Innholdsfortegnelse for Jan/Feb 2024 - issue 62 i Fast Company South Africa

WESLEY DIPHOKO FAST COMPANY (SOUTH AFRICA) @WESLEYDIPHOKO We are entering a very interesting period in the evolution of technology. Some of the innovations we’ve been dreaming about will become a reality, there has never been a better time to witness innovation in action. It’s a moment that will require tech companies to learn from some of the “Brands That Matter” covered in this issue. We examine brands that care more about what they do and the impact they have, rather than a polished logo and well-crafted public relations campaigns. This is just one of the reasons why they matter. One of the brands, MultiChoice, from which we can learn, has developed an impactful innovation fund. In this issue we share more about how the MultiChoice Innovation Fund is enabling businesses…

● IN THE MID-2000S, amid declining revenues from slumping CD sales, the music industry was offered two possible futures. The first was created in 2006 by Daniel Ek, whose new product, Spotify, streamed music from the cloud instantly, as if the music had already been downloaded directly on your device. Users could pay a subscription price—today it’s $10.99—and listen to as much music as they wanted. The second came courtesy of Radiohead, with the release of its album In Rainbows in 2007. Listeners could pay what they felt was a reasonable amount (the average was $5) to download the album, or they could purchase the physical album as a richly designed disc box including an LP, a bonus CD and an art book—for $80. Ethan Diamond, an entrepreneur who had…

Siyabonga ‘Slikour’ Metane is a musician and an entrepreneur best known as one of the founding members of the record-breaking hip-hop group Skwatta Kamp. Beyond just entertaining South Africans, he has built a platform for other musicians to showcase their talent. The platform partly provides a springboard for undiscovered artists to launch their musical careers. It shares information on urban culture and music, and features videos and interviews that give substance to the music and the musicians, who may not have access to traditional platforms. It also provides an accessible place for their videos. There’s an interesting story to be told about what is behind this important move by Slikour. This entrepreneur, together with others who have built local solutions, are supported by the MultiChoice Innovation Fund. The fund is…

TOM'S OF MAINE THE PERSONAL CARE BRAND FOSTERS A LOVE OF NATURE IN KIDS AND FUNDS NEXT-GEN CLIMATE PROJECTS—NATURALLY. ■ Tom’s of Maine has been selling its natural and environmentally friendly personal care products for 50 years, always putting sustainability at the forefront of its efforts. Two of its signature programmes—Get Into Nature and the Tom’s of Maine Incubator—show the company’s continued leadership on climate. Launched in September 2022, the incubator supports five fellows—whose work ranges from improving ocean health to connecting environmental justice with spiritual care—with a $20 000-apiece grant as well as mentorship. Cristiane Martini, the brand’s general manager, says the scope of its fellows’ work shows how “lots of small projects together can make a big difference to the future of the planet”. The ColgatePalmolive brand is…

BRANDS THAT MATTER RECO GNISES COMpanies that build a connection with their audiences by being culturally relevant, making an impact and communicating their mission and values clearly. This year’s 165 honourees—68 General Excellence winners and 97 honourees among 30 categories—demonstrate brands at their best. AMERICAN EAGLE OUTFITTERS The teen-focused apparel retailer meets its customers on emerging social media apps and supports their mental health. AVEDA The haircare brand is setting sustainability standards through traceability initiatives and its 100% recycled packaging. BLAVITY The tech company focused on diverse millennials and Gen Z brought DE&I resources to employers and reached millions via its new media network. BOBBIE The formula company kept its customers stocked up during a shortage and engaged parents with its Milk Drunk podcast. BOMBAS The buy-one-give-one apparel brand brought…

● AT HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, TIRANA HASSAN OVERSEES A 500-strong team that brings to light abuses—from child trafficking to privacy violations by Big Tech—in countries across the globe. Here, she talks about leaving a career in law to work in conflict zones, and taking up Muay Thai for stress relief. What’s your best habit, and what’s your worst one? I work out every day, and I lie to myself about my fitness. How do you exercise? When I was 45, I took up Muay Thai and never looked back . . . until I tore a ligament in my knee. What do you do when you’re creatively stuck? I draw mind maps. Seeing a visual representation shifts my thinking. Is there a businessperson you admire? Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO…

THE MANDELA RHODES FOUNDATION BUILDING EXCEPTIONAL LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA The Mandela Rhodes Foundation is one of former president Nelson Mandela’s three official legacy organisations, founded in 2003 in partnership with the Rhodes Trust. It offers young leaders from across Africa opportunities for growth through a postgraduate scholarship and leadership development programme. The programme is built on Mandela’s belief that leadership begins with inner transformation, and the founding principles of the foundation include reconciliation, education, entrepreneurship and leadership. The scholarship offers comprehensive coverage for the core costs of a one-year Honours or a two-year Masters degree, in any field, at a recognised South African institution. Its recipients are young people who are working on innovative solutions that will matter in the future. More on this via the Digital Magazine companion and…

