Great’. The leadership
approach described in this book
refers to leaders as being personally
humble while having professional will.
These leaders are described as ‘Level
5 Leaders’, people who are able
to channel their ego-centric needs
away from themselves and place that
energy towards the greater goal of
building the organisation. This breed
of leaders are self-sufficient; reserved
and even perceived as shy.
THERE ARE TWO SIDES OF A
LEVEL 5 LEADERSHIP, WHICH
ARE PROFESSIONAL WILL
AND PERSONAL HUMILITY.
Professional will is a clear catalyst
in the transition of companies from
good to great and demonstrates an
unwavering resolve to do whatever
must be done to produce the best
long-term results, no matter how
challenging. Setting the standard of
building an enduring great company
and looks into the mirror, not out the
window to dispense responsibility
for poor results. Personal humility
demonstrates a compelling modesty,
acting with quiet, calm determination
to motivate. Channeling ambition into
the company; setting up successors
for even greater success in the next
generation.
This approach to leadership further
explain how an organisation is able to
develop from a good to great business
by having disciplined people as a part
of the organisation. They emphasize
that in order to become great it is
important to remember that the right
people need to be on the bus and in
the right seats, before figuring where
to go from there.
Once the right people have been
selected and the destination decided
upon, organisations need to be able to
develop disciplined thoughts. This is
best achieved by initially confronting
the brutal facts about their business
and where they stand. Organisations
must maintain unwavering faith in
the fact that the will gain greatness,
regardless of the challenges that lay
ahead while having the discipline to
confront these challenges head on.
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16.
17. JIM COLLINS REFERS THE
HEDGEHOG CONCEPT, WHICH
EMPHASIZES ON SIMPLICITY.
“The Hedgehog and the Fox” Isaiah
Berlin: the fox knows many things,
but the hedgehog knows one big
thing”. Foxes pursue many ends at the
same time and see the world in all its
complexities, hedgehogs simplify a
complex world into a single organizing
idea, a basic principle or concept that
unifies and guides everything.
It is about applying systemic thinking
and understanding that the essence of
profound insight is simplicity. By being
able to identify what they can be the best
in the world at; what they are deeply
passionate about and what drives their
economic engine, organisations are able
identify where their energy is required in
order to develop.
Once an organisation has achieved
disciplined thought, they are able to
develop a culture of discipline and utilise
technology to their advantage.
When you have disciplined people,
you don’t need hierarchy, if you
have disciplined thought, you don’t
need bureaucracy, when you have
disciplined action, you don’t need
excessive controls. When you combine
a culture of discipline with an ethic of
entrepreneurship, you get the alchemy
of great performance. Pioneers in
the application of carefully selected
technologies, technology by itself
is never a primary cause of either
greatness or decline.
AN ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
IS A SYSTEM OF SHARED
MEANING HELD BY MEMBERS,
WHICH DISTINGUISHES THE
ORGANIZATION FROM OTHER
ORGANISATIONS. (A. Odendaal,
2009).
There are seven primary characteristics
that capture the essence of an
organisation’s culture, which include;
innovation and risk-taking, attention
to detail, outcome orientation,
people orientation, team orientation,
aggressiveness and stability.
The structure-innovation relationship
leads to the conclusions that organic
structures positively influence innovation,
because they are lower in vertical
differentiation; formalization and
centralization. Organic organisations
facilitate flexibility; adaptation and cross-
fertilisation that make the adoption of
innovations easier. Also managerial
tenure apparently provides legitimacy
and knowledge on how to accomplish
tasks and obtain desired outcomes.
Innovation is nurtured where there is
a slack in resources, as this allows
an organization to afford to purchase
innovations, bear the costs of instituting
innovations and absorb failures. Interunit
communication is high in innovative
organisations, these organisations are
high users of committees; task forces;
cross-functional teams and other
mechanisms that facilitate interaction
across department lines (A. Odendaal,
2009).
Due to effective leadership during
MindShare’s induction process, 88%
of the employees surveyed correctly
identified MindShare’s core values.
58% of them also said they were fairly
connected to the business and have a
fair understanding of what it does, whilst
33% said they were very connected and
knew everything about the business.
This indicates how the company’s
success is a reflection of employee
satisfaction and engagement. This
illustrates genuine buy-in from
employees and a desire to translate
that into excellent work for MindShare’s
clients.
