Durban - eThekwini’s powerhouse ‘Wear Your Brand” has mobilised at least 200 local black-owned, small and medium businesses that are expected to gather in Durban on Friday this week to showcase their brands.
The event organisers, Langa Yengwa, Phumlani Dlamini, and co-founder of Wear Your Brand and Braai Sbusiso Selby Gumede, announced that top economists and representatives from influential businesses would attend the event with the aim of training and equipping business owners.
The theme is “Evolution of Brands” and participating business owners are supposed to come with their brand material and ensure that they display their brands on the day.
“We need to teach our small and medium businesses the importance of branding and being compliant with the procurement processes so that they may trade with big businesses including government departments,” said Gumede.
Yengwa explained that this was the first phase of a national campaign which would spread into other parts of the country in the coming months.
“We have approached other stakeholders to join hands and work with us as we tap into the township economy and formalise it. We encourage every business owner not to be left behind,” he said.
The organisers stressed that their main aim was to ensure that businesses were fully branded and that participants got to associate with other businesses and fully understand the value of corporate identity.
Dlamini said they had invited industry experts who currently operate within the branding and marketing space.
“To name a few guest speakers, we expect Dane Logie who is a managing director at Yesman Marketing, Nomcebo Cebekhulu, a marketing communications officer at the South African National Roads Agency, and Dante Mashile, the head of Corporate Communication and Marketing at the Office of the Premier,” said Dlamini.
The team said they would set up the first of many “Wear Your Brand Township Business Lounges” which would accommodate and partner with entities' card-holding members.
These business lounges would consist of office staff, coffee shops, lounge areas for casual meetings, multi-purpose space for boardroom set-ups, and conferencing facilities.
Gumede said his company would also be rolling out the “Brand my City, Brand my Township” campaigns targeting street vendors and township businesses with the aim of branding them and introduce them to other forms of trading with larger companies and government entities.
Wear Your Brand and Braai have been hosting events in the city, bringing together private and government entities to exchange ideas on growing the local economy, developing informal businesses, and empowering communities.
Friday’s conference takes place from 8am – 5pm at The Station Urban Event Space in Stamford Hill, Durban.
Daily News