South Africans go home!
- Jun 22
- 6 min read
South Africans who are helping to run the global creative industry should make time to go home and share their experiences. That’s the message from Anne Hirsch and Julie Maunder of IDIDTHAT.co
Dear South Africans running the global creative industry;
By the time you read this, you’re probably deep into another Cannes Lions week. If you’re one of the many South Africans now running agencies or brands abroad, we’d like you to know that your Ouma misses you. So does your mother. Your godchildren are growing up
alarmingly fast, and your cousins Martelize and Markolize have only ever heard rumours of your illustrious advertising career overseas, but they remain deeply impressed. And so are we.
We’d also like to take this opportunity to share a simple initiative we’re calling ‘Each One. Brief One’. If each one of you South Africans working abroad briefed one company in South Africa, the impact would be enormous.
So come home. Visit your family. Have a braai. Drink a bottle of wine that costs less than a glass of rosé in Cannes. And while you’re here, work with a South African agency, production company, post house or creative team to make your next ad. Not because South Africa needs saving, and not because we’re asking for favours. But there are enough of you scattered across agencies and brands around the world, creating some of the best
work on the planet, to make a real difference back home.
Every year, Cannes provides a particularly visible reminder of just how ridiculously patriotic South Africans are.
More than 200 South Africans gather outside the Palais for the annual South Africa in Cannes photo, having been summoned via the South Africans in Cannes WhatsApp group. Yes, an entire country has a WhatsApp group. It’s a group nobody ever seems to leave and one that springs back to life every June with party invitations, tips on how to get into the Spotify party (spoiler: none of us ever do), restaurant recommendations, and increasingly urgent reminders about what time the photo is happening. Guys, it’s 17.00 on Thursday. No, we can’t Photoshop you in.
There aren’t many countries where hundreds of people working across competing agencies, brands and production companies all over the world would willingly interrupt their Cannes schedules to stand shoulder to shoulder for a ‘family photo’. Yet every year, there we are, waving flags, hugging people we haven’t seen in 12 months, and proving that South Africans remain remarkably invested in one another’s success.
The photo is equal parts school reunion, family portrait and bringing together South Africans who now live all over the world but somehow still find one another in the south
of France.
The same thing happens whenever a South African wins a Lion. Within seconds, a South African flag appears from somewhere and finds its way onto the stage. If we had to guess, it’s probably the flag that appears most often throughout the week. Not because we’re winning more than everyone else, but because no other nationality seems quite as determined to turn an individual achievement into a national one. For a brief moment, the win belongs to all of us.
For a relatively small country, we seem to produce a disproportionate number of people who end up influencing creativity far beyond our borders. Just look around Cannes this year and you’ll find South Africans everywhere. Mariana O’Kelly, recently appointed
CCO at DonerColle in the US, is one of the most awarded South African creatives of her generation, having won three Cannes Grands Prix. Another huge winner is Damon Stapleton, leading Droga5 ANZ across Australia and New Zealand. Jason Xenopoulos, CEO
of VML New York and CCO Global Accounts, Avi Pinchevsky ECD at David&Goliath in the US, Camilla Clerke oversees Dove from Ogilvy London and CMO Suhayl Limbada is shaping KFC across India. The list goes on.
Before anyone mentions Elon Musk, we don’t claim all South Africans abroad, of course. We have standards.
South Africa has a knack for producing people who are curious about other people. And in our industry, understanding people remains one of the most valuable skills you can have.
Perhaps that’s because we grow up in a country that doesn’t allow us to see the world in simple terms. We navigate different cultures, communities, languages (12 official languages to be exact), histories and realities every day. We learn early that most things are simultaneously funny and serious, frustrating and hopeful, difficult and beautiful.
Humour is not only entertainment here, it’s often a bit of a survival skill and we have become absolute MacGyvers at it.
You can’t avoid complexity here, it’s something we have to live with. Maybe that’s why South African creativity has always been so good at finding human truths. You can
see it in many of the campaigns carrying South African hopes at Cannes this year. There’s Vaseline’s ‘Mntana Ka Gogo’ by VML Johannesburg, a campaign built on a deeply South African insight about the relationship between grandmothers and their grandchildren
that has since travelled around the world and evolved into a global platform for the brand. There’s ‘Philipstown WireCar Grand Prix’ by Accenture Song directed by Paul Ward, which took the South African tradition of racing toy cars made from discarded wire and scrap metal and turned it into a powerful story about dignity and resilience.
Heineken’s ‘Bar de Change’ by LePub Johannesburg found humour in the uniquely South African pain of earning in rands and spending in euros. KFC’s ‘M ssing Piece’ by Bananas, directed by Bruno Bossi (last year’s Gold winners for KFC ‘Cake’), turned a missing piece of chicken into an emotional story about longing. Nedbank’s ‘Hardworking Professionals’ by Joe Public, directed by Lourens van Rensburg, found a human and hilarious way into a travel insurance product by focusing on the diligent pickpockets waiting for them on
holiday. And Spotify Premium’s ‘Ad-Free Listening’ by Machine_ found an intriguingly human way to demonstrate the value of uninterrupted music.
All very different work, but sharing the same instinct: a belief that the quickest route to a great idea is usually through a human truth. It’s why so much of our work travels. And it’s also why so many South Africans do.
The good news is that while many of our brightest creative minds have gone on to influence the world, the ecosystem that produced them is still very much alive. Back
home, we’ve been busy.
Our directors and production companies are attracting international clients, and our crews remain some of the best in the world. Honestly, our crews are among the most highly respected, hardest-working, most resourceful and nicest people you’ll ever spend 14 hours on set
with.
Which brings us back to you. If you’re one of the many South Africans now helping shape brands and agencies around the world, consider this a gentle reminder of what’s waiting back home. The talent is here. The production expertise is here. The locations are here. The stories are certainly here. That’s the thinking behind Each
One. Brief One.
And while we’re on the subject, it’s worth reminding the rest of the world that South Africa remains one of the most extraordinary places on earth to make creative work. Within a few hours, you can move from beaches to vineyards, mountains to deserts, dense urban environments to wide-open landscapes. The post-production expertise is world-class, the time zone works surprisingly well, the restaurants and hotels are amongst the best in the world and the exchange rate is still doing some very (very) heavy lifting. Most importantly, the people are exceptional. Last season alone, Cape Town hosted 669 foreign productions,
generating approximately R6.9bn (€364m) in turnover and supporting thousands of jobs across production, hospitality, tourism and transport. That’s a creative economy.
The talent, stories and capabilities are here. And if the work we’ve entered into Cannes this year proves anything, it’s that South Africa’s creative edge remains as sharp as ever.
So enjoy Cannes. Carry the flag. Take the photo. Order the rosé and listen to the Saffas with Rands in the bank complain about the exchange rate. (Please buy a South African still living in SA a drink.) And when you’re back at your desk, whether that’s in London, Bangkok,
Sydney, Amsterdam, Chicago, Bangkok, New York or somewhere in between, remember there’s a small country at the bottom of Africa still producing some of the world’s best talent, stories and creative work on the planet.
Come visit.
Your Ouma would love to see you. And while you’re here, brief her.
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