These two local boi's are quite impressive and have an interesting story to tell.
Ryan McFadyen and Jason Stewart started HaveYouHeard Word-of-Mouth Agency in Cape Town 18 months ago, towards the end of 2008 and has gone from strength to strength.
HaveYouHeard is South Africa's first specialist Word-of-Mouth marketing agency. They believe so strongly in the value of an honest recommendation (from a friend) that we've built a successful business around stimulating conversations for brands and products. We focus on getting influential individuals sharing their opinions - about your products - with their peers.
Jason says : I ran a business division doing something very similar but got very frustrated within their structures and culture. I have always been very Entrepreneurial and good at making things happen so I decided that I could offer clients a lot more value and a much more effective platform if I had complete control. So we built this business and have notched up some very successful campaigns for some big blue chip companies.
We work very well together and have a great understanding even though in personality we are quite different. Ryan is an uber-achiever who loves anything extreme (cliff diving). I am not too sure how to describe myself, but maybe Entrepreneur is the right word because it encompasses a lot of who I am.
What we have in common though is that we are both very ambitious and we want to be measured against the best in the world, rather than just the best in SA. We both want to make an impact on business and society and change the way people think about and do things - we are innovators and are always looking at how we can add value or improve.
On a personal note, Ryan is a bit of a playboy, or I guess a highly desirable eligible bachelor is a better term. A bit like Tom Cruise of the 90's - a ladies dream. I on the other hand are more boring and have been married for just over a year, 8 years together, and can humbly say that I am the luckiest man in the world and my wife is the most important part of my day.
HaveYouHeard is just the start for us. It is my first company and Ryan's second but both of us will be building empires over the next few decades.
What drives that passion is the challenge of doing something new and being the best in the world at it and each day we get closer to that goal!
These two blokes are going to go far!
Jason Stewart
Ryan McFadyen
Give both their website and Blog a visit and say hi.
