Retail

Ailsa Wingfield is Executive Director: Intelligence for Nielsen Global Markets. She helps companies capture today and tomorrow's prospects by identifying and exploring demand generating trends through strategic foresight, knowledge and thought leadership creation. With a passion for Africa and Middle East, she established the Africa Prospects Indicator which determines overall country prospects and the sources of potential, across economic, business, consumer and retail metrics.

Alain Dos Santos is the Regional Managing Director for Montblanc Africa. Based in the luxury Maison's regional office in Johannesburg, Dos Santos is responsible for expanding Montblanc's presence & operations in key markets across the continent. His role follows 5 years as Montblanc's MD for Brazil, during which he oversaw milestones including the transfer of Montblanc from its historical family external distributor to fully integrated subsidiary within the Richemont Group, & the first Richemont Maison in Brazil to launch its e-commerce offering..

Alan Hockey is the Operations Director at Corner Bakery. With more than 10 years operational experience in senior management positions in the Momentum Group of companies, he left the corporate world to become an Executive Trainer and Business Consultant with a multi-national business process improvement consultancy.

Generating revenue from Entertainment Brands. Representing Global Entertainment companies/studios like Warner Bros and Turner Cartoon Network.

"Tonton" Ali Diallo is an award-winning Senegalese American telecom entrepreneur, futurist, angel investor and venture builder. He is the founder and managing partner of United Ventures, a global startup studio that builds, funds and scales early-stage companies in the Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT) sector.

Allan Dickson is the independent chairman at redPanda Software. He has more than fifty years of experience in the IT industry and holds qualifications in Economics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Information Resource Management from Harvard Business School. Dickson is one of the most experienced retail systems people in SA.

Amanda Cunningham has been in the event management, marketing and communications industries for over 30 years. She began her career working in television in London in 1986.

Amanda Reekie is the founding director of ovatoyou and imagineNATION Alliance. The ovatoyou research platform has a panel of over 19,000 respondents in South Africa and more in Africa.

My role at Influencer Matchmaker involves working with both brands and influencers to form effective and mutually beneficial partnerships. I have represented many well-known influencers and celebrities and built relationships with countless international brands..

Andrew Bourne is Zoho's regional manager for the Africa region and is based in Cape Town, South Africa. He has more than 15 years of experience in sales and marketing and has spent the last five years focusing on the implementation and testing of various business technologies.

Having started his first business venture as a varsity student, Andrew Weinberg is now a seasoned entrepreneur whose customer engagement and incentives solutions business, Retail Engage, is changing the game for the South African second-tier retail base. The Entrepreneur of the Year competition (sponsored by Sanlam and Business/Partners) named Andrew Weinberg as this year's overall competition winner..

Camper by day, run-and-gunner by night, Andy is editor at Memeburn and prefers his toast like his coffee -- dark and crunchy. Specialising in spotting the next big Instagram cat star, Andy also dabbles in smartphone and game reviews over on Gearburn..

Press Office Manager/Writer at Bizcommunity.

Anjali helps chief marketing officers navigate a market fueled by the ever-evolving consumer. Anjali synthesises multimodal data and applies cutting-edge research techniques to distil the most important changes in consumer behaviour and decision making..

Anna Bannink is an experienced copywriter with a penchant for digital content, strategy and design. She loves writing witty poems, binge-watching Vice and summiting some of South Africa's highest peaks..

Part-Time Faculty & Business Consultant for Innovation & Design Thinking at USB-ED.

Antony Adelaar is the head of product marketing at inQuba..

Arisha Saroop's story is a wonderful one. She joined The MediaShop's Durban team as the office's media receptionist and is now calling the shots as the Business Unit Manager.

Ashleigh started her career at an ICT company where she became head of operations and helped launch the company's EduSmart platform, enabling educational institutions to maximise their productivity through information technology. In 2013 she co-founded Social Places, a digital MarTech company specialising in location-based marketing and reputation management..

Austin Efienamokwu is the CEO of Universal McCann Nigeria, established in Nigeria in 2000 as a strategic media planning and buying agency that leverages Better Science to create Better Art that drives Better Outcomes for its clients..

