The Editor
Really there is a great need to revitalise black advertising companies in South Africa. The collaboration of marketing, advertising and communication industry, that can yield lot of job opportunities.
However, first BANA should make strides in saving and salvaging the black owned businesses in these three business sectors.
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In particular the black owned advertising companies. What I have noticed is the suppression of these small advertising companies.
Yes, it is a lucrative industry, but the black advertising companies are struggling to make a break through. It appears that when black companies designing adverts, sometimes they forget to add a black flavour in their advertising concepts.
As a result they struggle to compete because they have ignored their culture. The content built on culture attract diverse communities and it stand against the competition.
For instance if the product to be advertised is a goat. Within the black society, there are many uses of the goat, starting from honouring the ancestors up to traditional healing. While in white communities, the goat is for just meat.
That gives the client a wide choice to select from the different uses of a goat. That also provide a variety the black advertising company may identify for the purpose of competition.
Another thing BANA should investigate, is the actual service offered by the advertising companies and its position.
Some black companies register to offer advertising business, but they are printing CVs, photocopying, developing photographs and offering internet services.
Nevertheless, we hope the arrival of BANA could be the dawn of the new era.
~ Godfrey Sigwela, Nelson Mandela Bay
