Founder and Executive Creative Director of SoulProviders Collective, Sarah-Jane ‘SJ’ Boden talks about some of the strides that the creative industry has made in South Africa. She also talks about the need for transformation, representation, and diversity across brands and the agencies they work with.

Partly citing the Clicks debacle, SJ says some of the issues stem from the fact the people brands want to speak to are not represented in the spaces where ideas are generated. Talking about representation and its significance, she points out that in some instances brands have men thinking around and writing copy for women’s products. The same diversity and inclusivity apply across race and many other factors.

As a former judge at the PRISM Awards and a judge at the Loeries Awards, SJ notes that there has been increased diversity and transformation within the Loeries in 2020. According to SJ,

under the leadership of the new CEO, Preetesh Sewraj, the Loeries the brand has been taken on a fresh course towards greater inclusion.