Brand Builder at Thinkerneur.

Boris Dzhingarov graduated UNWE with a major in marketing. He is the CEO of ESBO ltd brand mentioning agency.

Brendan Seery has been in the news business for most of his life, covering coups, wars, famines - and some funny stories - across Africa. Brendan Seery's Orchids and Onions column ran each week in the Saturday Star in Johannesburg and the Weekend Argus in Cape Town.

Brendon Williamson is CSO at DPO PayGate, which processes payments for over 25,000 online merchants in Southern Africa. DPO PayGate (previously PayGate, VCS and PayThru) is a subsidiary of The Pan-African payments Group, Direct Pay Online (DPO)..

Brent Haumann is the Managing Director at Striata, Africa where he leads the African business providing strategy, direction and market-positioning for the region..

Brett Rogers, culture lead at Cape Town advertising agency HaveYouHeard and content curator for In_, a channel of content, which showcases cultural forces that are changing the world. It aims to inform, inspire and entertain the viewer and does so with multimedia posts, including podcasts, videos, google trends, mini Q+A's and more.

Brian Carter is the Executive Creative Director at Liquorice, a Digitas company. As the man at the helm of the creative department of Liquorice, he is responsible for the innovative work produced across Africa for the digital network.

As the VP Research Director of Serving B2C Marketing Professionals at Forrester, Brigitte serves B2C Marketing Professionals. She leads a team of analysts who help clients develop strategies to master and coordinate digital and traditional marketing channels using new media and technology to win, serve, and retain customers..

In her role as MediaCom South Africa MD, Britta Reid has been responsible for the operations of the agency including executive oversight on buying..

Futurist, economist and trend analyst. Partner at Flux Trends..

Burton Phillips is a Partner at Webber Wentzel..

Carmen Murray is the founder of Boo-yah! and has become a household name among marketing professionals as a result of her inspirational "masterclasses". These sessions have reached thousands of marketers across SA.

Catherine is the Creative Director at HKLM. She specialises in branding and design development and she believes that there is a strategic design solution to every challenge.

Cecil Ungerer is the Chief Sales Officer at in-store advertising innovators Smart Media..

As a reputation specialist at Reputation Matters, Chanell has a passion for communication and strives to achieve excellence in every aspect of her life. Being a mother of twins, she understands that balance is key to achieve success and excellence..

Chris is a Research Analyst sustainability specialist with a wealth of knowledge in the green economy, green consumerism and stakeholder perceptions of corporate environmental performance. At Reputation Matters Chris has gained extensive experience with corporate communication and media relations; and manages communication for many of Reputation Matter's clients within the environmental space..

Christele Chokossa joined Euromonitor as a research associate in July 2016. She is currently a senior analyst and focuses on researching industries such as Travel & Tourism, Retailing, Consumer Foodservice, Digital Consumers and Consumer Finance in sub-Saharan Africa.

With almost 20 years of experience in media, Mediamark Group Sales Director Cindy Diamond leads top sales teams tasked to craft multichannel advertising solutions for brands. Cindy is one of the founders of Mediamark and has been instrumental in its transformation from a radio sales house to a media results company drawing on the benefits of radio, digital, tv, content and events, including activations..

Craig Naicker is Group Managing Director at CWDi. For more information or to connect with CWDi, please click here..

Craig Schwabe is a geospatial specialist at Africascope, and focuses on the use of accessibility methods in the optimizing of government services and retail outlets. Over more than 12 years he has assisted companies in the motor industry as well as the financial and retail sectors with optimizing their retail networks.

Damon is regional chief creative officer for DDB in New Zealand and Australia. Before that, ECD at Saatchi and Saatchi Australia, before that, group ECD of TBWA Hunt Lascaris and global ECD of Standard Bank.

Danette Breitenbach was the editor and publisher of Advantage, the publication that served the marketing, media and advertising industry in southern Africa. Before her editorship, she was deputy-editor as well as freelancing for over a year on the publication before that.

Darren Johnston is a copywriter at Stratitude..

