Newsletter

Welcome to Tangerine’s first news letter.

For weeks now I have been trying to come up with a name for our newsletter, so please if anybody has any ideas please drop them to me on sharon@tangerinemarketing.com.

After coming back from “The One of a Kind” show held during August 2007 I thought it would be fitting to kick of our first monthly newsletter sharing my thoughts about the South African craft market.

Now remember these are my thoughts only;

It appears there are three levels to crafting.

1. Level one the younger population are entering this market with a vigorous energy, which is Wow, and their products are world class.
2. We have quality crafters who have been crafting their whole lives, and now are starting to be appreciated for their pioneering and their skills.
3. Then there is the social development projects that have sprung up all over the country, whereby the passion of wanting to make a difference is the fundamental driver for setting up craft project.

The common thing amongst all these levels is the standard of quality of the craft in South Africa, proving that South Africa has arrived when it comes to craft.

So my question, and my answer, is why then is South African craft not creating the economic sustainability it should be – before I answer this question I need to acknowledge a few known truths.

• Crafting from a livelihood point of view as a major employment source is still fairly new, even though crafting as been around for ever.
• It is already claiming its place as a contribution to the GDP of our economy (but not to the level it should based on the numbers involved)
• The government has shown and is still showing their commitment to pushing as much assistance as possible to growing this economy.

So why then is the craft industry not earning the potential it should?

1. The vast majority of people who are the crafters in South Africa fall below the acknowledge breadline (earning less than the minimum standard wage). Because craft is a handed down skill in most cases, the emphasis is on the production and not on the need.
   
   In most cases it can take a crafter up to six weeks or longer to produce a world class product, but due to their own economic situation will need to accept whatever they can sell it for. The international and our own local buying population (I must admit it is a subconscious behaviour) believe that these people are a desperate group of individuals.
   
   This was more obvious than ever when dealing with buyers and the general public at the show. South Africa portrays itself and Africa at large, that we are constantly on the look out for handouts, like any business your position will either make you or fail you.
   
   Lets no hide away from the facts of the truth, yes we have dire situations in our country, in some cases worse than others, but we have major positives about our country, and if we don’t start pushing these positive messages out more and more in the bigger world (including South Africa) we will constantly battle to push the quality of the craft to gain its necessary earning potential.
    
2. On the other side of the coin, we must be more aware of the competitiveness of the global economy, and what this means is that we need to be more aware of the market needs. Craft presently is mainly product focus, produce and then find a market place; we need to be finding the market and then producing, a life cycle for product development and manufacturing needs to be looked at more closely.
   
   Crafters need to be advised on what should be their entry to market products and what the growth opportunity on these initial products are over what period of time.
   
   This will allow for more main stream manufacturing opportunities for the masses of people in South Africa who are unemployed.
    
3. And lastly, but not least, thought needs to be put in place to create icon goods that promote South Africa, it should not matter if you are buying from a shop in Chicago or Switzerland, the icon product should make the buyer say to him/herself – South Africa.

Its time to push South Africa through images, icons, products and conversation pieces, craft has a major part to play in this.

With that till next month

Please don’t forget to put forward a name for Tangerine’s newsletter and I would love any comments or if you have any questions – drop me a line to sharon@tangerinemarketing.com

Till next time

Sharon