Red & Yellow School donates 67 creative industry hours to NPOs in honour of Mandela Day

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The initiative falls in line with the School's pledge to get involved in the community and give something back. Red & Yellow students and staff will join forces with alumni and industry partners such as Not Norm, Quirk Cape Town, JWT and The Yellow Door Collective for a one-day creative hustle. They will volunteer their expertise in graphic design, art direction, copywriting, marketing, social media and advertising to the participating organisations.

Creative teams each receive a brief with instructions ahead of time, and then meet up on 18 July at Red & Yellow's premises in Salt River to create a marketing strategy, rebranding or design element for their assigned NGO or SME. Bizcommunity.com, the leading B2B website in South Africa and Africa, is supporting the Red & Yellow initiative as its official media partner.

Transforming the industry

"We are tremendously excited about Mandela Day 2015 and the enthusiasm from our students, staff and industry partners for this initiative," says Chevaun Herdholt, marketing manager at The Red & Yellow School. "We're delighted that industry leaders such Quirk's CEO Rob Stokes and MD James Mckay are pledging their time. Spreading our skills and talent among these organisations is one of the best ways we can give something back and make a difference for those who are doing such valuable work to improve our society."

She adds, "Red & Yellow is committed to transforming the face of the local advertising industry. With the launch of Red & Yellow's Springboard Marketing Institute (RYSMI) last year, we have already given at least 60 students with no access to tertiary education an opportunity to enter the world of marketing. By working with our local NGOs, we hope to show how an inclusive marketing, advertising and communications sector can help build a better South Africa for everyone."

Benefitting a wide range of causes

Some examples of the organisations that will benefit are Garden of Hope Youth Development, The Amy Biehl Foundation, African Tails, Centre for Early Childhood Development, SaveSA, Sisters Incorporated, Together Technologies, Salesian Life Choices, Ubuntu Academy, Dreamgirls International, and Labyrinth Consulting.

Between them, they represent a diverse range of important causes from education and community upliftment, to animal welfare and women's rights. While the participating organisations' creative teams work on a tailor-made strategy just for them, they will attend an interactive workshop on Digital Marketing for NGOs and SMEs, hosted by Red & Yellow's digital learning team.