David Jenkins is the founding partner at Mickey Llew. He has worked with well-known brands and companies across several industries including financial services, FMCG and retail, mining, IT and more where organic and paid media strategies are crafted, created, launched and managed. In his role he is responsible for managing and driving Mickey Llew's client strategy with internal and external stakeholders..

Founder of MySociaLife, SA's Premier Digital Life Skills Program in Schools. Writer, editor, and owner of long-time journalism hub, Mediaweb South Africa..

Trend strategist, Dion Chang, is the founder of research trend specialists, Flux Trends. He is an innovator, creative thinker and walking ideas bank.

I'm a co-founder of Gorilla and believe that marketing works best when it combines usefulness with creativity..

Doug Place is the Chief Marketing Officer of Nando's IMEA. He is responsible for leading a team that implements the marketing strategies for Nando's restaurants in more than 13 countries across Africa, the Middle East, India and Pakistan.

Dov Girnun is the CEO at Merchant Capital..

Marius Wait lectures in Personal Selling, Sales Management and International Marketing. Dr Wait is the recipient of a service excellence award from the Direct Selling Association of SA for his work on Sales education.

Eben has over 20 years retail, pharma & FMCG experience in South Africa. He understands consumer & shopper behaviour patterns, and is an expert in CE.

Prior to joining Ogilvy South Africa in April 2018, Elouise Kelly worked at some of the most prominent companies locally and abroad. As a Branding, Communication and Business Strategist, she revamped content for channels, launched brands, handled budgets of up R250 million, led various teams and successfully increased companies bottom-line in accordance with their objectives, including TopTV, MTV Networks Africa (Viacom), MTN Irancell, M-Net and brands within the SABC stable..

Emma Longden started Sitting Pretty in 2009. As she became more aware of the horrors of the clothing industry, she rebranded in 2013 to align her ranges with her own values - ethical clothing produced in a manner that is kind to the environment and the people who make the garments.

CTO for EMEA at Infinidat.

Estelle Nagel is Head of Communications at Gumtree and works with dynamic teams in top agencies, as well as the larger internal eBay team..

Editor: Marketing & Media; Head of Content for Entrepreneurship.

MD of Master Data Management He is passionate about Information Communication Technology (ICT) and more specifically data quality, data management and data governance..

Geoffrey White, CEO of Agility Africa, is an expert on infrastructure development, retail supply chain and investment in Africa. Agility, a leading global provider of integrated logistics and related infrastructure, has $5.1bn in revenue, 26,000 employees, and offices in more than 100 countries.

Glenn Gillis is the managing director of Sea Monster Entertainment, one of South Africa's pre-eminent animation, gaming and augmented reality companies. He has a Business Science degree from UCT and has been an entrepreneur, hired gun, and consultant with growing, knowledge-intensive businesses around the world for over 25 years..

Experienced digital and marketing professional, with an interest in ecommerce, product development and customer experience. Started in the martch environment before moving into the retail environment at Zando, rising quickly into the management space first as the head of mobile and then heading up the groups marketing initiatives.

Grant Lapping is Managing Director at DataCore Media, which helps organisations to drive better results from their digital marketing investments by unlocking the full potential of campaign performance data. DataCore Media services include digital media strategy, buying and planning across all digital, social media and mobile platforms as well as the implementation and management of the technology organisations need to effectively track and optimise their campaigns..

Greg Chen is the CEO and co-founder of Mobiz. He has a long history in the South African mobile space and is passionate about the role technology can play in engaging the country's people across the spectrum..

Country Manager - South Africa at Infinidat.

Haydn Townsend is the managing director of Accenture Interactive, He's a qualified chartered marketer who has worked across the FMCG and advertising industry, including Ogilvy Johannesburg, where he reached deputy managing director and as chief strategy officer at The Jupiter Drawing Room (TJDR). He was also CEO of sponsorship and activation company Sail Sport & Entertainment..

Heidi Custers is the Digital Transformation Strategy Leader at Deloitte..

Herbert Seabelo Theledi is the founder and managing director of Nthwese Developments. He holds a Bcom Degree in Accounting and Economics from the University of the North.

Howard Feldman is one of SA's leading entrepreneurs and Head of Marketing & People at Synthesis. His experience is global and extensive, spanning more than 20 years of working as a businessman, philanthropist and social commentator.

