For the teams, Nyisism is a commitment to understanding that excellence is doing your best with what’s at hand; committing to showing up as your best self to every engagement; recognising that while teams must stay accountable, ideas can come from everywhere; and embracing radical candour and honest feedback in a way that holds oneself and others accountable with respect, as well as a ‘can do’ attitude.
Healthy constructive competition
The SAB corporate brand is serious about seeing agencies as partners and a part of the team, which inspires and encourages the respective agency partners to evolve to a culture that aligns with the organisation, as well as owning their expertise in integrating with other agencies that work on the brand.
I do, however, have to be cognisant of the fact that, for better or worse, inter-agency competition is something that doesn’t go away. I believe in healthy and constructive competition that keeps everyone on their toes and ultimately delivers the best work for the brand. However, when working in an integrated framework such as the SAB one, collaboration to deliver multi-channel integrated campaigns, while celebrating and empowering the diversity of thought that comes from the expertise, is critical to ensuring cut-through, resonant work.
So far, the approach to the massively complex task of managing so many objectives and stories has certainly been one of SAB’s most notable successes. It has enabled the teams to live up to one of SAB’s fathers of marketing Neil Hobkirk’s favourite sayings, “Big brands can do big things.”
It has been amazing to see the power of our brands to shape culture and shine a spotlight on social issues, really come to the forefront at this time. I am a big fan of Carling Black Label’s #NoExcuse movement which seeks to address men in the societal issue of gender-based violence, and the inspiring work from Brutal Fruit in celebrating femininity and encouraging women to occupy their space and embrace their uniqueness through the You Belong positioning.
At Castle Lager, it was beautiful to see how South Africa came together behind the Boks for the Castle Lions Series and helped increase national blood donations by 24% year on year through our partnership with the South African National Blood Service for the #InOurBlood campaign. This goes to show that it takes a true commitment to integration and collaboration to achieve the highest order purpose of a brand, shape culture and move society forward.
BIO
Sphe Vundla is Corporate Brand Director at The South African Breweries. He is an international award-winning and skilled marketer with multi-industry and multi-discipline experience in delivering strategic and creative solutions while elevating brands across Africa. As a marketer, Vundla’s experience across numerous marketing disciplines and industries has given him the power of adaptability. Over the last three and a half years, he has been intricately involved in some of SAB’s most iconic beer brands including Castle Lager, Castle Free, Carling Black Label, Lion Lager and Hansa leading the digital and integrated media functions for these brands.
