Dyeshana on the Creative Circle's transformation drive

To recap, in November last year the Creative Circle announced that it had partnered with the Loeries and embarked on an aggressive drive to accelerate transformation by implementing new codes, including a number of changes to its website and ranking system.

Creative Circle takes steps towards its new purpose

22 Nov 2017

Why did the Creative Circle embark on a new purpose-finding mission?

The Creative Circle has been around for over 28 years and since its inception, many things have changed in both the industry and the world.

We felt that it was necessary to realign ourselves to the current challenges that are facing our industry and the only way to do that was to completely reboot and start anew, asking ourselves that very pertinent question, ‘In today’s world, why do we exist?’ Well, we exist to inspire the transformation of product, people and perception through the power of creativity.

Comment on how marketing and advertising is changing, specifically with regard to the increased consciousness of brand purpose, and how the Creative Circle is adapting.

Consumers have become increasingly sceptical of brands in this always-on world that we are living in. Added to that, they are more vocal and as the result of social media have become that much more powerful.

It is therefore important for brands to truly demonstrate what their reason for being is. This is why the bigger purpose becomes important not only on how they communicate, but how they conduct their business, and as a brand the Creative Circle is not immune to this and that is why we embarked on this process to find our purpose.

Secondly, knowing why you exist gives you a vision to work towards and that is imperative for any organisation.

Briefly explain the organisation’s new purpose: “To inspire the transformation of product, people and perception through the power of creativity.”

Transformation is an extremely powerful word.

Xolisa Dyeshana

In the South African context, it has come to be known for one meaning, which is justified. However, we wanted to firstly not shy away from the glaring issue that when it comes to the South African context, advertising is lagging way behind in transformation and this needs to be addressed. But most importantly we wanted to look into the holistic meaning of the word which goes beyond race and gender and speaks to exponential improvement.

That is why we refer firstly to the product (which is why we are ultimately in business), the people (who are the engine behind the product), and then the perception of what we do. All of which can be transformed through the power of creativity.

How is the Loeries well equipped to help take this forward?

The Creative Circle and the Loeries have enjoyed a very close relationship throughout the years. The Loeries is the gold standard when it comes to running awards both locally and in the region with its lean and efficient structures. So, it made complete sense for us to solidify this partnership by leveraging the services of the Loeries to run our administration and help the organisation run more efficiently.

This will allow us the capacity and time to concentrate on the real challenges where the Creative Circle is required to intervene.

Briefly comment on the organisation’s transformation drive.

At a leadership level, we are sitting on around 50% transformation on our board. We are also looking at the inclusion of a freelancer seat, as well as a startup agency seat on our Exco to ensure everyone is represented.

Further to this, we have created strategic partnerships with educational bodies, like Umuzi, that specialise in assisting learners from disadvantaged backgrounds to gain access to the industry and the Loeries which gives full creative scholarships to such candidates.

New transformation codes have been implemented in both our internal programmes, as well as in all programmes where the Creative Circle has direct influence.

This is just the beginning and there is more in the pipeline that we are working on for 2018.

In the release, you also mentioned accommodating freelancers and startup agencies, as well as updating the ranking systems and website. Please elaborate.

Last year we updated our ranking system to make it simpler, transparent and scientific. This has given us the opportunity to have an always-on presence where agencies can at any time view where they sit on the rankings; as awards shows happen the rankings are updated. Very similar to a sports leaderboard.

In addition, we have introduced a new fee structure for freelancers (R110 per month or R1,200 per year) and startup agencies up to five people (R300 per month or R4,000 per year).

Look out for our interview with the new chair once announced at the Creative Circle Annual Awards on Thursday, 15 March.