Hugh Tyrrell designs science-based communication campaigns that influence behaviour for environmental good. These combine social psychology, communications, media and marketing with environmental sustainability.

Jacqueline Boulos Mayer is the MD at public relations and marketing specialists, Innocomm. Staying ahead of rapidly changing trends in communication to deliver successful campaigns is a key skill of Jacqueline Boulos, the owner of Innocomm SA. Jacqueline has more than 17 years of experience in communication and strategy and has honed her attention to East Africa and Sub-Sahara Africa..

James Tagg is co-founder and co-director of Quicket where he initially worked on the development of the platform and later shifted focus into operations as MD. With a background in web development, he is drawn towards automation and extracting efficiency from day to day operations in and out of the work environment..

Named by CEO publication as SA's most influential government businesswoman in the SME sector in 2012, she's big on vision, strategy and effective communication. Start with a successful business strategy and executive coaching consultancy to leading national brands...

As the CEO of VMLY&R South Africa, Jarred leads both the Johannesburg and Cape Town offices. He oversees the inner workings of the agency, managing all departments from a business, HR and operational point of view.

Jason Stewart is the co-founder and MD of HaveYouHeard (www.haveyouheard.co.za), a communications agency immersed in culture to influence it. With 11 years' trading experience and offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and London, HaveYouHeard uncovers unique insights to create innovative ideas that influence the audience by bringing the brands it partners with to the centre of culture..

JanDirk (JD) Engelbrecht is a commercial technologist who is passionate about finding creative solutions to problems. His experience in digital product development and commercialisation has allowed him to work with various South African market leaders in media, ecommerce, advertising, data science, and agriculture..

Jedd has been in the media industry for 19 years and worked within media agencies and creative agencies like OMD, JWT and Joe Public. He has been lucky enough to work on some fantastic brands like Nissan, Ford, Siemens, Smart Car, Clover, MTN, Absa, Coca Cola and Famous Brands, to name a few..

Jess is Senior Editor: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com. She is also a contributing writer.

Johanna McDowell counsels clients and agencies around expectations in the advertising, marketing process. She is CEO of the Independent Agency Search and Selection Company (IAS) and managing partner for SCOPEN in the UK and South Africa.

John Loos is Property Sector Strategist: FNB Commercial Property Finance.

Jonathan Robinson is the founder of Bean There Coffee Company. He works with African coffee producers across the continent - often having the privilege of visiting them.

With over 11 years of experience, Josephine, also known as Jay is inspired by creating brand to consumer connections. Jay has worked as a Brand and Communications Strategist for agencies in Africa like The Jupiter Drawing Room, The Restorative Justice Centre, Joe Public United (SA and Namibia), Mixology, The Hardy Boys, The Digital Brand Agency in Kenya, FireBrands in Malawi and now heads up Janong Digital Agency in South Africa..

Juanita is the editor of the marketing & media portal on the Bizcommunity website. She is also a contributing writer..

Kali Moahloli is Head of Sales and Retail at GfK South Africa..

Senior media planner at Meta Media..

Kim Furman is the marketing manager at Synthesis..

Kirsten Dewar is the Managing Director at Platinum Seed..

Kirsty Sharman is the Founder and CEO of Aerialscoop, the leading tool for driving growth through data-driven insights. Besides being an entrepreneurial powerhouse, she acts as a growth marketer, product builder and was listed in M&G as one of 200 Young South Africans to watch.

Kyle has 10 years' experience in events, marketing and social media and brings passion and enthusiasm to all projects he works on, with an array of experience working with people he thrives on tight deadlines and making the impossible possible. With a key focus on social media advertising and customer engagement, he is able to develop, implement and execute digital campaigns that deliver success..

Lauren is a psychology graduate and qualified life coach with a passion for words, people and all things digital. Her love affair with all things advertising began in 2015, where she undertook the role of traffic manager in a digital agency.

Managing editor and retail editor at Bizcommunity.com. Cape Town apologist.

Executive at Graphic Image Technologies.

Lee Naik is the CEO of TransUnion Africa..

