As Brandfundi celebrates 11 years, founder Michelle Cavé reflects on the commercial value of senior involvement, resilience and continuity.
Brandfundi turns 11 this August, a significant milestone in a business environment where longevity cannot be taken for granted.
A 2025 study in the Southern African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management estimates that family-owned companies account for about 80% of South African businesses and roughly 60% of those listed on the JSE. Yet more than 60% reportedly do not transition successfully to the next generation.
For Brandfundi’s founder and managing director, Michelle Cavé, the anniversary is less about longevity itself than what the boutique, owner-led structure makes possible for clients.
“Eleven years is meaningful to us, but longevity only matters to a client when it translates into better work,” she says. “For clients, that means direct access to experienced counsel, faster decisions and accountability from strategy through to delivery.”
A Family Business with Defined Roles
Brandfundi began in 2015 when Michelle turned a long-held ambition into a working business from home. Her late mother, Alison, later supported the agency’s bookkeeping and administration during its formative years.
Today, the core team comprises three siblings with distinct roles. Michelle leads strategy, public relations and senior client counsel; Sean Cavé manages social media and digital content; and Belinda Cavé oversees operations, coordination and client support.
Michelle remains involved in every client project. When an assignment requires additional capabilities, Brandfundi draws on its specialist network, giving clients access to relevant expertise without a one-size-fits-all structure.
The model is lean at its centre but flexible in its capabilities. It also depends on professional discipline. Clear responsibilities, structured processes, outside perspectives, and honest internal debate are essential because family familiarity cannot replace commercial objectivity.
“Clients should not choose us because we are related,” says Michelle. “They should choose us because we stay close to the work, move quickly and remain accountable from strategy through to delivery.”
What Clients are Really Buying
That closeness matters when agency relationships come under pressure.
Setup’s 2025 Marketing Relationship Survey found that the leading reasons clients ended agency relationships were dissatisfaction with delivery and dissatisfaction with value, each cited by 61% of client respondents. A further 44% said the agency had not understood their business.
Smaller agencies do not automatically perform better, but the findings underline the importance of keeping strategy, delivery and client understanding connected. At Brandfundi, the people who shape the recommendation remain close to its execution, helping to preserve context and quality.
“Clients are not buying an organisational chart. They are buying judgement, responsiveness and an understanding of their business,” says Michelle. “Accountability changes when your name, reputation and company’s future are tied directly to the quality of the work.”
Resilience is a Business Discipline
Brandfundi’s resilience was tested sharply in 2020, when the agency lost 80% of its income almost overnight due to COVID-19. Instead of waiting for conditions to improve, the business consolidated its operations, strengthened its marketing and emerged more structured.
The experience reflected a much wider crisis. In the second round of Statistics South Africa’s COVID-19 business-impact survey, 55% of respondents believed they could survive for only one to three months without turnover, while 30% expected to survive for less than one month.
That period sharpened Brandfundi’s understanding of the choices businesses face when budgets tighten: where to invest, what to pause and which activities genuinely support reputation, relationships and growth.
The agency does not work from rigid packages or recommend activity merely to fill a content calendar. Scope is shaped around the business need, budget and intended outcome.
“Having had to rebuild and protect our own business, we know every recommendation must earn its place,” says Michelle. “It means using budgets responsibly and prioritising work that supports the longer-term objective/s.”
Continuity has Commercial Value
A 2025 study by the Association of National Advertisers and the 4As found that the average client-agency relationship had increased to approximately seven years – more than double the 3.2-year average reported in 2016. Independent agencies averaged 7.3 years, compared with 5.8 years among holding-company agencies, while public relations agencies were among the categories with the longest relationships.
Structure alone does not explain those differences, but the research reinforces the commercial value of accumulated knowledge.
A communications partner that understands a brand’s history, internal sensitivities, decision-making processes, and reputational risks can often respond more quickly and with greater context. Clients also spend less time briefing new teams or rebuilding relationships after frequent personnel changes.
Continuity should never become complacency. A longstanding relationship creates an obligation to remain curious, challenge familiar thinking and continue earning the client’s confidence.
Boutique by Design
As Brandfundi enters its second decade, it has no ambition to add layers merely to appear larger. Its priority is to remain responsive, commercially grounded and senior-led, while extending the specialist expertise available to clients.
The agency’s size is not the headline. The quality of attention is.
Eleven years on, Brandfundi remains boutique by design: close enough to respond decisively, experienced enough to challenge thinking and flexible enough to assemble the right expertise around each brief.
That focus will continue to shape how Brandfundi helps clients build, protect and grow their businesses.
