Makamba Online correspondent, Martha Chindowa had a chat with Zimbabwean born Bradley Maseko who is the idea hub of BrandedYouth’s operation. They had a pleasant passing chat to give you all you need to know about the company that’s making waves in branding, marketing, events, expos among other business and consumer link mechanisms.

What is BrandedYouth?

BrandedYouth is a youth marketing agency that was established with the goal to facilitate relationships between brands and the youth market. It is a marketing agency founded in 2009. Maseko had a vision to empower himself as an entrepreneur as well as young people.

The idea

Martha asked Maseko to tell us how the idea was conceptualised and put into action.

Maseko said: “From a very young age I knew I wanted to be a game changer – so while I was studying marketing at the Triple A school of advertising in Cape Town, I got exposed to what brands were doing within the youth market. I started the business after realising that we could work as the intermediary between brands and the youth market, with our focus being on creating platforms whereby brands interact directly with the youth through our tailor-made brand experiences.”

Entrepreneurial challenges

The Managing Director (MD) of BrandedYouth was asked to share the obstacles he faced so far in his journey.

• Not having a profile when we started.
• Being unknown in the industry, no big names to talk about with virtually no funding.

“I was fortunate enough to be able to put in all my savings into the business, sacrifice a few months without a salary because I believed and knew it would pay off,” the MD of BrandedYouth responded.

Image and association

What big brands are you associated with and how hard was it for them to buy into your ideas? What a question! Maseko said: “9 years into the market, we have some big brands under our belt like We chat, Honda. We had strategy sessions for the SABC with regards to how the broadcaster can connect better with the youth market.

“We engaged in a nationwide research for the South African National Blood Services regarding to get more young people to donate blood. We also been working and are working with Standard Bank to assist the bank in gaining more traction in the youth market.”

BrandedYouth’s 5 year focus

The inquisitive Martha had to ask. Why? When entrepreneurs speak we learn and we assuredly develop from their shared vision and experiences.

“I have set my sights on Africa and empowering the youth to create their own destiny, one that is not stalled by personal, geographical or political boundaries,” a bold Maseko avowed his goal.

Lessons learnt

If there’s one thing you know now, that you wish you had known back then when you started what would it be?

Maseko shared with us the utmost tetchy lesson he has learnt in his business journey. He was asked one thing he knows now that he wish he had known back in time.

“I have learnt not to be arrogant and want to sell my ideas to the client, rather take time in listening to the client and cater to their needs,” Mr Maseko said.

Author: Martha Chindowa