Skin in the game
Joe Public’s talented Zamani Ngubane has been recognised as the top art director in Africa. By Georgina Crouth
He never had it easy, so failure wasn’t an option. And at high-performing creative agencies, you have to give your very best. It’s the reason Zamani Ngubane, integrated art director at Joe Public, is so single-minded about achieving his career goals and where he is going. It’s also why ending off a pandemic year with Loeries for the top art director in South Africa and top agency in Africa recognition for Joe Public were the kinds of boosts few designers ever see in their careers.
The campaign that got all the attention last year was once again for long-time Joe Public client Chicken Licken – “Everyone’s talking about it”. Chicken Licken’s “EasyBucks” meals campaign featured a television film extolling the affordability of the fast-food outlet’s four EasyBucks meals, which cost R24 each.
This time, it took a cheeky swipe at its biggest competitor, known locally as “Kentucky” (nudge nudge, wink wink), by putting up a billboard for Chicken Licken in the home of “Kentucky Fried Chicken”, converting the South African price into dollars, which translated into $1.60. The team then filmed salt-of-the-earth locals’ reactions to the billboard, their enthusiasm to try Chicken Licken and the Americans’ visible dismay to hear it is only available in South Africa.
Directed by Katlego Baaitse and a small team from Joe Public, the film was produced by Burley Boys. Ngubane was behind the art direction. Its success was staggering, he says, owing in large part to the clarity of the idea, a complex design and its assembly on a low budget.
“It was such a simple billboard,” he explains. “I enjoy the idea that a concept can live on different platforms. It’s not a duplicate cut-and-paste job – the advert works with the medium. Often, when you see out-of-home advertising, they’ve used a key character from the television advert. But you need to look at the billboard in isolation, not in terms of other mediums. It must speak to the idea. And it must be honest to the medium.”
Growing up in KwaZulu-Natal, Ngubane was fascinated by animated cartoons, he says.
M-Net was always a luxury and at his grandmother’s home, her television would “glitch” occasionally, so he would get the chance to watch cartoons. “I was amazed by the cartoons – it’s what really stimulated my curiosity about art as a child.” In matric, his science teacher encouraged him to study art and design, because she had commissioned him to do some artwork for her. That passion was cemented during a career expo, where he fell in love with graphic design.
After school, his drawing for the Technikon Witwatersrand (now University of Johannesburg) entry exam flopped, but his efforts were enough to catch the attention of the department, which encouraged him to do a bridging course, which he “aced”.
After that, it was a diploma in graphic design, where failure was not an option.
“Because of my background I knew I couldn’t fail even one semester – we couldn’t afford it at home.”
It was a stressful time, as he did not qualify for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme and he had received bursaries. In his second year, Ngubane’s mother sold their home on the quiet to allow him to complete his studies. He had no idea. “I only found out afterwards, when I asked her where she got the money. It messed our lives up. We had to move to a small room to rent. It took a huge sacrifice to finish that diploma.”
At King James, his first job was as a junior designer. Ngubane’s brand work caught the eye of the bosses, who sponsored him to complete his degree. “I aced it. I always thought, ‘Finish studying, start working and contribute to the family.’ I
knew I could never fail.” Some moments were really hard, he says, and life in university res was particularly difficult – and fun.
“King James was a brilliant foundation – I had a lot of support from the team and financially I was sorted.”
After four years, though, King James closed up office in Jo’burg, so he moved to Deloitte, where he worked as in-house designer. The biggest project he worked on was a R50-million tender for a mining company that they were pitching for.
“I made my mistakes, though. The night before a major presentation I was doing my own printing and there was a big mistake on my side; I couldn’t deliver some things that day. [I learnt] that if you’re handling production you need to understand your resources.”
During that time, Ngubane’s creative director at King James, Kassie Naidoo, had moved to another agency and called him to ask if he would join her in a retail agency. “I spent two years with her, doing something totally different and learning the discipline of doing retail advertising.”
But retail was not a forever job, which a woman who was freelancing at the agency reminded him of when she said: “You don’t belong here. You have amazing skills.” She introduced him to FCB Johannesburg, where he spent two “incredible years”, working on campaigns for Cell C, Steers and Nivea.
“FCB was really cool. I started getting into art direction there. My design background enabled me to understand direction. I found my niche there...”
FCB was also the financial and career boost he needed, allowing him to build his mother a house. But after two years, he wanted growth at a higher-performing agency and to win awards, which took him to Joe Public, where he has been since 2017.
The move to Joe Public ramped up the pressure because the agency is known for a high level of performance and uncompromising standards. During his first interview, when he met Xolisa Dyeshana, the chief creative officer, “my head was spinning”.
That interview went so well, though, that Ngubane showed them his portfolio. And from that moment, when he saw how drawn his new bosses were to his personal creative work, he knew he was in the right place.
“As a creator you’ll do side hustles. Xolisa was able to see beyond what I was able to do professionally; he could see the decisions that I was able to take personally. I realised that as a creator, I’m not so bad. Most of us creatives really doubt ourselves.
“Xolisa even called me afterwards. On my first day in the office, when I met [group CEO] Gareth Leck, he shook my hand. [co-founder and chief creative officer] Pepe [Marais] and the others were really cool and warm towards me from the start.”
However, Ngubane knew he needed to pay close attention to everyone and everything, so “I wrote down people’s names as I met them, so I didn’t forget, because I am really bad at names”.
For a while, he did not have a dedicated creative director to work with, but that changed when he started collaborating with Assaf Levy two years into the job and their work started attracting attention. In 2019, they won best print advert, for a campaign against gender-based violence. Then there were the Pendorings for Assupol’s print campaigns celebrating frontline workers and the police, and the pressure was on. “It was always about creating awesome stuff – the by-product was the award,” he says.
The Chicken Licken award was thanks to a big idea and a huge team effort. “There were so many aspects to it – we shot a TV ad and did the film in Kentucky. There were so many puzzle pieces in that project.”
The team had fun and loved working on the project. “As an agency we really did incredibly well in 2020, winning numerous awards in one year, and were ranked the best agency in Africa and [the] Middle East at the beginning of 2021.”
Despite all the accolades, 2021 started off on a sad note, as Ngubane lost his “rock” – his beloved mother, Jabu – on 18 January.
“My mom was such a huge inspiration and now, when all these things happen in my career, 10 days before my birthday she passes. Joe Public had just awarded me and a few other employees a trip.
“Coming top as an art director in Africa, I never imagined I would or could.”
His personal creative work is also starting to gain momentum.
In March 2020, during the hard lockdown, when most people were experimenting with recipes for banana bread and alcoholic pineapple beer, Ngubane took to painting and drawing with fervour. By the end of the year, a local magazine picked him as its best upcoming artist for 2020.
“It’s always been a passion. I sell my art online. It’s just taking off.”