Award-winning Creative Director and international branding expert Debbie O’Connor was born and raised in Apartheid South Africa.
Originally from a small bush town called White River, which is nestled on the border of the Kruger National Park, Debbie, like most other South African kids grew up without McDonalds, Nike or Pepsi around. This was because sanctions had been placed on the country due to the Apartheid laws. But how is it that a young girl from the African bush knew about these brands even though they could not be bought, not found on any of the shelves, never advertised on TV, radio or billboards – yet she still knew about them? Read on and we will tell all…
Having studied units of Industrial Psychology while completing her degree, Debbie became very interested in human behaviour in the marketplace. As a graphic designer by profession, this led to Debbie specialising in brand strategy and development. She became more fixated on why people ‘bought into’ certain brands and not others. Why does Apple have a far more loyal client base than IBM, yet their products are more expensive?