The respondents appreciated that fact
that MindShare cultivates a challenging
and innovation-driven environment, and
that it keeps them on their toes with
regular training and workshops.
It is evident that MindShare is
successfully creating disciplined people,
thoughts and actions as its employees
feel very positively about the business
and its modus operandi.
“Organic Structures positively influence
Innovation”
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18.
19. Body Un/Comfortable
For this brief we were tasked to
identify what it is that causes us
to experience both comfort and
discomfort, through finding the
various behavioral and physical
characteristics that we possess.
We have been challenged to step
away from our own situations
and unpack our personal level of
discomfort by executing a body
intervention, which is the disruption
of the body’s regiment or routine,
by causing it to experience a new or
unfamiliar activity.
We were expected to conceptualise
on what removes us from our comfort
zones, the intervention needed to
be radical, visible and happen over
a period of 10 days. By engaging
with the brief we would grow a better
understanding of individuals that we
may have had previously judged,
because of our belief systems; social
conditioning and social standing.
The body intervention was
documented using a blog, where we
were we had a balance between self-
reflection and relevant research of our
concepts.
My initial concept idea fell under
beauty ideals and the constant
favouring of fairer-skinned women
over dark-skinned women in media
and society, but I had hit a dead end
with execution ideas. Fortunately, I
had a timely ‘happy accident’, which
left me without the function of my
right-hand. This pushed me towards
working with the concept of dual-
dominant hands and ambidexterity,
which is the ability to use both hands
equally (dual-dominance).
In early 2015 I had been living with my
aunt and cousin, who are both left-
handed. In the evenings I would assist
my cousin with his homework and be
completely fascinated with the way his
body seemed distorted when he was
writing. A part of me envied him, but
the idea of learning how to write all
over again caused me to constantly
reconsider even trying.
In the efforts to investigate the
challenge of ambidexterity and the
use of the non-dominant hand, I
found evidence that using your non-
dominant hand allows your brain to
activate dormant functions in your
brain. Ambidexterity has shown to
develop the brain’s development and
improve creativity; memory functioning
and intellect, which I believe has been
proven in the case of Tom Mosser,
who is an ambidextrous artist that
creates self-portraits.
In an article titled Benefits of using
your opposite hand – Grow brain
cells while brushing your teeth, the
author speaks of his experience
after having injured his dominant
arm and the benefits that result from
retraining your brain and stimulating
it. He mentions that “Using your
opposite hand will strengthen neural
connections in your brain, and
even grow new ones. It’s similar
to how physical exercise improves
your body’s functioning and grows
muscles”, this can be achieve by
doing activities such as brushing your
teeth, using the remote and using your
phone with your non-dominant hand.
This is challenging in the beginning
as your hand is not as precise in
movement.
THIS CONCEPT
COMMUNICATES TO THE
LEFT-HANDED POPULATION
THAT IS NOT WELL
REPRESENTED IN MEDIA, AS
THEY ACCOUNT FOR ABOUT
10 PERCENT OF THE GLOBAL
POPULATION.
This small community faces some
challenges in their daily lives such as
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20.
21. finding the appropriate machinery
and the cultural demand that when
handing something over to another
person be done with the right hand,
otherwise being perceived as being
disrespectful.
There have been a lot of
speculations as to how this
phenomenon occurs, according to
an article called 5 Reasons being
left-handed screws you for life, the
left-handed phenomenon is a result
of mother’s being stressed out
during pregnancies. Research
shows that it occurs due to a
gene called LRRTM1, which is
linked to mental disorders such as
schizophrenia, dyslexia and ADD.
After my injury I had to live out six
weeks as a left-handed individual,
while having a Hulk-sized right-hand
(because of the cast). This attracted
a lot of attention from people.
Through the course of the
intervention I had given up a piece
of my independence, as I needed to
learn the basic activities I did every
day with my non-dominant hand,
without thinking twice. In the effort to
train my hand I continuously made
doodles and did basic activities
like opening jars, making food and
brushing my teeth to strengthen
my hand and stabilize my fingers.
I documented my journey on a
blog site where shared relevant
information about my concept and
the experiences I had during the
course of the intervention.
I selected Wordpress, because it
provided me with an appropriate
format for my blog and it was easy
to navigate through.
The beauty of my body intervention
is that it is a constant learning
process, as I continue to live in
‘discomfort’. What I can conclude
with is that this experience has been
equally emotionally and physically
straining on me.
