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Changing South Africa, one school at a timeIs the purpose of business purely and simply to make money? Pepe Marais, along with many other captains of commerce and industry, believed it was. But a few years ago, he changed his philosophy – and it is changing his life.
Which is not to say that he has given away the wealth he has accumulated in favour of a life of penury. Nor has he abandoned his position as joint founding partner of Joe Public advertising agency in Johannesburg and escaped to a far-off monastery to eat lentils and spend his days in contemplation.
Just the opposite: Business has never been better, neither has his personal life.
And he has been re-energised in his charitable efforts to assist the legions of underprivileged in South Africa by improving what he calls the “dysfunctional” education system.
As per the common perception of ‘ad agency creative types’ (he holds the title of executive creative director), Marais is something of a dreamer and philosopher, with a good smattering of idealism thrown in for good measure.
Perhaps the key difference, though, is that he has put them into practice.
Personal and business journey
Four years ago, Marais began to question what ‘it’ was all about.
He was doing quite well financially and the agency was humming along, although it lacked a reputation for creativity and his personal creative profile was not where he wanted it to be.
Overall, though, life was not too bad.
But still he was not happy. Says Marais, “Perhaps it’s an age thing; you start asking: ‘What am I doing here’? You think, ‘Surely this can’t be what it’s all about?’.”
And so began a personal journey of pursuing greater purpose, better emotional development and questioning his own motives, desires, ambitions and relationships. “I created a bigger vision for my life and made it more about other people,” he recalls.
Last year, the native Capetonian started to bring the same philosophies – which he enthusiastically credits for “changing his life around” – into the Joe Public business environment. It is a journey to find the ‘why’ of the business.
“Why do we exist in business; what is the true purpose?” Marais asks enigmatically. “If it’s only to make money, then you may as well enjoy the rest of your years accumulating wealth, with a serious chance of never attaining your business’s true potential.”
Among the insights he has uncovered is ‘why’ the 40-plus employees come to work every day.
“I knew I couldn’t make this new business journey just my ‘purpose’; I knew I had to find out what the people here were interested in and what they saw as their reasons for being here,” Marais explains.
“To this end, the company has designed its purpose around people… to create a platform for the growth and success of talented professionals. This philosophy has become the rudder that steers us into the future and shows us the way in terms of our investment into the community at large.”
Fine and noble ideals. But is this, in the words of a well-known Johannesburg talk radio host and advertising cynic, “just pony-tail stuff?” Pie in the sky… or real long-term benefit to the business?
Marais, a gangly fitness fanatic and proud first-time father of a two-year-old boy, admits that only time will tell. He estimates it will take a few years to see results – if any. But based on his personal experience, he thinks it will grow the business substantially.
“I do believe in the concept of money – it’s the oxygen of business,” he declares. “But it’s still a byproduct of being the best you can be.
“If we can grow people in the organisation to surpass their potential in everything they do, then there will be financial benefit as well.”
Reforming the school system
The product of a poor and troubled family background, Marais, aged 43, is clearly enthused and energised by what he sees as a new path ahead.
A beneficiary of his enthusiasm is South Africa’s frequently dysfunctional township school system, as he pursues a culture of excellence among pupils and teachers through his One School at a Time charity.
The aim is to identify an underperforming and under-resourced school, make physical improvements and shake it to the core with an infusion of new ideas, attitudes and a ‘can-do’ culture to achieve better marks for each pupil and a consistent 100% Matric pass rate. Once that has been achieved for one school, the focus will shift to another school and another.
Forte High in Dobsonville, Soweto is the first to be adopted. When Marais first saw the school, it was probably typical of many such schools around the country. Designed for 800 students, it was accommodating more than 1 300 and had no sports grounds, no running water, and no library or computer facilities.
The Matric pass rate was 52%, and only 18% of matriculants were achieving an average mark of 60%.
The bathroom and sports facilities have now been upgraded, while the library and online facility is a work in progress. But the greater challenge is less visible. “In truth, it’s more about working with the teachers and principal to create systems and finding ways to up the outcomes,” Marais explains.
The target for Forte High is a 100% Matric pass rate, with a 60% average mark per student.
He is passionate about the subject of education and its importance in a country that continues to stagger under the weight of many pressing social issues. Equally, he is appalled by the problems confronting the education system.
