Ever since Nandos started to shake things up with their edgy, humorous and topical ads a few years ago, South African advertising seems to have found its voice. Agencies and their clients are steadily finding new, creative ways to engage local audiences and drive conversation around their products.
Nandos played an important role in creating a culture of commentary on social media, and over the years, that energy and their daring spirit has permeated throughout the ad space.
Tinashe Venge, who is an advertising copywriter at M&C Saatchi and a freelance entertainment reporter across various mediums, shared some insight on the current state of advertising in South Africa.
"I've always thought, as an outsider before I entered the industry, that South Africa had some of the best advertising in the world," he explained.
"And that's seen by how popular our ads can be, especially in this day and age where, ads can be placed online. We've seen our ads become really popular around the world and win global awards. But in terms of where we're at right now, what I like is that there seems to have been a watershed moment where the brands who were afraid of exploring certain territories, and afraid of changing the status quo, decided that they're not going to be afraid anymore. And it’s had a ripple effect with other brands adopting this fearlessness when it comes to their advertising."
As a reference, he explained that even Standard Bank, one of the clients he works on, has undergone a transformation and is working towards becoming a bank that connects with people by creating memorable advertising content.
Other brands like Savanna, Flying Fish and Chicken Licken are also stepping it up and creating their own lane in this space.
Chicken Licken, in particular, has been at the forefront of the advancement in creativity in the local advertising industry for a while now.
Tshepo Tumahole, a multiple Loeries award-winning creative director at Joe Public SA, is one of the talented creative minds behind the brand.
When I spoke with Tumahole, he explained how much of Chicken Licken's success is due to the fact that it is a "very South African brand" that has always been about South Africa, even before Joe Public started working on it.
"So because it’s a uniquely South African brand, when we got it as an agency, we needed to maintain that and embrace South Africaness," he explained, before adding that the brand's work is always rooted in insight.
"We never try and portray people in a different light or show a misrepresentation of a particular group of people. So with Chicken Licken, what we do is that we don’t necessarily show a South Africa that any other international brand would show. We show a South Africa that South Africans would know and appreciate because we’re a South African brand. So that’s why you’ll find that we’re quite insightful, quite engaging and quite humorous and loved by South Africans, simply because it reflects their own stories.”
Aside from Chicken Licken, Joe Public's clients include Castle Milk Stout, Nedbank, Flying Fish, Chicken Licken and Brutal Fruit. His work with these brands has seen Joe Public win Agency of the Year at the Loeries for the past four years.
Venge, who is himself gunning for some Loeries in the near future, was full of praise for Chicken Licken, Nandos and other brands who are pushing the envelope and creating an environment of innovation. "People are breaking the rules," he said.
"Savanna, having this dope ad and then cheekily including Nandos in that ad. We're seeing a lot of things that we hadn't seen before: brands venturing into unexplored territories, brands being more conscious about representation, brands being more conscious about the messaging they're sending out."
Black creative minds are starting to fill important roles at advertising agencies, and it's showing in the authentic content that's being churned out.
"It's almost like a consciousness that is happening in advertising because for a long time, advertising was seen as very white," Venge said.
"And now, this overall awakening of media properties has also seen advertising awakening and saying, no man, we need to see different bodies. We need to show different skin tones and not just different for the sake of being different, but different because this is what real people are. And the brands that are getting it. It's being reflected in their ads, and their ads are doing well."
Tumahole has also observed how an increasing number of black creatives are expressing themselves and finding a voice in local advertising. Black people are being represented in a less exaggerated manner than before, and ads are starting to show a true reflection of black people.
"We aren’t seeing people dancing for airtime anymore; we’re now telling our stories the way we want to tell them, and we have brands backing those stories up," he said.
"It’s great to be in this position right now where you can actually tell the story of blackness, tell the story of Africans in a way that doesn’t seem to compromise them or in a way that doesn’t seem to show a westernised version of Africa. Something I always say, is you cannot write about people without them in the room. The work will reflect and show that. There are more black people in these rooms, and there are more black people making big decisions.”