During the 10 day period I had been
fighting endlessly to remain positive
and remind myself that this was a
‘happy accident’, but every day I seem
to feel more and handicapped. Instead
of experiencing enlightenment and an
awakening, my mind felt like it was
battling with itself not to fall into the
depression trap that has been set-up in
there.
So I’ll be ending this off with the
satisfaction of the opportunity to
challenge myself.
“In order to learn, we must
first unlearn”
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22.
23. Beauty Ideals
For this assignment we were required
to construct a short video, we needed
to select music that supports our
topic.
The video needed to meet a 2-4
minute run time; the visual track had
to play a minimum of 20 images,
maximum 40 images; transitions had
to be placed between each image;
with a title slide introducing materials;
at least one voice sound track that
details or explains the topic of the
project and relate to the visual track
in some way; underlying theme music
that adjusts around the voice over;
and a bibliography title at end.
The subject I selected for this project
was ‘Beauty Ideals’, focusing on what
they love the most about themselves;
the beauty standards placed on them;
what their insecurities are, what
caused them and how they overcame
them.
I selected this theme as I had recently
taken the journey to overcome my
own physical insecurities and own
who I am.
The sound track music that I used
was both a TLC song called ‘Unpretty’
(LaFace Records) and a song by J.
Cole called ‘Crooked Smile’ (Roc
Nation).
I wrote a piece attached to the video,
declaring my self-love and confusion
with being rejected for the way I look.
Check my Melanin
Offended by the density of my
melanin
Distracted by the dip of lip
You, my brother and sister,
prosecute me
Putting a smug smile on the
face of segregation
As you separate yourself from
me
Mocking and heckling at the
young girl that speaks with
conviction
Leaving her to walk in shame.
I am black
My lip hangs above my chin
My gums soaked in melanin
My nose has a bridge
And my hair grows UP.
(My mind is as powerful as my
skin is dark)
I refuse to feel the need to
convince you of what is
evident
I refuse to allow you to assess
me based on that.
I choose to surround myself
with variations that will allow
me to be more than just
A young black woman, potent
in melanin with coily hair
But rather a human that walks
with pride
Draped in the conviction of my
voice
Enduring the hurdles of
existence
While fulfilling my full
potential.
My mind is as powerful as my
skin is dark.
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24.
25. Brand Challenge
Refilwe Community Project is
a Christian organisation, which
forms part of the social sector.
They rely heavily on donations as
a form of income to run all of their
programmes. They currently run 11
programs – primarily focusing on
improving children’s lives. Their aim
is to encourage children and their
families to grow in their personal,
academic and spiritual development,
through participation in their
programs.
Refilwe Community Project had
approached us with the following
tasks: to build awareness of the
brand and their program offerings,
communicate their new tagline
‘Inspire, uplift, empower and thrive’,
position the brand in the eyes of
their donors and partners as a
positive and impactful presence
within the community, increase
their monetary donations, engage
with existing donors, shift their
brand image away from being an
orphanage and emphasise the
respective programs that they
offer, increase their international
presence, improve their internal
communications, and keep the Red
Refilwe character on their logo while
adding an element of an African feel
to their overall design.
THE CHALLENGE THAT
THEY HAVE FACED IS THAT
THE MARKET HAS BEEN
SATURATED WITH “FEED A
CHILD” AND “STOP HUNGER
NOW” CAMPAIGNS, which have
caused people to become immune to
this message, as it no longer tugs at
the heart strings of people and their
wallets.
Refilwe Community Project has
also not had a focused long
term marketing strategy that was
actionable, which resulted to low
awareness and therefore a lack of
donations.
In order to develop a clear strategy
going forward we conducted both
primary and secondary research.
Our research objectives were to
identify communication opportunities
for Refilwe Community Project;
to identify the appropriate target
audiences for Refilwe Community
Project; to identify consumer
behaviour trends that may be
relevant; to identify communication
trends that Refilwe Community
Project can leverage to become
more engaged with their audience;
and to identify relevant internal
branding solutions.
Overall we had a sample size of 88
people, excluding those covered
by AMPS data, between the ages
20 and 66 within the Johannesburg
area.
Our primary research was conducted
through one-on-one interviews with
15 individuals, within a 5-kilometer
radius of the Refilwe Community
Project facility; as well as an online
survey, with 73 responses, which
was conducted using Typeform.
