Dentsu School Of Influence Graduates New Wave Of Business-Ready Creators -

The Dentsu School of Influence Johannesburg cohort, powered by CSA. global and FoneYam, celebrates graduation after an intensive “One Big Week” turning local creators into boardroom-ready digital entrepreneurs.

The era of chasing vanity metrics is officially taking a backseat to real business equity. That was the message from the Dentsu School of Influence – in partnership with CSA – which officially concluded its Johannesburg chapter, marking the graduation of its high-intensity “One Big Week” accelerator cohort.

Sixteen emerging creators entered the incubator as content makers and have now officially entered the commercial market as fluent, boardroom-ready media entities equipped to command space in Africa’s multi-billion-rand digital economy.

Rather than focusing on aesthetic curation, the Dentsu School of Influence curriculum treated mobile content as actual media inventory. Over the action-packed residency, the cohort deep-dived into data literacy through the Creator IQ platform, mastered income structuring, decoded complex invoice development, and unpacked the financial compliance needed to run a sustainable digital enterprise.

The room was anchored by heavy-hitting industry masterclasses. South African digital trailblazer Grace Mondlana dropped practical frameworks on building bulletproof value propositions, structuring commercial rate cards, and tailoring hyper-local content through a strict cultural lens. Marcel Swain, Managing Director of dentsu X South Africa, introduced the creators to the Creator Catalyst – a partnership roadmap specifically engineered to reframe creators from disposable, short-term talent into long-term growth engines for global brands.

Celebrating Excellence: The Class of 2026 Award Winners

The finale of the residency recognised the standout architects of the week, celebrating individuals who pushed the boundaries of innovation, collaboration, and executive strategy:

Samsung Award: Rerulagantse Taukobong
FoneYam Most distinctive body of work: Kgomotso Masebuko
FoneYam Most likely to get shared: Bayanda Mvelase
Zee Zonke Award – First Runner-Up: Naletsana Moloantoa
Zee Zonke Award – Second Runner-Up: Precious Laka
Zee Zonke People’s Choice Award: Eugene Britou
Zee Zonke Content Creator Excellence Award: Kgomotso Masebuko
Zee Zonke Overall Winner: Ndyebo Lurayi

With the Johannesburg residency officially wrapped, the Dentsu School of Influence and CSA are already setting their sights on the coastal market, with the next cohort officially locked in to launch in Cape Town later this year.