Leigh Andrews AKA the #MilkshakeQueen, is former Editor-in-Chief: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com, with a passion for issues of diversity, inclusion and equality, and of course, gourmet food and drinks! She can be reached on Twitter at @Leigh_Andrews..

Leigh Crymble is a behavioural linguist and language practitioner and founded BreadCrumbs in 2019 - South Africa's first Behavioural Linguistics firm that is rooted in behavioural theory and combines sociolinguistics, psychology and marketing principles to create personalised and persuasive communication..

Leo Van De Polder is the Global Development Director at Shop! Association..

Leonie Stanley is a customer service executive at Telviva..

Managing Director at Green Enterprise Solutions.

Digital Strategist at The MediaShop..

Louise Burgers (previously Marsland) is Founder/Content Director: SOURCE Content Marketing Agency. Louise is a Writer, Publisher, Editor, Content Strategist, Content/Media Trainer.

Marian Salzman-known as one of the world's top five trendspotters - has a communications career that has spanned more than three decades, across multiple industries and the globe. She now heads up comms - , owned and paid - at Philip Morris International (PMI) as it embarks on its transformation to a smoke-free landscape....

Mark Wilson is the Managing Director of SYSPRO Africa, who defines and oversees the go-to-market and channel strategies, identifies key growth areas and develops new partnerships across the continent. Mark believes strongly in a customer-centric approach and the importance of recognising and understanding a customer's specific business needs..

Enthusiastic UCT graduate with a passion for fashion, film and words..

Matthew Leighton is the Creative Director at OneDayOnly..

Meagan is a fashion designer, stylist, writer and public speaker. She owns a small clothing business called Calista Clothing and enjoys using her knowledge to empower women..

Melissa Baird is a multi-faceted communications strategist, workshop facilitator, public speaker and talented wordsmith whose career has spanned traditional advertising, interactive television, digital marketing and book and magazine publishing. Currently Baird is an independent sustainability communications strategist, writer and editor after a five-year tenure heading up strategy at Ogilvyearth..

Mia Morkel is the Managing Director of Retail Rewards at wiGroup, a South African provider of global mobile transacting solutions. Mia works with some of the world's leading retail and hospitality brands to develop technology solutions that enable richer brand experiences through mobile loyalty, rewards, and other value-added services..

Michael Gullan is the Managing Director and founder of Gullan&Gullan Advertising. He has more than two decades experience at creating value for brands on client accounts from food and beverage, to cosmetics, mail order, medical, publishing and financial services.

Michael Lebona joined Pernod Ricard South Africa in 2017 as General Manager for the Inland Region, including Lesotho and Swaziland, following a long-standing commercial career in the food and beverage industry. Lebona leads a team of approximately 65 people from Sales, Merchandising and Special Events with a focus on achieving strong performance for both Pernod Ricard and its customers.

Mike Smollan is Chief Growth and Innovation Officer at Smollan..

Michelle Marais is an experienced marketer with R-Squared Digital. She has over twenty years' experience in the marketing and advertising sectors, having made the shift from traditional to digital marketing.

Based in Miami, Miguel's focus is on managing client relationships and advising clients on their digital technology requirements and multi-channel marketing strategies to drive business performance. Additionally, Miguel oversees our partner relations with companies such as Salesforce, Google, Adobe and Selligent.

I have been involved in marketing research for over 40 years, across all spheres. I started Marketing Science in 1992, Infosense (aka Infotools) in 1995 and Panel Services Africa in 2005.

Professor at Department of Marketing Management University of J.

Morne Cronje is Head of Franchising at FNB..

Murray Gardiner is director of Bluecode Africa. He has been at the forefront of financial inclusion in Africa for more than 30 years..

With a career in data analytics, CRM marketing and customer growth and retention that spans nearly two decades and two continents and multiple industries, Natalie is at the forefront of commercially driven customer strategy and marketing through the intelligent use of data. She is highly skilled at using relevant insights to engage with customers, across multiple channels..

An experienced strategist, trainer and customer experience improvement specialist, Nathalie has more than 25 years of experience in the customer service industry..

