Lighting the fire under BEE in the ad industry

Given that there have previously been no mechanisms to source, select and expose young people from previously disadvantaged communities to a full range of creative careers, the Vega School of Advertising started the Vega Imagination Labs to speed up transformation in the communications sector.

And these labs are now the first ever beneficiaries of a brand new, innovative programme just launched by the Old Shanghai Firecracker Factory.

Believing that advertising communications in SA will never be truly effective until there's strong input from qualified black people working in the industry, the agency decided to focus on training black people from previously disadvantaged communities.

To achieve this, the Youth Education and Training Initiative (YETI) was set up and Shanghai will contribute R1 million to the trust over the next five years.

The Old Shanghai Firecracker Factory CEO, Gail Curtis, said the YETI trust enables skills transfer through learnerships within the agency's structure: "We could have gone the route adopted by most agencies that are black-empowered by selling a share to the black elite but we decided against that.

"I believe we are creating employment in the form of meaningful opportunities in the industry for graduates from the labs and giving equity where it counts - to talented youth," Curtis said.

Shanghai's role is to provide the students with practical experience and hands-on knowledge by offering them internships with managing partners in each of Shanghai's business units. The agency currently has six learners in the areas of creative design, media, marketing and client service.

But the YETI trust is an independent entity and would welcome interest from the industry. It is really only with increased investment and involvement from the industry that it will be able to grow and truly fulfill its function.

"It's always been Shanghai's philosophy to empower, not employ, so we've always been empowered - now we need to transform to a BEE company and give people the skills to manage and own companies. We build entrepreneurs, not hierarchies," Curtis said.

Curtis wants to take the trust beyond Shanghai and hopes that clients and agencies alike will recognise the value of YETI and seize the opportunity to train and empower our talented youth. She invites anyone who is interested to contact her or one of the trustees of Yeti to find out how to invest in the future of creative advertising.