Bob Rightford, you made work, respect, soul, toughness, pride, commitment – and a promise – to truly mean something. I will remember your big heart, big soul, big hunger, big love. Bob Rightford, I owe you my life.
By Roger Makin
Bob Rightford was my mentor, my partner, my role model and above all, my friend. I owe so much to him that I cannot fully express my thanks and my good fortune for having met him.
I first worked with Bob at the advertising agency De Villiers and Schonfeldt, where he was MD. Thanks to him, the Cape Town company was growing rapidly, and late nights at the office were commonplace. One evening we were due to have a new business presentation the next morning, and the creative studio was working flat out to meet the deadline. Bob’s report for the presentation was finished and typed; his work was done and he could easily have gone home to his family. Instead he went out and brought back steak rolls for everybody in the studio, and joined us for a late-night picnic. I remember thinking: “I’d be happy to keep working for a man like this.”
And so it happened, and I thank my lucky stars for my many years with Bob at Rightford Searle-Tripp & Makin, and beyond. He enriched so many lives, especially mine.
By Safaraaz Sindhi, Creative Group Head at Ogilvy Cape Town
Before I started in advertising I was just a kid from a tiny, little town in the West Rand of Johannesburg called Azaadville. Where I come from the only music you could get your hands on was rap music and the only movies you’d ever watch were the skop skiet en donner action movies tonight on e. (You read that in his voice, right?) Where I come from you grow up to become a doctor or a lawyer if you’re lucky, if you’re unlucky you run your dad’s motorcar spares shop and if you’re really, really just shit out of luck, you’d get a job at the Oriental Plaza. For me, that was life.
So, when I walked into my first ad agency in 2010, in a predominantly white male industry, it wasn’t the colour of the skin of the people I worked with that intimidated me, it was their knowledge of popular culture. My gut reaction was, yikes! Am I going to make it? And no, not just because I was a few shades darker than everyone else – it was more because I wasn’t prepared – I wasn’t equipped to write witty ads that made references to cult films that everyone else’s award-winning ads did. You want to hear a secret? Before I started out in advertising I didn’t even know who Wes Anderson was. I’d never heard a song by the Beatles and I honestly cared very little about Chuck Palahniuk. I didn’t know it back then but my lack of knowledge on these subjects is what would give me my edge in the industry. You see, I could have gone out and read a bunch of books, listened to some music and spent my weekends watching their movies, but I soon figured that I didn’t need to do that to tell stories. I figured, that to tell stories in the ads I made I didn’t need to know everything they knew, I just needed to know everything they didn’t. My different view of the world allowed me to bring fresher insights into my work, it allowed me to solve problems differently, be more relevant and most importantly I could speak to the markets I advertised to in a language they could understand, because in most cases, I was the market.
We live in a diverse country – we have eleven different languages and we’re the proverbial cultural melting pot of the continent – yet all of our advertising looks, sounds and feels the same. We’ve got to ask ourselves, why is this happening? We have so many of our own stories to tell, so much of our own cultural richness to expose but instead we create work that resembles advertising from different continents to such an extent that international award shows could never tell us apart. We need to create an identity that represents our diversity. And if for nothing else, therein lies the reason for transformation.
And transformation isn’t just about bringing black talent or female talent into our agencies, it’s so much more than that. It’s about teaching them how to harness their own knowledge and their own personal experiences into great advertising, and when agencies realise the power in doing that for their brands, perhaps one day a TV ad written in vernacular will win a Grand Prix at Cannes.
To the nights that turned into mornings, and the friends that turned into family. The 2017 Ogilvy Johannesburg Christmas Party was unquestionably a night to remember. In most cases, cops and robbers would not be seen in the same place, as for criminals, their home is generally a jail cell unless still on the loose! LOL. In this case however, things were slightly different (as per the usual Ogilvy culture).
After a hard long year, the end of year party was the perfect time to sit back and relax while having a drink amongst friends surrounded by good vibes, great music and some killer outfits. In an environment that allows us to be who we are, share our uniqueness and motivates us to create great work, no one knew the rhythm that certain people had contained.
Dominic Shwarz was the talk of the town with his slaying dance moves!
Not too sure whether they knew where the camera was LOL!!
Don’t be fooled, they were ready to start handing out fines.
Meet Gabisile, she’s a 23-year-old graduate from the University of Johannesburg with a degree in Strategic Communications: Corporate Communications. She’s an honest, fun-loving and witty Grad from Soweto, who easily adapts to any environment.
Q: What’s a common misconception people have about you?
A: That I am mean and a bit sassy.
