By Phindi Maduna
The RSA.com brand officially launched in 2015. The brand’s aim is to promote and embrace South African trends and style in the country and around the world. Its modern and minimal approach to design is a refreshing take on how to bring out South Africa’s edgy street style.
Brand South Africa had a conversation with the brand’s founder and Operations Manager, Tshepo Kolanchu to discuss the brand, it’s highlights and future prospects.
Q: What is the inspiration behind the brand’s name?
Tshepo: The name came from observing multitudes of people from all over the world wearing clothes branded New York (NY), Chicago, Los Angeles (LA), to name a few. RSA.com is a premium brand that is meant for South Africans to brag about and be proud of while carrying the South African name/brand across the world. Having resolved to promote the country as a brand, the next consideration was the most preferred sales platform, the “.com” domain, which is the top level domain for global commerce. We therefore decided on “RSA.com” as a representative brand.
Q: What have been some of the successes and highlights for RSA.com since its launch in 2015?
Tshepo: Some our highlights have been the successful registration of the trademark; our online store; our affiliation with two government agencies who promote the country and its products across the world namely – Brand South Africa and Proudly South Africa; exhibiting the brand at the 2018 Buy Local Summit; and our partnership with the Miss Gauteng pageant.
Q: Why have you focused on t-shirts and vests as your staple garments?
Tshepo: We initially launched the brand with caps, t-shirts, jogger pants, hoodies, track pants, dresses & warmers to test the market, from this exercise we learned that due to demand and limited resources, it was better to re-focus our energy and push t-shirts, dresses and vests which are capsule garments.
Q: Please tell us a little bit more about the market’s reception to your brand?
Tshepo: People are showing interest in our clothes and we are slowly gaining popularity. With the launch of the new site established in April 2018 (1 month old), which is being promoted on social media, that has helped the market to get reacquainted with the brand. The new site is interactive and it is receiving more attention.
Q: What’s next for RSA.com?
Tshepo: The plan is to grow the product lines with time as we grow the love and loyalty of the brand with our clients.
We also hope to create opportunities for other business people to open and manage physical stores in cities around the country and abroad, to encourage economic growth and job creation.
You can get in touch with RSA.com on the following platforms:
Mobile: +27 81 597 7778
Email: info@justrsa.com
Facebook: Rsa.com
Instagram: @rsa_com
Twitter: @rsa_com
Website: www.justrsa.com