“We are facing a second apartheid,” reads the introduction to the One School at a Time website. “It is the apartheid between the educated and the uneducated. In South Africa, there are 30 000 schools, of which 24 000 are dysfunctional and contribute annually to an already 80% dysfunctional society.
“One School at a Time believes that a proper solution for education can deliver a solution for poverty and crime… [T]hrough education, South Africa could become a shining example to Africa and the world.”
But achieving that “shining example” seems a long way away, if you listen to Marais. “We are the biggest economy in Africa and yet we’re in the bottom 6% in terms of our education system. That is just unacceptable,” he says.
“If you’re putting people out on the street who can’t create opportunities for themselves and are not employable, they’re not in a position to move forward with their lives. That’s going to create crime. Statistics show that a kid without Matric is six times more likely to engage in criminal activity.”
Having spent time examining and pondering on the education system, the ad man says that, were he running the country, he would “put every single cent” into education. “I know things like World Cups are important for unlocking tourism potential, but the bigger issue here is the sustainability of the economy – and that can only be fixed through education.”
Were he minister of Education, Marais says he would halve the number of subjects studied in the last two or three years of high school: English and two other subjects chosen to support the child’s intended career path.
“Logically, you can almost double the outcome that way – a student who was getting 40% for six subjects should be able to achieve around 70% for three,” he reasons.
An Afrikaner himself, Marais believes a child should be proficient in his or her mother tongue by year 10 and the language focus should then purely be on English, as the language of international communication and business.
Fund-raising
Marais has been observing the education scene since the mid-2000s, when he created a fund-raising concert for Aids awareness, called Rock 4 Aids.
He soon realised that the best platform to combat the disease was through high schools.
“It’s a captive audience for five years; and if you can get into the system and educate around Aids issues, then you have a better chance of influencing behavioural change,” he explains.
The concert has now morphed into Rock 4 Education, which financially supports the One School at a Time project. But the biggest fund-raiser is proving to be Marais himself.
Last year, after being enthused with the idea by a mountain-climber friend, he decided to climb Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and seek sponsorship for every metre climbed. He raised R300 000 – three times what the concert raises, and for much less organisation and effort.
Marais, who funded the trip from his own pocket, says he was astounded at the response and is keen to undertake other ‘adventures’ in similar vein and in support of the same cause.
A fitness enthusiast with many hours of training and several marathons behind him, he admits enjoying the physical challenge, but says he probably would not be pushing himself so much if it were not for the ever hungry coffers of One School at a Time.
To avoid wearing out his welcome with sponsors, he plans to do an ‘adventure’ every second year, with the next in 2012. A number of options are on the table, including running a 42-kilometre race along the Great Wall of China, scaling Aconcagua – the highest mountain in the Americas at 6 962 metres – or some sort of Iron Man event.
Marais’ choices are limited by the amount of time he can spend away from his business, and by his self-confessed and admirable desire to “not kill myself”.
The early years
After originally harbouring ideas of being a civil engineer (the well-off father of a school friend was one), Marais discovered graphic design via an acquaintance while in the Army and, after graduating from design college, moved into advertising.
After a few years with bigger agencies, he and current business partner Gareth Leck spotted a gap in the market and struck out on their own. It was not an easy start. Still in their 20s, they had little experience, no money, no premises – and not a single client.
But they did have faith in their concept. It was called “Take Away advertising”, and clients could walk in, get a cost off a board, give a brief, and expect the job back very quickly.
“We wanted to create an honest, down-to-earth, transparent agency that could still deliver great creative work, and the concept let us do that,” Marais remembers.
Smaller clients liked it, too, and after only three years, Joe Public had annualised billings of R30 million and a string of creative and other awards to its credit.
The following year, Marais and Leck sold the business to American-based Draftfcb. The Take Away concept eventually had to be abandoned as a result of the arrival of bigger clients, who were more interested in strategic branding ability than quick-turnaround, low-cost work.
They have since bought back the agency to again become masters of their own destiny.
Marais has much on his plate: growing the business while refocusing its ethos and purpose, playing dad to a young son, steering One School at a Time, eyeing the next Rock 4 Education concert, planning the next ‘big adventure’...
Is it possible to do it all? “Anything’s doable, as long as it has a bigger purpose,” he responds. ▲
Mike Simpson
