Imagine the value of being able to access a community of trend spotters and get them on board to market your brand. That’s what Mongezi Mtati, founder of Wordstart, is doing. He adds zing to traditional advertising and marketing by generating conversations around brands, services and products among ‘wordstarters’ — or independent brand ambassadors — using social media and other on and offline networking platforms.
“Based on these conversations we give feedback, opinions, recommendations and analyses to clients, based on consumer experiences, to give them unique market insights as well as kick-start brand awareness for early adopters that are relevant to their market.”
Wordstart was founded in February 2011 after Mtati realised that few local marketing agencies were using the untapped resource of dedicated peer-to-peer word of mouth marketing. “Most agencies focused primarily on white consumers,” he says. “At least 80% of our community of 200 ‘wordstarters’ are Indian, coloured and black South Africans, giving clients a broader view of their target markets.”
In less than two years of being in business, Mtati has been approached to speak at industry conferences and share insights. An entrepreneur at The Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship, he wants to impart his knowledge about running a small business to other entrepreneurs to help them learn and grow, just as he has done with Wordstart.
Vital stats
Player: Mongezi Mtati
Company: Wordstart
Launched: 2011
Contact: +27 (0)83 757 3163
www.wordstart.co.za