Mandela Day Initiative – Sisonke – pulls out the stops for startups
Stratcom Branding, the South African packaging and design specialist – being a well-established SMME – has committed itself to encouraging other SMME’s in a shoulder to shoulder initiative, Sisonke (we’re together, lets grow together), to be launched on Mandela Day 2018.
The Mandela Day initiative will identify fledgling brands and partner with them, sharing skills and taking them through the design and packaging process to brand their product on an award-winning level. Beautifully designed packaging sells products, a luxury many start-ups pass off, due to lack of resources.
Gail Macleod – a brand visionary – started Stratcom Branding in 1996, South Africa’s first truly focused strategic packaging, brand and structure design agency in a brave new world, where new channels of commerce opened two decades ago. Opportunity was knocking, people had vision and a promise of turning free thinking into action.
“Sharing skills can make all the difference. Not only do we understand the challenges start-ups face, but also feel that we have a responsibility to give back and use our talent where it can best be used to foster a community”, says Gail Macleod, CEO of Stratcom and founding member of the Global Local Branding Alliance (glba). Stratcom Branding prides itself on finding pragmatic approaches to ‘connected packaging’ that greatly enhances user experience, generating increased loyalty and customer pull.
South Africa, being a growing entrepreneurial nation, often fails to give the support to these spirited and passionate individuals who can assist in making communities thrive. To address this, Stratcom Branding has decided to step in and share their trials and tribulations and to start sharing the unique skills they have to boost the start-ups in need.
Mandela Day is a global call to action that celebrates the idea that each individual has the power to transform the world, the ability to make an impact. With that in mind Stratcom Branding will, through the initiative, share their skills with the foresight of making a difference in an individual’s life who we believe will have an impact and foster a community, making an impact which will be, however small, a contribution to changing the world.
About the initiative
Successful entrepreneurs and/or start-ups will be provided with two months of virtual mentorship and a fully integrated package and design process for their product. They will also be assisted where possible to grow relationships within the industry through Stratcom Brandings’ vastly connected world.
“Nelson Mandela has fought for social justice for 67 years. We’re asking you to start with 67 minutes.”
“We would be honoured if such a day can serve to bring people together from around the world to fight poverty and promote peace, reconciliation and cultural diversity,” according to a statement issued on Mandela’s behalf.
Published on WineLand
12 July 2018
