Cape Town, the city where you get the best of all worlds.
I’m a creative “gone rogue”. It is not every day that a free-spirited creative, who at times went to work in PJs, moves over to the corporate world.
It’s been a cascade of fortunate events, mixed with hard work and an insane amount of curiosity.
Every turn has had its challenges, late nights and pressures, but with each comes opportunity. The opportunity to do better, be better or fail forward.Either way, I’m continuously redefining myself and picking up new skills to keep the career wheel turning.
Well, aside from work, it’s being an aunt to my nieces and nephews.
Then sports, music and reading.
It’s forever changing. Trends shift at an accelerated rate and consumers are in the driving seat. As a brand, it’s not only about what you bring to the table but also showing an understanding of who you’re serving.
You must connect with guests and be personable. That connection, however, is hard to earn, but that is where the magic lies – finding those nuggets that get you the nod.
The latter says it all. An “average workday” is a thing of fiction. Every day starts with a purpose and an agenda. I get to work early, at 6:30am, to give myself a head start. I find that mornings are a great time to reflect and give myself pep talks to “be great,” as Brian Shaw always says. I start off with my pick-me-up jam, “Superwoman” – Alicia Keys.
I go through my emails and to do’s for the day. That’s the predictable part of my day. From there it’s meetings, evaluation of sales from the previous day/week/month/year, and then making necessary adjustments. Planning for upcoming campaigns, conducting reports, seeking opportunities to grow the brand and then most importantly, making sure all campaigns and marketing collateral meets and upholds the global brand standards.
Strategic thinking, advertising planning, trends analysis, introduction and implementation of new technologies, communication and of course, the Adobe Suite.
No one. With that said, all the players have bits that they have mastered, but none can claim to be well rounded yet. This is exciting because it means it’s still anyone’s game.
However, the South African market embraces brands with heritage and longevity, and we see that with players such as KFC and Steers.
Quality is sometimes sacrificed for speed. The market is saturated and so your proposition needs to be strong. Competition is no longer with just the players within our industry, which means you must bring notable value and purpose.
We’re all up against the volatile economy fighting for the rand and cents.
Spreading the Whopper love by growing the footprint of Burger King restaurants. Working on exploring and implementing more digital strategies and avenues.
Flame-grilled, freshness, flexitarian.
We’re not fast-food, we just make great food, fast.
At the most random times. I wish I knew when one would hit! So I just carry a notebook everywhere, or sometimes scribble on my hand.
Writing poetry. Playing the flute. The big idea here was to one day be the greatest fluteboxer, however, my beatboxing skills are, for lack of a better word, non-existent. What a bummer!
Interesting one… I’m both, what would that make me? Techno-neutral?
Baby pics and vids of my nieces, nephews and friends’ babies. I love babies! Memes, loads and loads of memes and hilarious WhatsApp chats.
Be curious. Ask many questions. Chat to everyone, you never know what wisdom or opportunities you could gain. Always remain teachable. Go the extra-mile, give more than what is expected of you.
Action with passion. If you don’t love or enjoy what you do, it’s time to move on. Always seek feedback as that’ll allow you to better yourself.
Simple as that. Follow Siwundla on LinkedIn or Facebook; and visit the Burger King press office, as well as their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds for the latest updates.
*Interviewed by Leigh Andrews.