On Stage Design Indaba 2015: Joe Public

It takes guts to stand up in front of an audience and perform a Michael Jackson routine, but Joe Public’s Pepe Marais and Xolisa Dyeshana are no strangers to jumping in and taking a chance. The two ad men and their team are in the business of creating ideas, and as Marais says, “an idea will never, ever, ever work unless you try it”. After an entertaining introduction, the duo introduce the main focus of their talk, “how purpose drives change”.

Joe Public is driven by a greater purpose: growth – growth for its clients, growth for the people who work there and growth for South Africa. With this approach to advertising, the company seeks to create positive social change through its work – quite a noble objective considering the sometimes self-serving nature of the industry.

Pepe Marais and Xolisa Dyeshana are chief creative officer and executive creative director respectively of advertising agency Joe Public.