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Joe Public has been in the advertising business for 25 years and celebrated their anniversary in March.
City Press recently had a chance to chat with Pepe Marais, the company’s co-founder and group chief creative officer, about the journey to becoming the number one agency in the country.
The agency was ranked number one at the Pendoring Awards in November 2022 and, earlier this year, they were the only South African agency to feature on The One Club’s Global Creative Rankings as the 15th best independent agency globally.
In the interview, Marais talked a great deal about purpose and growth. The creative did not want to talk so much about being the number one agency in the country, but rather about the growth of the people who work at the agency.
“We are probably the only business in our industry that I know for sure is as clear on our purpose beyond business,” he said.
Advertising is a highly stressful industry. Most of the people in it often talk about the long hours and never-ending work.
READ: Joe Public celebrates 25 purposeful years
To find out whether Marais’ words resonated with the people on the ground, I sat down with those creating the magic that has put the company at the top.
Visiting the agency at their headquarters in Bryanston, one is met with the numerous Loeries awards the company has won over the years. Then you see the values that the company claims help them get the awards.
The first one that hits me is on ownership: “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” Wish we could put that up somewhere in Parliament or something.
In one of their boardrooms, I meet the dynamic Tshepo duo. Tshepo Tumahole and Tshepo Mogorosi are creative directors at the company.
Tumahole, who is the wordsmith of the duo, said that his journey to where he is right now is testament to the company’s mission to create opportunities for people to join the industry.
Tumahole himself got into the industry through a bursary, like the one the company launched as part of its quarter of a century celebration, in which they will be working with the Red & Yellow School of Advertising to build a pipeline from the grassroots to the company.
“When I joined, I didn’t have any awards. My industry profile was at pretty much zero. It took a lot for me to get to where I am. With the backing of the company, I got to win the Loeries and some international awards and eventually become a creative director,” Tumahole said.
Mogorosi, the one who brings Tumahole's words to life, started at the company as an intern after being picked out by Xolisa Dyeshana, the chief creative officer, from a similar scheme to find talent.
“I knew nothing getting here. I had to apply myself,” Mogorosi said.
He said that he took ownership of his growth. “I used to come here at 6am, look at the work that the company was doing and work to get my skills to the level needed for me to grow in the company,” he said.
Talking about one of their recent jobs, The Nyathi Rider, the duo said that it was one of the examples of their growth in the industry. The Nyathi Rider is an advertising campaign for Chicken Licken, featuring Kitt from Knight Rider.
Growth beyond work
Nomfundo Myeni, who is a copywriter at the company, says that the growth she has seen has been beyond her career. “What is beautiful about this space is that I have leaders who care. Even though I had anxiety around my career, I still had support. I still had people who would guide me through my growth.”
Myeni said:
Myeni said that she also saw growth in her personal life after witnessing the lifestyle changes Marais made and how those changes helped his creativity.
“It was inspiring. I looked at that and I said I also want to do that.”
Myeni quit drinking alcohol.
“It started off as an experiment. But, seeing how my mental health improved, how I am in a space where I am coming up with beautiful ideas, how everything is so intentional (not that there’s anything wrong with drinking), for me these were things I was inspired by," Myeni adds.
The personal and career growth for Myeni have culminated in a project she describes as a labour of love. Zikhethele is a responsible drinking campaign for SA Breweries.
“It was one of my passion points because of my own lifestyle choices. When the brief came in, it was a beautiful opportunity to integrate a bit of myself into it. I was given the platform and the space to do that ... It is difficult to create these beyond advertising ideas.
"Whenever I get a chance, I just go for it. In terms of just how I was trusted with it, it reflected that I have clearly grown from where I was three years ago to where I am right now,” Myeni explained.