This allowed us to gain greater
insight into what the general public’s
perceptions and feelings are towards
NPO’s and their awareness of the
brand.
Our secondary research was
conducted looking at consumer and
industry trends and behaviours,
which were available on the
Bizcommunity database; as well as
demographic data from AMPS within
the Johannesburg North region.
This research will give us an idea of
the NPO landscape of South Africa;
trends and behaviours that the brand
may be able to leverage off from.
We identified the following
quantitative and qualitative data
from our research:
o Inconsistent communication from
Refilwe Community Project (signage,
social media, website).
23
26.
27. o Emphasis is placed on children
and not the community as a whole.
o Brand identity and image are not
aligned.
o People in settlements further from
Refilwe Community Project facility
have positive things to say about the
brand, but do not really understand
what they do.
o Lower awareness of the brand
in the Johannesburg North region,
apparent from both one-on-one
interviews and online survey.
o Most people from online survey,
associate the new tagline with
women.
o 47% from the online survey said
they would rather volunteer than
give money or goods, while 32%
said they would rather give goods as
well rather than money.
o Competitor brands provide hand
made products to sell in the efforts
to raise funds.
o ‘Social Good Travel’ is a trend
that suggests that it is ‘cool’ to do
social good, as consumers shift
towards sustainability and social
responsibility.
o Industry collaboration is becoming
increasingly popular, as NPO have
recently had to compete for funding
and donations.
o Brands need to incorporate
storytelling to gain the attention and
loyalty of consumers.
These findings led us to identifying
our insights and issues, which would
build our strategy. With a wide range
of finding, we needed to prioritise
our findings into 3 key findings that
would be the focal point.
Our first key finding was that the
brand identity and image was not
aligned, which gave us the insight
that it is a result of an unclear
understanding of the brand identity
and blueprint internally.
From this our key issue was how
do we then ensure that the brand’s
internal stakeholders have a clear
view of what the brand stands
for, who the brand is and what its
purpose is as well?
Another key finding that we
identified was that there is an
opportunity for industry knowledge
sharing and expansion available to
NPO’s to collaborate opportunity for
industry knowledge expansion and
for NPO’s to collaborate.
This led to the insight that NPO’s
exist in a sector that is there
to improve the lives of society,
therefore there is no need for
competition when they are able to
assist one another. This resulted in
the issue of how we can leverage
potential industry collaboration
opportunities within the industry?
Our last key finding was that 81%
of people, surveyed online, do
not know who Refilwe Community
Project is and what they do. A large
number of the people surveyed are
willing to support NPOs, therefore
there is a gap in the market. Social
good travel is a trend as consumers
seek sustainable solutions for
modern day issues.
The insight we gained from this is
that actively contributing towards
future generations being able to
have access to resources and a
liveable environment is socially
relevant and trendy.
Smartphone penetration is an
opportunity for Refilwe Community
Project to communicate with
consumers, as 49% of people
surveyed prefer using their
smartphone devices to view their
social media and access emails,
therefore there is an opportunity to
communicate with consumers. By
using social media and interactive
campaigns to provide engaging
content through video content, there
is an opportunity for the brand to
Refilwe Community Project
25
28.
29. attract “social good travellers”, which
will deepen Refilwe Community
Project’s brand engagement.
This led to the issue of how the
brand can leverage from social
good travellers’ desires to contribute
through efforts and monetary funding
by leveraging their storytelling
potential to create engaging social
media content?
Our target audiences were then
divided into two sections both being
social good travellers, the primary
target audience being generation ‘y’
and the secondary target audience
being generation ‘x’. We have
profiled into the following characters:
Shannon
“Hi my name is Shannon, I’m 22
and am doing my BA Honours at
Wits University, majoring in Political
Science and Theology. I live in
Fourways and drive a VW Polo and
love listening to R&B and Hip-Hop
in my car: my favourite station is
Highveld 94.7. On most weekends
I hiking, visiting the Fourways
Farmer’s market or catching up on
some reading and writing.
I sometimes find it difficult as a
Social Activist to state my position
when these days social justice only
means something when it has a
hash-tag before it. Still I volunteer
at least twice a month at the local
nursery and punt food drives for the
informal settlement 8km from our
home. I just want to do what makes
me happy, helping others makes me
happy.”
Amith
“I’m Amith and I’m 43 years old.
