Founded in 2017, by Melusi Tshabalala (creative professional, entrepreneur, author, speaker, humourist, language & culture activist), Everyday Speak is an advertising, design and dialogue company.
Melusi Tshabalala first branched out on his own in 2009, with the ambition of establishing his own advertising agency. That journey saw him establish ‘76, which then evolved into ‘76 MotherRussia, which then went on to merge with Morris Jones to become Mojo MotherRussia.
In 2014, Melusi left Mojo MotherRussia to establish Studio 214, with a partner. While still involved with Studio 214,
he established Everyday Speak, as the vehicle through which he would run his language-learning and culture initiatives, with Melusi’s Everyday Zulu being the flagship project.
2019 saw Melusi leave Studio 214 to combine his advertising experience, language-learning work and culture work into one,
unified offering
under Everyday Speak.
Founded in 2017, by Melusi Tshabalala (creative professional, entrepreneur, author, speaker, humourist, language & culture activist), Everyday Speak is an advertising, design and dialogue company.
Melusi Tshabalala first branched out on his own in 2009, with the ambition of establishing his own advertising agency. That journey saw him establish ‘76, which then evolved into ‘76 MotherRussia, which then went on to merge with Morris Jones to become Mojo MotherRussia.
In 2014, Melusi left Mojo MotherRussia to establish Studio 214, with a partner. While still involved with Studio 214, he established Everyday Speak, as the vehicle through which he would run his language-learning and culture initiatives, with Melusi’s Everyday Zulu being the flagship project. 2019 saw Melusi leave Studio 214 to combine his advertising experience, language-learning work and culture work into one, unified offering
under Everyday Speak.
We have to understand our target. Their realities, their loves, their passions – their culture. Then we align our brand to their culture.
Once we’ve aligned our brand with the target’s culture, we generate the BIG IDEA, which will inform all our communication.
Your brand has to keep up.
Served on the Creative Circle Executive Committee
Served on The Loerie Awards Executive Committee
Served on Adobe Creative Roundtables panels
Judge at the Loerie & Pendoring Awards
Judge Ad of the Month
Judge Botswana Advertising Award
Column in Finweek. Melusi’s Everyday Zulu
Author – Everyday Zulu - published in 2018
Author (contributor) – The Lockdown Chronicles (2020)
Author – Magenge, we need to talk (2021)
Winner of various Ad of the Month, Loerie and London International Awards
Everyday speak is a collaboration of 21st century strategists, world-class creatives, envelope-shredding thought leaders, innovate marketers, resourceful publicists, digital whizz kids, media mavericks and culture-shapers who come together to deliver 21st century branding, marketing, advertising and nation-building solutions.
We are equipped to tackle a wide variety of client and project types.
Over the course of the adventure that has been our careers, we’ve learnt a few fundamental things, and bring this knowledge and experience to every project we tackle:
1. Anticipate: Don’t just focus on what lies directly ahead; have peripheral vision. To anticipate well, you must – Look for game-changing information in the periphery of your sector/project Search beyond the current boundaries of your organisation/project Build wide external networks to help you scan the horizon better.
2. Think Critically: “Conventional wisdom” opens you to few raised eyebrows and second-guessing, but if you swallow every fad, herd-like belief and safe opinion at face value, your company/project loses all competitive edge. Critical thinkers' question everything, and to master this skill you must force yourself to – Reframe challenges to get to the bottom of things, in terms of root causes Challenge current beliefs and mindsets, including your own.
We are equipped to tackle a wide variety of client and project types.
3. Interpret: Ambiguity is unsettling. Faced with it, the temptation is to reach for a fast solution. A good strategic thinker holds steady, digesting information from many sources, before developing a viewpoint. To master this, you have to:
4. Decide: Many organisations/projects fall prey to “analysis paralysis” and nothing gets done. You must develop processes and enforce them so that you arrive at a position. To do that well, you have to:
5. Align: Total consensus is rare. You need to build trust and engage key stakeholders, especially when views diverge. To pull that off, you need to: