Kolisi, man of the people, outshines biggest brands

A recent LinkedIn post about the difference between managers and leaders resonated with me.

It read: “Managers let you know they are the most important people in the room. Leaders let you know that you are the most important in the room.”

While South Africa relives the 2023 Rugby World Cup with the riveting documentary series, Chasing the Sun 2, Time magazine honoured Springbok rugby captain Siya Kolisi in its 2024 Top 100 Most Influential People List.

ALSO READ: Siya Kolisi cracks Time100 most influential people list

He is the first rugby player in the world to be on the list with the magazine hailing him as an innovator.

In the article, South African comedian Trevor Noah writes: “He’s been the embodiment of hope during a time in which many South Africans find it hard to hold onto any. Through political strife, an energy crisis, and the effects of Covid, Siya has made rugby into something more than just a competition. His multiple victories – the country’s victories – have meant so much.”

Of course, South Africa has known this for a long time.

The biggest brands

Looking at the 2024 results of WPP’s Brand asset valuator (BAV), the world’s largest and longest study of brands, Kolisi outshines even the biggest brands.

Overall, 71.7% of South Africans agree with Time’s Top 100 position of Kolisi as an influencer and an innovator.

Of the 12 500 South African respondents, 80.4% of managers in the study believed so too, citing him as a leader to look up to.

Overall, those under 50 years old were more likely to agree with Kolisi’s innovation, leadership and influencer status, with a slight male skew at 76.2%.

He fared best among men under 29 with 77.6% agreeing and scored the lowest among 50+ females with just 48.3% agreeing (still not exactly low).

There were slight differences by province and generation. Gen X and Gen Z South Africans seem to hold common ground with 74.7% and 76.8% agreeing respectively, while only 68.4% of South African millennials (Gen Y) agree.

With an average of 70.9%, coastal provinces tend to agree more than landlocked provinces at an average of 61.7% with the most love coming from Western Cape Gen Y millennials and the most need for love being Gauteng and Mpumalanga Gen Xers.

Mpumalanga’s Gen Zs tend to break the trend by agreeing with Gen Y Western Capers in seeing an inspiring leader to look up to.

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As for racial demographics, overall, 77.4% of black South Africans, 64.7% of white South Africans and 60.8% of Indian and coloured South Africans agree with Time.

Adults with no kids score the highest out of any parameter studied for agreeing with Time at a whopping 81.2%. This drops significantly to an average of 64% for South African parents with kids.

In this cohort, 66% of single moms agree with his leadership and positive influence, while 65.5% of parents with kids between 6-11 agree and 64% of parents with kids below six agree.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering Kolisi’s personal story of growth, determination, success and hope, he scores the highest among low-income groups at 76.8%.

High-income earners are not far behind with 73.1% agreeing and finally, the middle majority at 70.5%. The most esteemed, quality brands start with Kolisi.

This category measures local and international brands together. Kolisi beat even WhatsApp, Google and Samsung to claim the top spot. He is followed by Woolworths, Clicks and FNB.

Esteem is 100% driven by trust, which each of these brands ranked high on among South Africans. Trust comes with displays of leadership, reliability, kindness and care for the everyday South African.

All these brands also ranked highly for their commitment to equality and environment.

Since BAV’s definition of “brand” goes beyond products and services to include countries, sports teams, tournaments and prominent individuals like the Springbok captain, we can compare our captain to even the oldest brands in Mzansi.

ALSO READ: How South Africa’s leaders fail people

Kolisi made the top five in the overall rankings for local brands, coming in fifth after Woolworths, FNB, Clicks and South Africa (in that order).

He jumped 12 places from last year’s survey, beating the likes of Checkers, Pick n Pay, Discovery, Capitec and even World #2 Best City, Cape Town.

Kolisi is not just seen as excellent, strong and tough; there are also softer, human qualities coming through.

The fact that he’s also perceived to be down to earth, kind and friendly shows that South Africans value relatability and approachability.

• White is a strategy director at VML South Africa and BAV SA champion