Content area
Full Text
Executive Overview
HerdBuoys McCann-Erickson, formerly HerdBuoys Advertising, is the first major blackowned business in South Africa. HerdBuoys merged in 1997 with McCann-Erickson, which is the largest and most developed global advertising agency system in the world, with operations in 129 countries. With its merger with McCann-Erickson Worldwide, HerdBuoys became the first black-owned agency with an international link. Today it is known as Herdbuoys McCann-Erickson and employs over 100 people. Its clients include Coca-Cola, Caltex, South African Breweries, Johnson & Johnson, Gillette, UPS, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Peter Vundla, one of the founders of HerdBuoys Advertising, is one of South Africa's leading entrepreneurs and executives. Currently, he is chairman of HerdBuoys McCannErickson and deputy executive chairman of the African Merchant Bank. Mr. Vundla's current directorships include Digicore Holdings, Midrunners, Pamodzi Investment Holdings, African Renaissance Board, Allianz Insurance, Universal McCann, and Foodcorp. He served as a director with the Advertising Standards Authority Board and was president and national chairman of the Institute of Marketing Management. Mr. Vundla is a commissioner on the Black Economic Empowerment Commission. He has received numerous awards, including National Economic Initiative Entrepreneur of the Year and the Black Management Forum Black Business Pioneer. In this interview, he tells the story of HerdBuoys' success and the continuing challenges black entrepreneurs and the government face in attracting foreign investment to South Africa.
Peter, thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk with us. You have come a long way to be where you are today, chairman of HerdBuoys McCann-Erickson. What inspired you to get into this business? What sustained you through the dark days of apartheid?
Well, it has not been easy in the environment that apartheid created for black people, generally. You need to also recall that apartheid was based on the premise that black people will simply only add value as laborers and not in white-collar jobs. That was the essence of Bantu education under apartheid. None of us was ever prepared for the jobs some of us eventually got to do. Under apartheid, even in the case of training, there was no training really for black people to get into advertising or any kind of industry as an owner or as a manager. And even how I...