Meet this week’s #AbsaSmallBizFriday featured business – Matte BLK.
Matte BLK – an integrated marketing agency dedicated to creating impactful, authentic campaigns for South Africa’s township and rural communities. With key partnerships with big business partners, they’ve doubled growth over two years, impacted millions through financial literacy initiatives, and are on a strong path to achieving their R100m vision by 2030.
As Founder and MD, Buyi Mafoko has been responsible for steering Matte BLK out of the global catastrophe many businesses succumbed to and championing the company’s future horizon. She is a passionate and people-centric leader who encourages everyone’s entrepreneurship spirit.
As part of their post-pandemic recovery strategy, it was important for them to secure a multi-year retainer business to sustain the core of the company and a base upon which to rebuild their team and attract more experienced talent.
To stimulate the business development activity, Matte BLK underwent a process of evolving its position in the market, clearly distilling its unique selling point (USP) and refreshing its brand to make it visually unambiguous in the industry.
Matte BLK’s team is culturally connected and entrenched in their clients’ industries; their work is human-conscious, born from adaptable creative thinkers who see brand challenges as opportunities. They have created an environment and culture of respect for all, where every person, no matter their position, is respected and treated fairly, as a core value of their business.
Matt BLK understands the importance of delivering within business objectives. Therefore, their teams work with executional excellence to deliver compelling campaigns which align with their client’s marketing and sales KPIs. They have enjoyed many highs in 2024, winning a pivotal piece of business that propelled them closer to their 2030 targets.
As a small business Matte BLK works closely with big business clients such as Accenture, which highlights the importance and impact of big businesses supporting small-to-medium businesses like theirs. This is a crucial stimulus for their economic activity and demonstrates the value of collaboration in delivering impactful campaigns that drive social change and deliver impressive business results. This partnership was also a significant win because it cemented a seven-year-long relationship and enabled them to bolster their in-house capabilities, attract key industry talent, and double their business in the last two years.
Matte BLK has been on a four-year journey of redefining its purpose for being in business, a challenge presented to them by the advent of the pandemic. Fully embracing this time, they emerged with the clarity of knowing what distinguishes their business. 2027 will mark their 20th anniversary and be three years from their vision to become an R100m business across Africa by 2030.
Everything they do is born in strategy, nurtured in creativity and deployed intuitively into regionalised executions with excellence. They are exceptional at creating nuanced campaigns with localised content and creativity. They decode complex challenges into authentic campaigns with clout articulated to local communities for lasting impact.
Buyi Mafoko supports the endeavours of other small businesses and proactively partners with other women in business. She has also benefited from such mentorship. She supports and advocates for market access opportunities to the extent that Matte BLK procures services from other small businesses. She proactively knowledge shares useful information that has helped her grow in her business from initiatives such as ESD programmes and leadership courses.
By winning the National Woman in Business Champion award at the South African Small Business Awards – this prestigious awards programme celebrates the most outstanding businesses and the exceptional business people behind these successful and growing businesses – has affirmed her position and encouraged her to continue building and growing her business.
Buyi and her team are destined to continue to make an impact in the marketing world.