Portfolio Committee On Communication

1
Portfolio Committee On Communication

• Café submission on
• Marketing Communications Industry Transformation

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Table of contents

• An overview of the transformation issues in the
  industry
• Transformation constraints and limitations for
  the industry
• Suggested strategies to address issues,
  constraints and limitations

• Appendices
• Appendix 01 - Introduction to cafe (black paper
  constitution)
• Appendix 02 - Design Industry transformation
  paper (2001)

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Overview

• AA, BEE, Affirmative Procurement not clearly
  understood, individually or as a framework
• Industry grappling with shortage of skills across
  the board and its own misperception that PDIs,
  for not having participated in the industry, lack
  relevant skills
• Limits potential for hunting skills from outside
  that may well turn the tide
• Frustrated PDIs and change agents
• Hostile agency working environments typified by
  passive resistance to transformation
• informal networks see to maintenance of status
  quo
• Loose management commitment to meaningful and
  lasting transformation
• beyond recruitment to participation in value
  creation
• Industry an unattractive employment prospect
• Loss of talent to other sectors and overseas
  employers
• Low visibility of PDIs in sector
• Industry unknown as a career option therefore
  limiting number and quality of applications
• Opportunistic recruitment industry
• Keep them moving, collect the fees, forget about
  matching people to developmental opportunities

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Transformation constraints and limitations

• Unless we understand the constraints to the
  transformation process and constraints upon the
  industry and attendant limitations, we can very
  speedily kill rather than transform the industry
  for better
• Equally, unless we get beyond constraints and
  excuses for not transforming, we can commit a
  greater crime and allow an unacceptable status
  quo to be maintained rendering empty the gains
  made some 8 years ago when our journey towards a
  better South Africa, and our true destiny, was
  patiently confirmed by the people of this great
  nation in waiting

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Constraints

• Dearth of skills
• Strategic
• Creative
• Business/Commercial
• Low margins
• Transformation costs money and an unprofitable
  industry cannot respond meaningfully to change
• Incentives needed for voluntary transformation
  over and above DOL initiatives aimed at making
  training less onerous on business
• Awarding of government and parastatal accounts to
  cosmetically transformed agencies whose core
  industry competency (creativity) is seen to be
  lacking
• Private sector indifference or limited commitment
  to empowerment
• Agencies CAN and DO thrive without government/BEE
  sensitive accounts

Balance need for empowerment (distinctly South
African) with need to keep industry vibrant and
globally competitive
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Limitations

• Need to keep the industry alive
• Entrenched position of established players and
  widely known fact that PDIs cannot go it alone
  throughout industry
• Limited focus on advertising agencies vs. entire
  value chain
• Agencies just collect the money from clients and
  keep a bit with narrow margins (16.5-18.5)
• its safer to keep money in the bank than finance
  a venture given the low returns
• Where does the marketing communications Rand go
  and is the inquiry focussing sufficiently on
  related industries?
• Private sector players upon whom the marketing
  communications industry is mostly reliant not
  doing enough
• Financial Services, FMCG, Retailers, Cellular,
  etc.
• Engagement of industry bodies is urgently needed
  to get THEM to commit to transformation and walk
  their talk!!!

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Suggested strategies to address issues,
constraints and limitations

• Possible Ways forward

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Strategic framework
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Strategies/

• Continued engagement with industry and sectoral
  stakeholders on issues to be addressed
• GCIS-DOC sessions with industry must continue and
  be broadened to address the entire value chain
  (upstream, downstream and side-stream!)
• Clear policy guidelines for desired industry (and
  sector) self regulatory regime
• Industry has expressed a desire to determine its
  own transformation agenda and while this is
  desirable, an enabling framework is needed
• While industry wishes must be respected, we
  cannot hold change hostage to comfort zones of
  the very target of the transformation
• How can we trust the proverbial wolf to guard the
  very sheep its been gorging itself upon
  hitherto?
• Minimalist legislation to shore up regulatory
  framework linking industry transformation to
  overall employment equity and BEE agenda
• While the ACA transformation charter is a sound
  starting point, however minimalist in its
  approach, a clear cut set of objectives and
  penalties is urgently required
• There is a lack of accountability and potentially
  therefore, a lack of sincerity to the
  transformation agenda

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Strategies/

• Continue to leverage and extend direct and
  indirect government spending power and influence
• Revisit point scoring system to treat empowerment
  as more than a qualifying criteria as with other
  criteria
• Minimum empowerment, minimum points
• Increase minimum empowerment stake requirements
  on tenders (quantitative dimension), in
  particular employee equity participation
• brand name transactions are potentially
  crowding out internal management equity
  participation and entrenching personalities
  rather than widening ownership
• Broaden supplier requirements to include internal
  transformation (quantitative and qualitative)
  with stricter reporting requirements
• Affirmative Action from bottom up including board
  level
• Affirmative procurement
• Introduce more stringent transformation reporting
  requirements on agencies that are awarded
  government and parastatal accounts

Transformation must make commercial sense and
equally, lack thereof commercial suicide (stick)
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Thank You!

• Let us together make this a lasting
  transformation from which all other industries
  can learn and proactively transform themselves
  lest we find ourselves telling the generations
  coming that they too must stand at the gates
  pleading for economic justice, as previous
  generations have and continue to do, rendering
  empty the promise for justice and equality
  guaranteed by our constitution

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Appendices

• Appendix 01 - Introduction to cafe (black paper
  constitution)
• Appendix 02 - GCIS Draft Submission 01 on
  industry transformation (2001)
• Appendix 02 - Design Industry transformation
  paper (2001)

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Introduction to cafe
Appendix 01
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Who are we?

• communication and advertising forum for
  empowerment
• in keeping with our vision, all activities will
  be conducted under the name communication and
  advertising forum for empowerment hereinafter to
  be known as cafe.

