Twenty-three years into democracy, the advertising industry still requires regulation such as the Marketing & Communications (MAC) Charter to encourage transformation. The biggest impediment, says BWD Advertising founder and creative director Bongani Gosa, is the lack of support for transformation at industry level. Even at government level there is little support given to transformation in the ad industry, he says, adding that Telkom is the most recent example of a government entity failing to adhere to the MAC code. Gosa believes client education is central to true transformation in the industry. BWD Advertising, which was established in 2006, is one of the few black-owned ad agencies in SA. The agency was recently reported to the Advertising Standards Authority for a billboard it used to advertise the fact that it is 100% black owned. While the regulatory authority ruled that the billboard was not racist in nature, Gosa says the incident restarted a conversation around transforma...
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