I run a successful construction
company handling projects mainly in
the Sandton business hub.
I live with my wife, my mother in-
law, my three daughters and two
sons. I work arduously to provide
my family with whatever resource
they need, within our means. I’d
give gladly to a reliable causes that
promotes child development and
handles exceptionally in child care
and education.
I believe that guided learning is a
socialization process where a child
really acquires culturally relevant
skills. I instil in my kids a culture
of doing good deeds, without
reservation or expectation.”
We then made the following brand
and communication objectives to
answer the brief:
o To position Refilwe Community
Project as being relevant and trendy
by revising Refilwe Community
Project’s brand identity, by October
2016.
o To communicate internally, an
aligned view of Refilwe Community
Project’s brand identity, by
December 2016.
o To build a relationship with
the community around Refilwe
Community Project, by February
2017.
o To reposition Refilwe Community
Project as being relevant and trendy
in the mind of the consumers, by
March 2017.
o To create a database on a cloud
for industry knowledge sharing, by
February 2017.
Refilwe Community Project’s
positioning going forward will be;
to altruistic people who want to
transform the underdog into the
hero, Refilwe Community Project is
the NPO that encourages them to
inspire, uplift and empower the lives
of the less fortunate.
The strategic direction has been
sub-divided into three areas being
the problem, goal and what it means
for the brand.
Problem: Refilwe Community
Project have not had a long-term
marketing strategy that resulted in
low awareness and therefore lack of
“Branding is inside-out”
27
30.
31. donors.
Goal: To implement an effective
marketing strategy that increases
brand awareness, therefore results
in more donors. To effectively
collaborate with other NPO’s for
knowledge sharing, as well as have a
cohesive brand identity.
What it means for the brand: increase
awareness, therefore more volunteers
and donors, which ultimately benefits
the entire community; have a cohesive
brand communication message
and purpose; and create more
opportunities to be innovative within
the industry, through having a broader
database by sharing information.
THE BIG IDEA
Refilwe means ‘we are given’, what
about their story can anybody relate
to, which we are all given? We are
all given life, it is what we all have
in common. We want to allow people
to show gratitude by fulfilling their
purposes’ in life. With use of the name
Refilwe we are want to tell stories,
because through storytelling we are
able to inspire, uplift, empower and
thrive. Emotive stories that inspire
people are those tell the story of the
underdog’s journey to becoming a
hero, with Refilwe Community Project
being the underdog, therefore we are
giving meaning to Refilwe Community
Project.
CONCEPT
By personifying Refilwe through the
use of storytelling, we convey how
Refilwe’s meaning is in her name.
Internal: By redesigning the brand’s
logo and incorporating the brand
story into it. African elements have
been introduced in both executions to
further anchor Refilwe’s identity as a
‘child of the soil’.
External: “Give meaning back” across
multiple social media platforms, this
integrated framework is modelled to
maximize reach on the social media
platform.
Our media plan incorporates digital
and outdoor advertising, as the budget
for our campaign was R30 000. We
selected these options as these would
allow us to gain effective reach, as
well as frequency. In the case of the
brand we believe that it is important
to place emphasis on the campaign’s
reach and impact, in order to gain
increased brand awareness and target
audience engagement.
This will be achieved through
implementing the following executions
for the concept idea:
The website will be redesigned in
order to incorporate the new logo and
make it easier to navigate through,
with the use of Facebook to driver
users on to the platform. There
would be a campaign page created
to showcase each element of the
campaign that would be executed on
social media and through ambient
media.
Each month, as the campaign begins,
an episode of a mini-series will be
published with the theme of ‘inspire,
uplift, empower and thrive. The
episodes will take us through the
journey of how she learns a lesson
then implements these lessons in
order to help others. The last episode
of our web-series would be a result of
consumer engagement, as a call-to-
action was shared in the 7th episode
asking that consumers participate in
concluding the story.
We opted for Facebook as this
platform plays a big role within the
South African landscape, with 13
million users currently in the country,
which would ensure that we reach our
target audience.
The ambient media will be in the form
of an activation, where an unfinished
mural of the Refilwe girl will be placed
in Rosebank Mall where consumers
will be able to engage with the mural
by filling it with colour. These would
be placed in coordination with the
web-series episode themes. Signage
will be placed within the malls in order
to build anticipation of the web-series
and murals.
“Telling the brand story”
29
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