Cape Town - The popular Cape coloured culture memes brand Vannie Kaap is expanding and will open its first store next month.
The brand has been growing over the past two years, after launching on Facebook in 2015 and has extended its reach to other social media platforms.
The person behind Vannie Kaap, who would not be named as he wanted to be able to “eat his gatsby in peace and might still owe Edgars money”, said his identity would remain an enigma because his “identity is less important than my activity”.
But rest assured, he is a real person who enjoys reading and playing the guitar.
“I also have a fascination with watching war movies and documentaries. I know it’s a bietjie sturvy (a little stuck up) and boring, but don’t be judgerag (judgmental).”
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Since the last interview with him in April, he said the brand had grown significantly.
Talking to Weekend Argus, he said the biggest milestone had been the upcoming launch of the physical store.
“Besides increasing our product range, collaborating with other brands, revamping our online shop and adding celebrity VK ambassadors, we have reached a milestone that would still be a long term goal, which is the opening of a physical shop.”
The shop will open in Woodstock on December 2.
“Besides the physical shop and the continued expansion of the VK retail nationally and globally, VK media is still our biggest goal. We have not shifted from the mission of also dominating the media space when it comes to coloured views, news and entertainment.”
Some of the international and local brands the company has collaborated with are Dunkin Donuts, Baskin Robbins and the Asami’s Sushi restaurant chain.
“We have also been working on a few video and written
content projects for our new media platform launching in January 2018. So we’ve been putting together content providers that are local and have always loved the Vannie Kaap brand.”
Growing the brand is a priority and, as a result, he has also extended his focus to events, which he hopes can add “extra revenue streams and also increase our offline engagement”.
The brand has 255 000 followers on Facebook and 32 000 on Instagram.
“Since our last interview with you, our social media following has grown by about 42%.
“We’ve obviously also felt this increase in our sales, which is always a good thing in pushing the brand forward.”
The growth of the brand is due to its founder’s passion for playing with words and observing people.
“The observations can be based on my past or things I experience now.
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“The hard part is then taking what I see as vrek funny in my own head and then adding the punch line and Kaaps to it, so it is also somehow even just a bietjie funny and relevant to others.”
Strangely enough some of his favourite memes are not those that are funny, but rather inspirational.
“They are very personal to me as they reflect my struggles in pursuing this entrepreneurial dream.”
His favourites include: “Dreams don’t work unless you dala”, “You can’t do geharde goetes with gevrekte mense” and “Just because your past was nwata, doesn’t mean your future can’t be skangaga”.
To buy Vannie Kaap merchandise, see shop.vanniekaap.com