1 Minute with a Superhero: Rowan Beattie
by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg on 19/04/10 at 11:45 am
No comments
Rowan Beattie heads up Pyrotechnical Marketing. With no official training after matric, he worked his way up from the production line and is now heading up a business that made a modest turnover of R50 in its first month of operation to an excess of R 80 million today. Pyrotec has remained a privately owned South African company for over 40 years. This is a businesses that have stood the test of time, whilst maintaining their independence. So, How did Rowan do it?
Rowan, you’ve been in marketing for ages now – is there something that you consider a ‘secret’ to your longevity in an age where many marketing companies are faltering?
We are not just a marketing company; we have four brands under the Pyrotec stable (PackMedia, PackMark, Tower and Toby Tower) that allow us to offer our customers an extensive product offering. This is one of the secrets behind our success. Our longevity has to do with a steadfast belief in product quality and innovation. We are driven by an ethos of integrity, excellent service, quality, and operational efficiency. Attracting passionate and knowledgeable staff to drive our vision of excellence has also been key to our success. We are continually investing in our staff through training efforts. We are also conservative with cash management.
Pyrotec seems to have its roots in traditional marketing products – how have you approached the digital age of marketing?
Pyrotec started offering a digital competition service, called eCom, to add to Pyrotec PackMedia’s on-pack promotions products. This was in recognition of the fact that promotional campaigns are run across multiple media platforms.
Pyrotec has recognised that advertising media is becoming more integrated with “pull” becoming more important than “push” when it comes to promoting one’s products. Hence the reason why social media and other digital methods are being used more by the company. Toby Tower’s Facebook page and online partnerships is a start and will be run across the company’s brands in various forms.
Pyrotec started out with a mere R50 turnover in its first month of operation and has now grown to an excess of R 80 million today. At what point in your business did you see the big turnaround?
There was no exact ‘point’. We have grown steadily over the years. There have been milestones such as being the first licensee of Fix-a-Form International headquarted in the United Kingdom or becoming an exclusive distributor of the Markem-Imaje brand. The addition of products to the Tower brand and the creation of Toby Tower brand have also been significant highlights in terms of our growth. We have always had an open mind to trying out new things but quickly discarding them if they proved to not work.
You’re based in Cape Town, which some of us at Ideate consider the best city in the world, but it’s not considered by many as a centre of commerce. What made you decide on CT as your base all these years?
I was born, brought up and educated in Cape Town my family is located here. I have never considered leaving. We opened an office in Johannesburg over 30 years ago in recognition of it being the economic powerhouse of South Africa. We have broad footprint with offices also located in Durban and Port Elizabeth. I am living in Cape Town and making money from Johannesburg … who could ask for a better life!
Where many entrepreneurs have sacrificed families and friendships for their dreams, you’ve been married for 4 decades and seem to have a solid focus on family. What’s your secret?
I have an unselfish wife who raised our sons and who came from a family who also owned a private business – giving her understanding of the sacrifices a wife of an entrepreneur has to make. Our Christian beliefs have also given us a solid foundation to build the strength of our family on. There are always and will always be unique tensions in a family owned and run business and I could not say that we don’t still have these challenges. It is difficult to separate the family from the business and vica verse, but this largely depends on how I act at work and that is assume my role of Managing Director and not that of a family member.
Thanks Rowan for allowing us a few minutes into your world and for sharing your secrets and successes with us.
Yolandi Janse van Rensburg writes about social media, marketing, life and, of course, cars. We say “of course” because Yolandi is nuts about anything on 4 wheels and runs Autofemme, a blog about cars. Our Ideate sub-editor is also the Heavy Chef girl at World Wide Creative. You can follow her on Twitter @Yolandi_JvR View more articles by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg.
Tags: 1 Minute with a Superhero
