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Hello Spark reader,

If you’re reading Spark, you likely operate across borders. But how often do you pause to consider the cultural nuances behind how business actually gets done? Today’s piece dives into the realities of working between South Africa and the UK—and what often gets lost in translation.

Here’s to a productive week ahead.

Enjoy,

—Joel

‘We do serious business. We just don't take ourselves too seriously.’

In conversation with Amy Ford

Amy Ford is a Brand Strategist and Manager originally from Johannesburg, who across her 15-year career has worked on vibrant grassroots telco campaigns in South Africa, as well as sophisticated private wealth initiatives in London. She's been living in the UK for the last 9 years but still regularly works with clients back in her homeland.

Amy and I originally connected via Women in Brand, the network that I volunteer with and have been helping to build since 2024. Amy has been a stalwart supporter from early in our journey and most recently has been beta testing our now newly-launched paid membership community (more about this here!).

Since working with Vivace for a prominent South African brand last year, and as a fellow migrant to the UK from another Commonwealth country, I was curious to get her perspective on the cultural differences between the two nations…

Mimi: What differences have you noticed between the work culture of the UK and South Africa?

Amy: When I first moved to London I worked for Investec Private Bank, which is a dual-listed South African-owned business on the client side, and then went on to Rothschild & Co, which has a predominantly European or British working culture.

South Africans have a very different hustle at work. There’s a sense that you can do whatever you need to to make things happen, even if it means skirting the rules or internal politics a bit. In the UK it's far more process-driven. You have to bring everyone along with you, and constantly make sure everyone's on the same page to avoid ruffling any feathers.

People in South Africa can be less concerned with titles, hierarchy and politics, and it's a very low-ego working environment. Anyone can come up with an idea, whether you're the secretary or the CEO. It can also be very entrepreneurial; even if you are just an employee, you feel that the business you're working for is going to be as successful as the effort that you put in. Investec is a huge business, but we all felt connected to a bigger purpose, and that we were there to help each other get things done.

When I began working in financial services in the UK there were three gaps I felt I had to jump over: firstly being South African, secondly, being someone that had a strong agency background and less corporate experience, and thirdly, being a marketer in an environment that was not marketing-focused. Marketing was seen as the ‘party planning and pretty pictures’ department, and in my last role, it took us six years of a really concerted effort to focus the story on the commercial impact that brand and marketing has on a business.

M: What do you think that businesses should know about working with South African clients, or doing business in South Africa, and vice versa?

A: The thing that comes up time and time again when describing South Africans is our directness, but I think it's less about conversation style and more about a real drive to get stuff done. There can be a whole lot less hesitation to just take a risk or try something new.

Where there’s formality, or there's the sense that you're trying to hide who you are or what you want, especially in a business context, that is where trust can break down. South Africans really appreciate someone with no airs and graces; you can even be a little bit brash, a little bit funny, and just show the real you, instead of an overly polished professional version. But, to be clear, we do serious business, we just tend to take ourselves less seriously.

There's a personal burden to your everyday existence in South Africa that I don't think many places, outside of Africa, really experience; you have to be very self-sufficient. That independence is so deeply ingrained in us, and this is where that entrepreneurial spirit comes from. For many people, you have to provide your own security, and sometimes even water and electricity, because you can't rely on the infrastructure and public systems like you could elsewhere in the world.

M: How does that experience shape the way brands market to South African customers and audiences?

A: Technology is incredibly important for any business in any country, but an additional layer of security and peace of mind, and having to plan ahead, is something that's extra important for brands in South Africa.

For one of the clients I’m working with right now, the whole brand strategy is built on understanding the daily toll that hyper-vigilance and the admin of your life as a South African really takes on you. Having a product like the one that we're selling can help them manage that ownership better, whether you're a consumer with a car or a business managing a fleet, it all goes back to sharing the burden.

Within finance, a lot of our messaging emphasises South Africa’s untapped potential, and that we have something that no one else understands: a special South African-ness that a lot of brands also tap into. There's a really interesting sense of national pride, people are really proud to be South African, and not in a nationalistic kind of way, but because there are a lot of unifying cultural traditions. For example rugby is really ingrained in the fibre of South African businesses and people, and lots of brands leverage that.

M: What do you think about the future for South Africa? Will it become influenced by global cultural trends or will it lean into its unique strengths?

A: I think we are going to double down on our uniqueness. I’ve heard from other Africans that South Africa can be seen a little bit like the America of Africa, we think we're the best!

But if you zoom out to the rest of the continent, and there's a huge generalisation here, there's a "screw you guys, we're doing it on our own" sentiment directed at the ‘West’. Afromodernism has been ticking away for at least the last 10 to 15 years, with Africans coming up with solutions that are right for African people, businesses and customers, as well as this sense that they’re tired of the dominance of the Western world, or the colonisers.

There’s a new energy that's coming through from Africa which has a young population in comparison to Asia and Europe. So, there’s going to be a lot of interesting things coming out of South Africa and other African economies in the next 10 years, particularly driven by that culture of move fast, break rules and get stuff done — because we have never had the luxury of time to make things perfect.

Geopolitically, China has been playing a huge role in Africa for a long time. A lot of Chinese companies have been setting up and investing in infrastructure and government relationships for decades. The return on that Chinese or broader Asian investment in the continent is starting to come to fruition and I think we’re going to start seeing a power shift in those places that have had that investment, particularly in the face of a changing world order.

Amy Ford is a Senior Brand Strategist and Manager who turns insight and creative ideas into impactful business results. Most recently, she co-led a turnaround in the brand and marketing capabilities at Rothschild & Co Wealth Management. Prior, she delivered integrated campaigns and strategies for brands like Investec Private Bank, MTN, Coca-Cola and SABMiller.

Thanks for joining us this week. Anything we missed? Something we should include next week? Send us your shout-outs and strong opinions to include in next week’s edition at [email protected]. 

Spark is a production of Vivace, a global B2B creative studio and consultancy that helps businesses drive meaningful brand and commercial impact. Get in touch if you’d like to chat with any of the team. Have a great week ahead.