Mann Made embraces exponential change

But MTPs are not just representative of what is possible today, they focus on creating a revolutionary future. Mann Made’s Massive Transformative Purpose is to build a global community of changemakers through transformative experiences.

From humble beginnings in 2000 until today we have grown into a family of storytellers, each of whom are passionate about telling our clients’ brand stories through a variety of media. “We’re mavericks by nature. At Mann Made, we always try to do more and to push the boundaries,” says Shayne Mann.

Which is why in 2007 we branched out into live eventing, followed by brand activations as well as interactive web design and app development. Today our portfolio of products also includes animation, virtual and augmented reality services, as well as social media campaigns.

In 18 years we’ve grown our business to 65 employees across four connected buildings in the Mann Made complex in Sandton. Mann Made has evolved into a brand experience company that has worked with multinational companies, Fortune 500 businesses and has executed global events. Now, it’s time that our brand reflects the next step on our journey.

Mann Made’s real breakthrough came in 2015 when we produced two custom events for Singularity University. It changed the way we think about our business and the future. We immersed ourselves in the world of exponential technologies, bought 3D printers, invested in robots, augmented reality and artificial intelligence. We’ve realigned our business mindsets and have restructured our focus to create a regional and global community of changemakers. We live in extraordinary times, where progress is accelerating at an exponential rate. “As entrepreneurs it’s in our nature to always be on the lookout for new strategies to streamline processes to be better, faster and more productive. That’s also the very essence of running a successful, sustainable business – outpacing your competition by offering innovative products and services they haven’t even been thought of,” says Mic Mann.

Both Shayne and Mic have completed the Senior Executive Programme at SU’s headquarters at the NASA Ames Research Centre in the United States. We believe that SU’s approach to technology and exponential thinking can help to solve South Africa’s and continent’s greatest challenges around unemployment, education, infrastructure, energy, and medicine among numerous others.

In August 2017, we produced the inaugural SingularityU South Africa Summit to help future-proof Africa. “SU has made us think about how we can go global and grow our brand exponentially, rather than growing linearly, step by step. Now we’re leapfrogging and are in the process of opening Mann Made X in London,” says Shayne.

That’s why we are rebranding – not just our name and logo, but the essence of how we think, what we do, and who we are. Our service offerings have leapfrogged beyond media production, which is why we have dropped ‘media’ from our name. Our rebrand also represents our new role in consulting to African businesses on how they too can leapfrog into the future and grow their profit margins 10x rather than 10%.

“We’re excited about the future because we know that as Diamandis says, 'We are living toward incredible times where the only constant is change and the rate of change is increasing',” says Shayne.

“There’s nothing gradual about leapfrogging though. There’s no time to slow down. It’s about outrunning the pace set by your competitors, embracing change, and trying something new,” concludes Kevin Mann. It is our mission to future-proof Africa and we hope to meet you along the journey to abundance and prosperity.

Mann Made is a level 2 BBBEE company of changemakers, who are driven by disruption. We believe in an abundant future for South Africa and the continent, which is why you’ll find robots, 3D printers and VR consoles at our Sandton offices. We’re proud hosts of the SingularityU South Africa Summit, which aims to future-proof Africa by embracing exponential technologies that will help to create economic, political and environmental sustainability in the future. Our mission echoes that of Singularity University co-founder Peter Diamandis that we can use exponential technologies to positively impact the lives of a billion people.

We’re a forward-thinking, experiential brand agency that narrates our clients’ brand stories through a variety of media – whether it’s through animation, virtual and augmented reality environments or world-class video production, which is how we started in 2000. We also do web and app development, run social media campaigns and host nationwide events, activations and conferences. Watch our transformation in this rebrand video.

If you would like further information on the Mann Made rebrand, Singularity University or want to come in for a chat about the future, please contact Iga Motylska on moc.aidemedamnnam@agi or on (+27)011-259-7120.