A duo, not to be slept on.

Cover image by: Zion Collective

Zion collective is a brainchild of Abongile Ngalonkulu, who is also the managing director of this phenomenal ad company. Abongile started out studying law but soon realized that his passion was in the creative industry. His partner Qeren Fourie studied marketing and joined Zion to step away from a traditional role as a marketing manager into a more creative environment.

When did you start and what inspired you to start the business? “Abo started Zion Collective with a team of creatives in 2017, wanting to pursue the freedom of being self-employed in a creative field. Qeren joined Abo as a co-owner when Zion had suffered the loss of a major national client. They were both faced with the harsh reality of working for a start-up with no external funding or support, but decided that the pay-off of doing what they love is worth more in the long-run than making more money in the moment”.

Your highlights and maybe names of the popular clients that you've worked with. “Most days can pass for a highlight with the work that we do, although there have been extremely tough times, we've had the privilege of working with some amazing brands like Reebok, Red Bull and S.P.C.C., we've also had some incredibly fun fashion-focused projects with our friends, such as Fashion Designer GUGU Peteni, Creative Director and (very) frequent collaborator Banele Dlodlo and Streetwear Entrepreneur Evans Zemba (Walk in Closet). our more corporate clients include Imperial, EOH Holdings, BLC Attorneys and others”. Zion collective has a very wide range of services they offer, but they definitely prioritize the client needs hence they prefer a chat with a client about their business before making a pitch. “Sometimes they deal with a traditional business that needs to break into the e-commerce space, sometimes it's a new brand that needs a logo and corporate identity, sometimes it's a business needing a full digital or traditional ad campaign or content for their social media. Our services work hand-in-hand and can be split into Marketing/Advertising Strategy, Graphic Design, Web Design, Photo/Videography and Animation”, said Qeren.

In a country where race is still an issue, how did you guys overlooked that and worked together and how important is it for you guys to see a black and white South Africa that is racist-free in future? “Conversations about race inevitably come up from time to time, we speak openly and honestly between ourselves and advise our clients in the same way. Being a diverse team hasn’t been a challenge, in fact it has helped us see things from different perspectives. In terms of hiring employees and industry partners we hire the best, and the best are never all the same color”.

So where do you see Zion collective in five years time? “We'd like to see Zion Collective grow further into the forefront of bringing South African creativity and creative problem solving into the international market, especially relating to international fashion brands like Off-White, Vogue, Maison Margiela, Versace and streetwear brands like Nike and Adidas”.

Lastly, to people who would want to start the kind of business you’re running – what can you advise them? “The best advice we would have for someone wanting to start a similar business would be to dig deep to find out exactly why they want to do it, if the reason is something that will still be worth it when you're struggling financially, not getting recognition or just having a hard time in general, then go for it. Another factor that has helped us a lot is having good mentors. We've gotten guidance and game-changing advice from some of South Africa's best minds by just reaching out and being teachable. There are a lot of very capable people who can give advice if you're willing to listen. The only guarantee in business is that there will always be something new to learn”.

If you'd like to reach out to us to help with your brand or are in the same industry as us and want to connect, you can send an email to info@zioncollective.co.za

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Website: www.zioncollective.co.za

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