GIRLS WHO CODE THE EDUCATION ORGANISATION IS BREAKING DOWN THE TECH SECTOR’S GENDER DIVIDE. Under CEO Tarika Barrett, Girls Who Code is adding job-prep efforts. ■ GIRLS WHO CODE HAS WORKED WITH more than 500 000 individuals in the decade since its inception in 2012, ensuring that women and nonbinary people recognise that their contributions to the tech sector are vital. Now, the organisation is introducing new programmes to meet the needs of students entering the workforce. Girls Who Code alumni earn computer science degrees at seven times the national average. Yet navigating the job-interview process has proved challenging. In response, the organisation launched a Technical Interview Prep programme and a Leadership Academy last year, with plans to run both programmes on a school-year cycle. The Technical Interview Prep program…

2008 Ben Silbermann, a low-level Google employee, and Paul Sciarra, his college friend who’d worked at a VC firm, launch Cold Brew Labs, a “mobile shopping startup”. (The name sounded cool.) Its first app, Tote, touts that it’s “the first woman’s fashion catalogue on the iPhone”. 2009 Tote isn’t a hit, but users like the feature allowing them to save items. Silbermann, who collected bugs as a kid, realises that they’re sharing their taste with friends. He pivots to a “social commerce application” that would make “curating and sharing collections of products dead simple”. 2010 Pinterest—a portmanteau of “pinboards” and “interesting” dreamed up by Silbermann’s now-wife Divya after she saw a “Most Interesting Man in the World” Dos Equis ad—starts to attract users after a “Pin It Forward” campaign by…

There’s no question the Covid-19 pandemic inspired a digital transformation across many economic sectors. The retail sector in particular became the poster child of what happens when a traditional industry is transformed by technology. In this regard, the Shoprite Group has been in the vanguard. Some businesses woke up during the pandemic and realised they had no choice but to apply digital strategies. When, as a result of country-wide restrictions, many retailers found they were not able to welcome customers into their stores, the Shoprite Group were well on the way to realising their digital transformation. Fast Company (SA) recently spent time with the leadership team behind the group’s innovations. Our analysis shows they have transformed the retail giant, turning it from a traditional bricks-and-mortar retail company into a tech-empowered…

PLAYSTATION FROM ITS BUZZY ‘THE LAST OF US’ ADAPTATION TO ITS ACCESSIBLE CONTROLLER, THE CONSOLE MAKER IS SHOWING HOW VIDEO GAMES CAN BE FOR EVERYONE. PLAYSTATION HAS BEEN a brand to reckon with since its 1994 debut. In the ensuing decades, parent company Sony has sold more than half a billion consoles, and you’d need scientific notation to calculate the amount of time gamers have spent playing on its five iterations. The brand has long collaborated with high-wattage stars for marketing campaigns, but this year it achieved a whole new level of cultural resonance when HBO aired The Last of Us. A joint production with Sony Pictures and PlayStation, the series—based on the 2013 high-selling game developed by studio Naughty Dog—was an immediate hit. It built to an average weekly…

ONLY ONE THE PLATFORM MAKING CLIMATE ACTIVISM EASIER SHOWS SUPPORTERS WHERE EVERY CENT GOES. AMID ESCALATING climate and biodiversity crises, people want to take more action—but are unsure about where to start, or don’t know if their contributions are making any tangible impact. Only One is channeling people’s awareness into action through a combination of content, campaigns, and crowdfunding, while bringing transparency to its efforts. “To tackle climate change, the world really needs a global movement of people raising their voices to demand change,” says Jeremiah Kittredge, CEO of Only One. In the four years since it was founded, Only One has sought to build that movement, marshalling nearly two million people in 193 countries to use its platform, which makes signing climate-focused petitions or contacting legislators about climate issues…

I’VE LOGGED ON TO THE SITE, AS I OFTEN have since buying my house, in search of furniture. Pinterest’s recommendation systems have risen to the challenge, accurately clocking my recent saves of rugs and nightstands as signs I might be looking to furnish a bedroom. Pinterest, though, wants to go beyond showing me more of the same. It wants to inspire, as CEO Bill Ready tells me in a recent conversation. The platform pushes me to consider not only fabric swatches but also outfits and travel destinations and other things I might like, for as long as I feel like scrolling. On this day, interspersed among the bed frames and side tables, the feed also served up churro cheesecake bars, lemon ricotta pasta, and something called Thai spaghetti salad. Now…