Publicis Machine appoints city’s top creative graduates to its Cape Town team

Publicis Machine is proud to announce that its Cape Town team has been bolstered by the addition of three of the city’s hottest creative graduates of 2017 – Chiquita Williams, Richelle Naidoo and Nicholas Pollett, all of whom graduated top of their classes in their respective fields.

The decision to hire creative graduates is in line with Publicis Machine’s commitment to nurturing and developing local creative talent, to the greater good of the agency’s clients, the agency itself, and ultimately the industry at large.

“Chiquita, Richelle and Nicholas are three of the brightest young design and brand communication graduates in South Africa, with a real passion for creativity. They bring an incredible amount of energy to the team, and with their diverse set of skills and personal experience, coupled with a fresh approach to solutions, we believe that they will play a crucial role in ingraining our clients’ brands into popular culture,” comments Group Executive Creative Director Gareth McPherson.

Chiquita Williams graduated from the Stellenbosch Academy of Design & Photography in November 2017, with distinction. She is a recipient of the prestigious Loeries Creative Scholarship, a Gold Pack Awards finalist, and was featured in the Design Times as one of Cape Town’s Top 2017 Creative Graduates. She joins the Publicis Machine team as a graphic design intern.

Richelle Naidoo and Nicholas Pollett also graduated top of their respective classes – copywriting for Richelle, and art direction for Nicholas –  from the Red & Yellow School of Advertising, in 2017. Both were selected as runners’ up in the 2016 Student Gold Pack Awards, while Nicholas also earned a finalist in the 2016 Loerie Print category and a Silver Pendoring award in the Communication Design category. Naidoo joins Publicis Machine as a copywriting intern, and Pollett takes on the role of art director intern.

All three graduates joined Publicis Machine in February 2018, and are excited to already be in the thick of real world work, making a real difference:

“In the 3 weeks that I have been at Publicis Machine, I have worked on Red Bull, Martell Cognac and Virgin Active,” says Pollett. “The calibre of clients is incredible!”

“I love that from this space, we have the ability to influence people’s perspectives and possibly even create positive change,” says Naidoo.

“I’ve always believed that there is more to a good agency than an amazing portfolio and Publicis Machine encompasses just that – a good sense of ‘work’ family, great work environment, greater opportunities and the best possible portfolio. I could not be happier with my choice,” Williams adds.

This new trio of interns reflects the agency’s continued ability to attract the best and the brightest young minds in the business.

“Attracting the right talent, and helping it grow and develop, has always been at the core of building our unique creative culture; it’s an investment in our clients’ future, our future, and the future of the industry as a whole,” McPherson concludes.