Nick Durrant is MD at Bluegrass Digital, a digital production agency. We work with marketing teams and creative agencies around the world delivering digital platforms.

Nicky Brand is a senior business consultant at Acceleration..

Nicola Cooper is a trend researcher, analyst and cultural strategist at Nicola Cooper & Associates (NC&A), as well as in-house trend research at 99c advertising and communications agency.

Director at Ebony & Ivory: Advertising & Creative Agency.

As Retail, Sales and Shopper Director at Kantar, I'm an experienced customer development leader with a demonstrated history of working in the consumer goods and retail industries across categories and channels, and a speciality in ecommerce. I'm passionate about campaigns that don't simply create awareness but go on to change consumer behaviour.

Odette van der Haar joined Publicis as the MD from 1 September 2019, before which, she was the CEO of JWT Jhb. She was also CEO of the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) (www.acasa.co.za), the industry body of the SA advertising and communications sector, and previously headed up Sentech's Advertising, Events and Sponsorships portfolio....

Paul Cook is co-founder and Managing Director of Silvertree Holdings, which builds, invests into and operates disruptive consumer brands, including UCOOK, Faithful to Nature, PriceCheck, Pet Heaven and many more. Paul holds a PhD in theoretical physics from the California Institute of Technology. Before 2013, he worked as a consultant in McKinsey & Company's Johannesburg and London offices, focused on growth strategy in Africa and the strategic implications of global trends..

Paul McIntyre is a CX Executive at Elingo..

With over 20 years' experience helping leading organisations overcome various business challenges, Paula understands the challenges that companies face in delivering a consistent brand experience and the impact this has on their bottom line. An analytical thinker that strives to solve business problems with innovative solutions, Paula believes that technology plays a major role in solving critical business and branding challenges.

Percy Shangase is the 1st Black person to win the Prestigious Alan Paton Literary Award. He runs a Marketing and Research Consultancy, despite living with a disability - below knee amputation, however he drives and flies wherever is necessary.

Pieter de Villiers completed his Bachelors in Industrial Engineering at Stellenbosch University and continued his studies with a Master's degree in Development and Management Engineering, specialising in business process re-engineering. He is currently working as a pre-sales engineer for contact centre solutions provider INOVO and has since played a role in the development of the company's self-service and chat solution offerings..

Pieter Engelbrecht is the business unit manager at Aruba, a Hewlett Packard enterprise company..

Quinton Swart is packaging manufacturer Nampak's Group Executive for Paper and Eastern Africa where he is responsible for Nampak's liquid carton business operations in South Africa as well as paper, plastic and metal packaging operations within Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia. With a BCom (Hons) in Statistics from the University of Pretoria..

Rael Levitt is CEO of Inospace. Levitt is a double Master's degree graduate from the National University of Singapore and the UCLA Anderson School of Business with over 25 years of experience in all facets of the real estate sector, including founding several leading businesses..

Raymond Smit is head of Paid Search at Reprise Digital South Africa..

Refilwe Maluleke is the Managing Director at Yellowwood..

A Reputation-Superhero that goes to the ends of the earth to protect clients' reputations.

Richard dos Santos is Director of Sapics, The Professional Body for Supply Chain Management..

I'm a creature of habit and I'm a bit of a perfectionist - but it's ok - my clients like that about me !.

Area Vice President, Salesforce - Emerging Markets.

Editor at Bizcommunity..

Ron Cregan is the founder at Endangered Species, a membership organisation working across multiple categories under threat from overzealous regulators and policymakers in design and packaging..

Rowan Leibbrandt is a founding partner of Truman & Orange, a premium drinks company. Returning to South Africa to apply 20 years' experience in various management positions at blue chip liquor companies, Rowan has lived in Swaziland (where he was born), the UK, Russia, Germany and worked extensively in France, Germany, Portugal and Greece.

Ruth is the production manager at Bizcommunity, as well as a editor of the Lifestyle section. moc.ytinummoczib@htur.

Ryan Falkenberg is co-founder and CEO of software company Clevva..

Sam Swaine is a freelance consultant with over 20-year's experience in marketing and PR. She also specialises in social media and digital marketing trends.

