Fast growing Digital Marketing Agency, World Wide Creative, has recently moved its Johannesburg branch into a shiny new office space in the Sunninghill area of Sandton. With expansion comes the inevitable lessons that moving offices, hiring people and hidden costs bring.
Johannesburg General Manager and senior strategist at WWC, Louis Janse van Rensburg, was smiling from ear to ear when asked about the move. "Trust me, growth like this can be stressful says Janse van Rensburg, "but due to a concerted team effort and clear processes, both the Cape Town and Johannesburg teams are thrilled with the expansion."
Tips For Expansion
Asked what tips he could suggest for companies in expansion mode, Janse van Rensburg listed the following:
Use Social Media To Find Office Space: Twitter is great for finding areas quick sticks. People will generally give you a blunt suggestion as to where the good opportunities are. Facebook and LinkedIn are great for referrals to available offices.
Use A Recruitment Agency: It's the bane of any agency owner. Recruitment agencies demand a high fee for finding that ideal person - but remember: the wrong person will do immeasurable damage to your company, your brand, and ultimately, your bottom line. It's worth it if the initial brief is clear.
Trust Your Instincts: When interviewing someone - don't ignore any nagging feelings of doubt. Ask yourself 'what's making me feel like this?' Usually those instincts are caused by you recognizing in the candidate that shouldn't be there. The same applies for finding office space. Keep to your standards as it is easy to settle for 'next best' which in the long run can be of risk to your business.
Know What You Want: "We had loads of discussions during the process clarifying all the factors in the expansion. We knew what positions we needed. We avoided overlap in roles. We ensured that the operational structure was efficient. We communicated with clients. By the time we made the move, we were 100% clear what the process was and we followed it accordingly."
Brand Consistency: "At the heart of every company," elaborates Janse van Rensburg, "is a strong brand identity. At World Wide Creative, we believe in the 'Heavy Chef' philosophy which basically means that we're authentic about what we offer. This carries through in our messaging, our colours, our visual language and our training process with new members."
Louis Janse van Rensburg has been heading World Wide Creative Johannesburg since 2008. Drop Louis a line at or follow Louis on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Louis_JvR.
About World Wide Creative World Wide Creative is a digital marketing agency based in the United Kingdom and South Africa. World Wide Creative's philosophy is "Never trust a skinny chef!" The agency offers strategy, development and ongoing marketing - as well as training through its 'Heavy Chef' initiative. World Wide Creative's aim is to create communities of loyal customers for its clients. Clients include Virgin Mobile, Old Mutual, Woolworths Financial Services, MiX Telematics, Honda, Exclusive Books, Fancourt and Mondi.
About The Heavy Chef Project The Heavy Chef Project is a portal devoted to marketing training and learning about digital marketing. The name came about after a client said to World Wide Creative CEO Fred Roed "I never trust a skinny chef!" The co-founders of World Wide Creative set out to become 'heavy chefs' and set up the portal. The Heavy Chef hosts monthly marketing events which have become the preeminent marketing events in the South African industry calendar.
World Wide Creative is a digital marketing agency
based in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
Our philosophy is “Never trust a skinny chef!”
Through intensive trial, analysis and research,
our strategists, designers and programmers are
able to deliver profitable websites for our clients.
We offer Digital Strategy, Digital Development and
Ongoing Marketing. To get a taste of our work,
look at the marketing recipes we’ve cooked up
here - or if you’re interested in taking a bigger bite
of our services, contact us here