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preamble

• the art of advertising is as old as the hills of
  africa. the drum. the horn. the spoken word. the
  music. these were the notable vehicles and
  instruments of advertising and communication in
  traditional african societies.
• there were revered practitioners of the craft
  whose task it was to send, receive, decipher and
  disseminate messages. from valley to village.
  from hillside to hilltop. across plains. across
  mountains. upstream downstream. from sea to sea.
  the bush telegraph was alive.
• interwoven with the advertising and communication
  craft was a pool of specialised resource.
  izimbongi, poets, musicians, singers painters,
  sculptors and various artists adept at what they
  did.

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preamble cont/

• it is our desire to re-establish the nexus that
  was systematically severed by imperialist
  colonialism and all its ramifications. therefore,
  we resolve to harness our expertise and resources
  and strive for the creation and promotion of an
  environment where we, as the custodians of this
  rich heritage, shall claim our rightful place in
  africa and the world as conceptualists, creators,
  disseminators, deciphers and managers of the art
  and craft to meet the challenges of the future.
• we shall always hold high the african heritage
  and live up to its esprit de corps. we shall
  further harness the richness of the african
  literature and create networks amongst black
  advertising and communication practitioners as
  well as related industries. we will stand in
  oneness in the process of acquiring and assuming
  space, place, position and ground that will serve
  as an enabling path for more and more black
  practitioners within the industry.

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vision

• to ceaselessly strive for the creation of an
  industry that reflects the demographic profile of
  the country in all aspects by encouraging
  participation and involvement of blacks in all
  relevant industry bodies and institutions with a
  view of transforming these and imbuing them with
  a truly south african character. furthermore, to
  work for the creation of an environment conducive
  to the birth of a truly south african
  communication and advertising industry. With that
  a uniquely south african and africancentric
  creative aesthetic shall come into being

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mission

• to organise, facilitate and engage in activities
  designed to enhance and propagate transformation
  and empowerment within the industry.
• these activities shall include both the social
  and professional aspects of our business. to
  establish a code of conduct that will facilitate
  a speedy and effective transformation of the
  industry.
• to see to the application, execution and
  implementation of the equity bill within the
  industry.

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objectives

• to lobby for substantive representation and black
  empowerment in the industry
• to propagate transformation of the industry into
  one reflecting the countrys demographics
• to create a platform for the communication of
  african values
• to raise funds for black creative development
• to create a platform for networking and
  interaction amongst blacks in the industry
• to lobby for the respect, inclusion and
  understanding of african culture and language in
  all aspects of creative communication
• to promote the assumption of position, place,
  space and power by blacks within the industry

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membership

• membership of the cafe is open to anyone in the
  advertising and communication industry, including
  related services, who believe in and/or share the
  vision as stated in this document.
• membership fee
• for the forum to live up to its goals and ideas
  and to create an infrastructure that will see to
  the realisation of its objectives, it must be
  able to access funds. membership will be
  conferred on individuals upon payment of a sum of
  money determined by the board being the highest
  policy making body.

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modus operandi

• to promote and pursue its mission the café shall
  organise, facilitate and engage in activities
  designed to enhance and propagate transformation
  and empowerment within the industry. these
  activities shall include both the social and
  professional aspects of our business.
• all activities and functions of the café shall be
  conducted through the guidance of an elected
  board of trustees.

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policy

• the annual general forum will be highest policy
  making organ of café. this organ will comprise
  all members in good standing and fully paid up.
  amendments, emendations and changes to the black
  paper shall only be effective after a majority
  vote in favour of such at the agm in session.

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board of trustees

• a board of trustees will be created and
  registered as a non-profit making organisation
  to run and oversee the activities of cafe. the
  board of trustees, ten in number, who will be
  elected in office for the turnover of 24 months
  with three returning trustees remaining to
  facilitate a continuum, will be entrusted with
  the function of giving leadership, guidance and a
  strategic direction to all policy related issues
  of cafe.
• the day to day management of activities and the
  execution of functions of the cafe shall be
  conducted through an appointed executive
  secretariat.

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the executive secretariat

• the executive secretariat shall, within its
  mandate, set up or cause to set up structures
  that might be necessary to facilitate the
  pursuance of the mission and objectives as stated
  in this document. such structures may include,
  projects that are in line with the fulfillment of
  the mission of cafe i.e. a bursary fund, a
  development fund, sub-committees and other
  structures or organs necessary for effective and
  efficacious the running of cafe.
• the executive secretariat will be the
  administrative arm of the forum and will comprise
  of the following
• executive co-ordinator
• general secretary
• treasurer
• public and media liaison officer
• three committee functionaries

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governance

• term of office of the secretariat
• the term of office shall be limited to twelve
  months for all members of the secretariat. all
  members of the secretariat shall be eligible for
  re-election. notwithstanding the afore-going, no
  member of the secretariat shall be eligible for
  re-election for more than two consecutive terms
  of office.
• voting
• the board of trustees shall be elected through
  nominations from cafe members. after being
  seconded, the candidates shall be put to vote.
  the elected shall conduct elections for the
  chairperson of the board and all other
  functionaries.
• the executive secretariat shall be appointed by
  the board and will remain subject to the
  direction of the board and be accountable to cafe
  members through the board.

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confidentiality

• the forum shall at all times respect the
  confidential and sensitive aspects of our
  industries. while members will be encouraged to
  interact and conduct business of cafe as much as
  possible, breach of business confidentiality
  norms will not be countenanced.
• all intellectual and physical property rights
  vest with the cafe and no member/s may use these
  in any way save by written consent from the
  secretariat.

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our motto

• doing our thing

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Design Industry Transformation2001 Proposal
Appendix 02