Q: What’s the one thing most people don’t know about you?
A: I’m very shy and suffer from anxiety; so much so I bite my own skin sometimes. *Facepalm*
Q: Why did you choose advertising?
A: With my maths and physics skills, I couldn’t be a doctor; so I thought, why not choose something I would actually enjoy. I’ve always been fascinated by the world of advertising.
Q: Why did you apply for this grad program instead of any other?
A: What would be better than starting your career at South Africa’s number one agency? It’s also great that Ogilvy works together with brands that I consider myself an advocate for. For example: DStv, KFC and my favourite, FNB.
Gabisile Mabaso
Q: Go back to your first week at Ogilvy, how did you feel?
A: Let’s just say, if I could bite any deeper into my skin, then you would see my teeth from under my lip line.
Q: What has been the biggest surprise about working at Ogilvy
A: I didn’t know I could down so many tequila shots in one go. Also, Ogilvy is such a free environment, where one can fully express themselves without fear.
Q: What is the best and worst thing about agency life?
The Worst:
The work load and working hours can be quite taxing.
The Best:
As an O25 graduate, the best part is the immersion into the different departments and seeing what goes on in them.
Q: What have you been up to in Digital Strategy?
A: I was initially placed in Digital Strategy, which went well, but then I was introduced to Data Analytics – which I love. I’m hoping to stay there when everyone else rotates to other departments.
Q: What has been your biggest accomplishment at Ogilvy so far?
A: Firstly, being given my own reports to see through for FNB on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis on the Data Analytics side. I thought I would only be contacting and talking to clients directly when I had finished the Grad program.
Q: What are you hoping to achieve at Ogilvy?
A: For now, just getting my name out there, so I can come back next year as a permanent employee, and have more Job Numbers to work with.
Q: What is the most embarrassing that has happened to you?
A: I fell quite badly at bar night trying to run after some guy who wanted to throw my bunny ears on the roof. He won.
Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met?
A: Her Name is Naledi. She works for DStv on the Client Service side. There’s never a dull moment with her.
Q: If you could be anyone at Ogilvy for a day, who would you be?
A: Abey, on his most chilled day. I just wanna sit in his chair without the drama.
Q: Do you have an office crush?
A: I do, his name is Anything Expensive, as in “nice shirt, is it made of boyfriend material?” You get it, right?
Q: How has Ogilvy affected your relationship with caffeine?
A: It made it stronger, we’re practically inseparable.
FC Ogilvy JHB, was started in September 2015, when a few people from the creative and account management teams realised that there were a lot of guys who loved playing social football.
We decided to form the FCO team and joined the Dimension Data Corporate League (DiData League), with all match days being on Tuesday evenings.
FC Ogilvy JHB has a roster of 13 regular players and is managed, and captained, by Napo Tsubane (Ogilvy JHB), while Michael Zulu (Ogilvy JHB) often acts as team coach and game strategist on match days. It would not be possible to have the team without the help of Abey Mokgwatsane, Garth King and Angela Madlala, who have been supportive all the way – by getting the team registered for the league and matches, arranging team kits and financing team utilities for game days.
The FCO team is about bonding and brotherhood, with the joyful bonus of running after a ball for 40 minutes once a week. This extends beyond the players, as we have colleagues who regularly come and watch the team play while enjoying a drink or two. The team is comprised of members from all over the campus: Account Management, Creative, Hogarth Worldwide, Maintenance, Geometry Global, Team Red, Finance… a great way of uniting people from different parts of the business J. This has resulted in a feeling of inclusion and understanding that has made certain working relationships easier and has assisted in building respect between colleagues.
Beyond playing in the DiData league, we also have challenge matches against Client teams such as SAB, KFC and DStv. We often treat these matches as an opportunity to give other interested colleagues (who aren’t regular members of the team) an opportunity to participate.
The team has grown and progressed from a small cluster of guys just jamming together to a well-managed organisation capable of winning the league. This past season we were ranked number 1 in the league. The aspirations for the team are higher than merely participating in a sport, we have a vision of becoming a linchpin of the Ogilvy culture; getting people active and participative in the most novel of initiatives.
Team Roster
Napo Tsubane
Lesego Matabane
Agisanang Masekela
Phillip Matsekoleng
Thapelo Leluma
Peace Sethuntsa
Ernest Ndou
Jerry
Essien
Craig Herzberg
Craig Gangram
Mohammed Hoosen
Mogorosi Mashilo
Support Staff
Mohau Bosiu – Match Reporter
Michael Zulu – Team Coach
Calleb Mbedzi and Siphiwe Sefolosha (Team Utilities)
