#BehindtheSelfie with... Bongani Chinkanda

Chinkanda on the move…

1. Where do you live, work and play?

Born and raised in Malawi and later schooled in Harare, Zimbabwe and South Africa, I now live in Johannesburg North, work in Dunkeld and play in Johannesburg South/Soweto.

2. What’s your claim to fame?

Being a mass and middle market specialist.

3. Describe your career so far.

I started off in FMCG as a trade marketer then went on to launch my own activations agency called Dzuwa Media as a promotional goods supplier in the Malawian and Zimbabwean markets. This grew into a brand activations agency with a mass market focus in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa in 2010. Last year, Dzuwa merged with Stretch Marketing to further extend its middle and mass market offering and now I am business and strategy director at Elevator.

4. Tell us a few of your favourite things.

Spending time with my family – especially my three sons, running, hiking and reading all things business.

5. What do you love about your industry?

We are an ideas factory – no brief is ever the same.

6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.

Wake Up. Create. Succeed or fail. Learn. Sleep. Repeat.

7. What are the tools of your trade?

With a Macbook and iPhone I am sorted.

8. Who is getting it right in your industry?

Joe Public and M&C Saatchi Abel.

9. List a few pain points the industry can improve on.

Crafting ideas that are South African. We need to define what being South African is and build exciting campaigns on that insight, beyond race and gender.

10. What are you working on right now?

Taking our new offering, Elevator, to the market.

11. Tell us some of the buzzwords floating around in your industry at the moment, and some of the catchphrases you utter yourself.

Curated content, owned vs paid-for content.

12. Where and when do you have your best ideas?

On my 5am run.

13. What’s your secret talent/party trick?

Taking every day experiences and creating a brand story.

14. What would we find if we scrolled through your phone?

Why would one let you do that?! Seriously: client communication, family pictures and lots of WhatsApp group chats.

15. What advice would you give to newbies hoping to crack into the industry?

Love Ideas! The rest will take care of itself.

Simple as that. Click here for more on Elevator and be sure to follow Chinkanda and Elevator on Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates.

*Interviewed by Leigh Andrews.