Mission: Rebranding Africa

From the inside out
Contrary to what too many emerging companies, particularly in developing markets, in his opinion believe, branding is not merely about slapping a name and an icon on a product or service, advertising it and then sitting back waiting for the sales to roll in. “You have to build a brand conscientiously and patiently, inside out,” Thebe says.

“You build it in your product, your workforce, your management, your attitude to life, your philosophy. You put yourself on the line in your brand. The words and images that go to make up your advertising campaign come last. They encapsulate what your brand promises to deliver.”

He should know. He has spent a lifetime helping to build brands in his native South Africa and travelled to over 50 countries across Africa and the world gaining invaluable expertise and experience in the craft. His peers acknowledge him as the foremost African brands authority.  His provenance is immaculate: BSc and MBA degrees from Marquette University in the US, executive education at Wits Business School and Harvard Business School, and a qualified Chartered Marketer (SA). Not long after starting his career at Colgate Palmolive in New York, prior to relocating to South Africa, he got his major break when he was appointed the first African director and chief marketing officer for Nike South Africa and later the African continent. He steered the company through the very difficult transition in post-apartheid South Africa, the need to adapt to local conditions and led it to over 75 local and global awards including the 10 Cannes Lions and the Institute of Marketing Management’s Marketing Company of the Year Roll of Honour.

After unparalleled success at Nike, he established his pan-African brand consultancy, Brand Leadership Group. In its first decade, he’s won the prestigious Fin Week ‘Marketing Services Agency of the Year” award in 2008 (South Africa) and several Rebrand 100 global awards for Effective Brand Transformations. He has been recognised as one South Africa’s Top 10 Thinkers in Marketing in a list that featured Pick n Pay founder Raymond Ackerman, Virgin founder Richard Branson and former South African President Nelson Mandela in a survey by Ipsos Markinor among business decision makers. The Mail and Guardian newspaper has dubbed him simply “Mr Brand”. How We Made It Africa named him one of Ten African Business Leaders And Thinkers To Follow On Twitter along with AfDB’s Donald Kaberuka, Heirs Holding’s Tony Elumelu and Harvard academic Professor Calestous Juma.

He has led a range of branding initiatives across the continent including the successful political branding campaign for Ghana’s Presidential candidates Atta Mills in 2008 and John Mahama in 2012; the merger branding of the world’s 10th largest university, the University of South Africa with over 250,000 students; the branding and organisation of the Africa Green Revolution for over 1,200 delegates in Tanzania, the rebranding of the University of Botswana and repositioning of Telecom Namibia; campaigns for Zambia’s Zanaco, and nation-branding assignments for Brand Ghana and Brand South Africa and the re-branding of Transnet, Africa’s largest state-owned bulk freight organisation.

“I like to see myself as a transformational brand architect,’ he says. He explains that to mean the assignments that interest him are those that are catalytic to a nation, institution or person’s identity and success, and contribute to transforming Africa’s image.

He sits on the board of several organisations, is a prolific writer, commentator, and much-sought-after speaker on global African branding and reputation matters.

But Thebe Ikalafeng is still not satisfied. The image of Africa, or brand Africa, is still very much in the negative. “What happens in Somalia tarnishes the image of Africa, what happens in CAR (Central African Republic) or Zimbabwe or even South Africa, impacts the image and reputation of Africa,” he says. What is required is a deliberate, collaborative and effective effort to build up the image of the new, vibrant, growth-oriented Africa.