Corporate Graphics started business in Malawi on April 2nd, 1999. Initially as the in-house design studio for a printing company, we became more and more involved with design, and it became obvious that there was a need for quality graphics in Malawi.
Company director Paul Kite was trained in London (BA Hons Ind. Design) and brings over 10 years of design experience to Corporate Graphics. Having worked in London Paul then moved to South Africa and was involved in product design and graphics for 7 years.
Corporate Graphics has a staff of five and we work on Apple Mac computers. This state-of-the-art equipment has proved to be a valued tool here in Malawi and brings quality and efficiency to the work that we do. The kind of work that we have been involved with varies considerably, from corporate identity, logo design, promotions to advertising campaigns, we are also involved with all aspects of printing with our sister company, capable of high quality full colour printing.
Corporate Graphics client base is also diverse, from small Malawian businesses to large multi national such as Lever Brothers,Toyota, Air Malawi, Ericsson, Mobil, and various government departments.
The association with FCB Africa has placed Corporate Graphics in a very positive position here in Malawi as we have access to the FCB Worldwide Network, so via e-mail, we can gather information for our clients to assist the marketing teams.
 A summary of the network and the people behind the network |
FCB Africa is a passion-driven African network managed and developed out of Africa, by Africans. It is a fully integrated partner of FCB Worldwide, which holds a minority share in FCB South Africa.
FCB Africa is the fastest-growing and largest advertising network on the continent of Africa, consisting of 44 offices in 26 countries. These countries are Botswana, Cote D’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Guinea, Liberia, Reunion and Cameroon. Having proven our superiority in size, service and billings, we strive continuously to grow and strengthen the network, thereby adding value to our growing list of multinational clients.
| Our Clients |
Our Client base includes blue-chip corporations such as Toyota, Siemens, Clover, Caltex, Distillers, Nabisco, SC Johnson, Escom, Vodacom and Mobil.
| Our People |
Our people at all the FCB Africa agencies are doers. They run their businesses day-to-day in the most professional manner and are personally accountable for the quality of the creative work and for their clients' business results. The network works as one, adhering to a unique business model designed to help us build coherent brands for our clients throughout Africa – and around the world.
FCB Africa’s vision is to become an extension of our client’s Marketing Divisions in the continent by providing more than just communication solutions.
| Our Service |
 An Integrated Approach |
The value of FCB Africa to multinational clients is that the client’s brands are afforded pan-African care at senior management level. This ensures a consistent brand delivery and protection of the brand integrity throughout all the markets in which our clients operate.
Continuity of creativity is guaranteed by adhering to FCB Worldwide's global standards. Clients across Africa are presented an integrated range of advertising services, including above and below-the-line-, promotional-, direct-, financial- and sponsorship specialisation.
| Centralised Control |
There are no areas of duplication for conceptualising pan-African campaigns. Centralised planning drives all co-ordination and scheduling. Leverage for cost reductions are facilitated by commissioned volume for printing and other production services.
With a high level of knowledge and expertise in terms of the production capabilities by country, FCB Africa will maintain the highest level of production quality through the use of preferred suppliers and through centralised control.
| Diverse Capabilities |
Other services offered to FCB Africa clients, through the use of our agencies’ media planners and strategic analysts, include:
Demographics of target-markets
Opposition strategies
Pricing and distribution channels
Market research
Consumer insights
Market segmentation
Cultural insights
Government/Client liaison
Trends and test-marketing
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| Strategic Marketing Teams |
FCB Africa assigns each client a strategic marketing team. As brand custodians the team’s mission is to elevate the client’s business through maximising the marketing potential on the continent. This is accomplished through the selection of the appropriate brand positioning and supported by the appropriate creative, media, etc. and tapping into the wealth of FCB research insights and strategies.
Our strategic marketing team also generates:
Production reports - quality control issues and cost reduction opportunities through leveraging of scale.
Status reports - up-to-date detail for clients on all work done on the continent.
Budgets - ensuring tight, fiscal control and adherence to budgeted figures.
Media reports - planning, scheduling and reconciliation by country.
| Brand Monitoring |
Brands are continuously monitored by region, which includes visits to all the respective countries for comprehensive brand audits. These visits to the countries, together with client, is made more convenient and less time consuming through the use of FCB South Africa’s two aircraft.
| Our Network Success |
The criteria set by FCB Africa is what makes it a powerful network:
All at FCB Africa share the same vision and has the same goal.
All at FCB Africa work according to the same format and systems.
All at FCB Africa share the same high level of camaraderie and interaction.
All at FCB Africa share in the rewards of our continuing success.
| Training and education |
Training and education is the key to FCB Africa's success and is a top priority. Our staff are not only taught global propriety skills such as Mind & Mood – a global discovery process, and The Chess Team - designed to uncover insights and build a unique competitive advantage for our clients.
All FCB Africa employees who show potential at the respective agencies complete an advanced advertising training program that's both theory intense and practical.
Staff is transferred inter-departmentally to share expertise, and are free to join inter-company exchange programmes at any appropriate time.
Creative workshops are held on a regular basis, and all creative teams are exposed to international campaigns through the distribution of creative reels to all agencies.
If research is done in one country, the knowledge and insights are shared throughout Africa.
| Network coordination and communication |
Internal communications are maintained at a high level on a day-to-day basis within the network with all the agencies linked via the internet and an intranet site, giving all agencies access to shared information.
FCB Africa also has a web-site, which provides all relevant information to current and prospective clients.
It also releases a network newsletter, 'Pangu-Pangu' quarterly, which highlights all the action in the respective agencies across the continent.
An FCB Africa annual conference is another important forum for networking. This one-week conference is attended by the network's managing directors together with Brendan Ryan, Chief Executive Officer FCB Worldwide and Harry Reid, President FCB Worldwide.
The conference addresses a series of topics – all aimed at streamlining the network and building a more effective infrastructure.
This conference is also used as a forum to discuss the status of our multinational clients’ business in each country together with the respective clients.
The FCB Africa Network is managed by a dedicated team based in Johannesburg. The team consists of client service, media and coordination staff who work exclusively on FCB Africa multinational business. The team is headed by Ewald Fourie, Managing Director of FCB Africa.
| Curriculum Vitae of Ewald Fourie – Managing Director of FCB Africa |
Ewald graduated from the University of Pretoria in 1987 with a B.Com (Honours) degree in Industrial Psychology. He then furthered his studies and obtained his MBA degree from the University of Stellenbosch.
In 1990 he joined Caltex Oil S.A. as a Strategic Analyst from where he was selected to serve on an international Brand team, consisting of 5 members, to reposition the Caltex Brand internationally. This included a process of intensive research on the Caltex brand and its sub-brands, followed by in-depth analysis and strategic thinking. The team worked out of Sydney, Australia, for more than a year and did work in most of the Southeast Asian countries as well as Africa. At the completion of this project Ewald returned to South Africa where he was appointed as Caltex’ National Advertising Manager.
Early in 1998 he decided to jump the fence and explore the excitement of the advertising industry from an agency perspective. He joined Bosman Johnson FCB as Group Account Director and then moved to FCB Lindsay Smithers a few months later to serve as Account Director on the Toyota account. In November 1999 Ewald was appointed as MD of the FCB Africa Network – a division of FCB South Africa. |
