Robbie Brozin, founder of Nando's, visited Flow Communications on Friday, to talk about the rise of one of South Africa's most popular brands.
"We're not in the chicken business, we're in the people business," said Brozin, explaining the success of the company that currently employs some 30 000 people around the world, with stores in South Africa, Australia, Canada, India, the United States and United Kingdom.
Founded in 1987, Nando's has always been associated with controversial advertising – the first television commercial they produced was immediately banned in South Africa. "We basically got to a stage where the Advertising Standards Authority became part of the creative process – they wanted to see our concepts before we could go any further," joked Brozin.
He said his favourite Nando's television commercial is the "Last Dictator Standing" commercial, which was produced in 2012. Watch the video below.
When asked about competitors that have tried to replicate Nando's, Brozin replied: "You can copy what you see, but you can't copy the soul of a brand. I wouldn't be able to tell someone how to copy Nando's."
Brozin is upbeat about the future of South Africa, and believes that mistakes being made by the current generation are creating opportunities. "South Africa has a maak 'n plan (make a plan) attitude," he said.
Flowstar Janet Berger says of Brozin: "He is so upbeat, positive and inspirational in such a down-to-earth way – I think we can all do with a dose of that occasionally!"
Below are some more photos of Brozin's visit.
Flow has provided public relations services to Nando's since 2013.
