Given that there have previously been limited mechanisms to source, select and expose young people from previously disadvantaged communities to a full range of creative careers, the Vega School of Advertising started the Vega Imagination Labs to speed up transformation in the communications sector. And these labs are now the first ever beneficiaries of a brand new, innovative programme just launched by the Old Shanghai Firecracker Factory.
Believing that advertising communications in SA will never be truly effective until there's strong input from qualified black people working in the industry, the agency decided to focus on training black people from previously disadvantaged communities.
To achieve this, the Youth Education and Training Initiative (YETI) was set up and financed by a percentage of the Old Shanghai Firecracker Factory's turnover: R1 million over the next five years.
The Old Shanghai Firecracker Factory CEO Gail Curtis said YETI enables skills transfer through learnerships within the agency's structure: "We could have gone the route adopted by most agencies that are black-empowered by selling a share to the black elite, but we decided against that.
"I believe we are creating employment in the form of meaningful opportunities in the industry for graduates from the labs and giving equity where it counts - to talented youth," Curtis said.
Shanghai's role is to provide the students with practical experience and hands-on knowledge by offering them internships with managing partners in each of Shanghai's business units. The agency currently has two learners in its event company, one in public relations and two more within business syndicates. A further five learners are scheduled to start in January in the areas of creative design, media, marketing and client service.
"It's always been Shanghai's philosophy to empower, not employ, so we've always been empowered - now we need to transform to a BEE company and give people the skills to manage and own companies. We build entrepreneurs, not hierarchies," Curtis said.
Thembe Mogala, who has been at the Alexandra Imagination Lab since March, was one of four students who were taken on the Business Trust's annual Long Run (SA's biggest corporate event) by Shanghai last month.
"It was so helpful to see what people do in this industry and I was able to grasp what it is the industry wants and to see how hard people work. The Shanghai people were so busy, but they spoke to us and explained ideas and were so passionate," Mogala said.
Letswayi Raphela said she had no idea of the relationship between client, product and agency before the trip: "Now I understand it's all about selling products and it's tough, but so rewarding. We all needed this experience so desperately and came away full of ideas."
Bafana Mpanza said the experience was inspirational: "I want to be a creative. Sharing ideas with the team gave me a much better idea of how the business works."
