By Remy Raitt

Lyndi Lawson-Smith, the Johannesburg campus director says that although the school has been relatively operational from a corporate perspective for the last year, this launch is a step in the direction of getting design, marketing and copywriting students through the doors.

The Johannesburg Red & Yellow has applied for accreditation to run full-time courses and once the hoops and hurdles have been cleared classes will be open for session. The aim of the new school is to produce quality marketing and advertising talent for South Africa and the rest of the continent. The new Johannesburg facility will play a central role in Red & Yellow’s plan to train 100 000 students from across Africa by 2020.

Lawson-Smith says the Johannesburg Red & Yellow will replicate some of the courses offered at the highly regarded Cape Town school, “but there are also some exciting new developments in the pipeline”, she says. Initially the school will offer part-time, online and classroom-based courses to students, with full-time courses beginning in 2016.

On Saturday, 1 August, the Red & Yellow Springboard Marketing Institute will immerse previously disadvantaged students in the School of Logic and Magic. This six month course to advertising learnership will see 50 students, divided between the Cape Town and Johannesburg campuses, work towards a National Certificate of Advertising, which is accredited as a Level 5 qualification in the National Qualification Framework. Lawson-Smith says applicants, aged between 19 and 25 are put through a rigorous interview process, with only the very best making it through.

Lawson-Smith says the location choice of the city of gold campus was a strategic one. “This move in Johannesburg is just one step in a bigger growth strategy. The next step is to move into Africa, and our CBD location is a good springboard for this move.” She says the exciting urban renewal that has been taking place in CBD also influenced their decision. “We are enthusiastic about the CBD rejuvenation and have partnered with our landlords, Urban Ocean, on a mission to bring the creative industry back to the Johannesburg CBD.”

On the hunt for talented staff to run their courses, Lawson-Smith says they will continue to run off the support they receive from the industry. “Our alumni are game changers in marketing and advertising agencies and we want to replicate the role the industry plays in the Cape Town school in Joburg. We are aiming for the same level of buy-in and contribution from the industry,” she says.

For more information, visit www.redandyellow.co.za. Alternatively connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.