Samantha is a senior account manager in the Social and Innovation Portfolio at FleishmanHillard and specialises in digital content strategy, client services, paid media, research and analytics, as well as SEO..

Samuel Seeff is chairman of the Seeff Group..

Sarina de Beer is Managing Director at Ask Afrika. She is steeped in the Ask Afrika tradition of strong academic grounding.

Sean Sullivan is an Associate Media Consultant at The MediaShop..

Selina Bieber is the regional director for Turkey and MENA at GoDaddy EMEA..

Semona Pillay is a lecturer and the Programme Coordinator for the Diploma Retail Business Management at the Department of Marketing Management at University of Johannesburg. She lectures Marketing Communications on the Bunting Road campus and Integrated Marketing Communications on the Kingsway campus.

Shereesa is a passionate writer who often delves into the world of social media, online trends and all things photography. She is also a journalism graduate of Rhodes University and can be found frequenting YouTube and Instagram.

Simon is Head of Experience and Service Design at Digitas Liquorice and has been helping teams and clients for nearly two decades to think more systemically about customer experience and how outside-in thinking can open up customer-led innovation opportunities..

Sindiswa Masuta is the strategy business director at Grey Advertising Africa..

Sindy Peters (@sindy_hullaba_lou) is a group editor at Bizcommunity.com on the Construction, CSI & Sustainability, and Property portals. She can be reached at moc.ytinummoczib@ydnis..

After 18 years in media and marketing, Taryn Gill began her natural haircare venture The Perfect Hair in 2015, expanding the product line into salons, Edgars and Clicks. Today she works with beauty distributor Sunpac to further grow and scale several haircare brands into retail channels across Southern Africa..

Tasmika Ramlakan is an Investment Banking Associate: Corporate Finance; Nedbank CIB..

Thembi Sehloho is an Acting Managing Director & Marketing Director: Rice & Pasta at Tiger brands and throughout the years she has been the driving force in many amazing campaigns that have come out of the organisation..

In 2013, Thomas co-founded the Just Perfect digital agency, which provides integrated services to corporates. This gave rise to him, in conjunction with Mitchan Adams and Lyle Eckstein, forming i-Pay (now known as Ozow) at the end of 2014 to reinvent the digital economy market in Africa.

Tyrone Van Heerden (@tyronevh) is a South African strategist at the Iris Worldwide Munich office, and is responsible for steering the quality of the strategy product across B2B and B2C client partners. Encouraging brave work, Van Heerden has been responsible for creative, commercial and transformational strategies for brands such as Allianz, Samsung, BSH, Ab InBev and Harley-Davidson.

Tzvia Hermann is foremost a mother to two, wife, entrepreneur and founder of The Beautique Group, which includes The Laser Beautique, Beautique Brands and Beautique Academy. She launched her career in aesthetics in South Africa after living in the UK and travelling Europe, exploring many countries and their contribution to the aesthetic industry..

Vera Valasis is the Executive Director at Franchise Association of South Africa (FASA)..

South African innovator, data scientist and CEO of Canadian machine learning company: Xineoh..

Viresh Hargovan is the CEO at Immersion Group. The Immersion Group is a human-centred design practice committed to creating human experiences that change lives and build value.

Vishal is the CTO at In2IT Technologies and is responsible for creating and building up our portfolio of innovative services and solutions with a view to serve customised offerings to each client. He has also used his extensive experience in driving process improvements, collaborating on program design, implementing talent management strategy and workforce planning into driving measurable business outcomes. Tel: 011 054 6900 Email: moc.hcetti2ni@lahsiv.

Wandile Sihlobo is an agricultural economist and head of agribusiness research at the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) in South Africa. He is a columnist for Business Day and Farmers Weekly magazine..

With solid experience in the industry, Wayne Flemming is a business visionary and IMC content creator who describes himself as a "marketing fanatic". His bold thinking is supported by his strong strategy and leadership skills, and he is also a storyteller at heart.

Wynand Smit is CEO at INOVO, a leading contact centre business solutions provider..

Yael Geffen is the CEO of Sotheby's International Realty South Africa and a member of the board. Geffen has a BA in Communications and Economics and a Master's Degree in Integrated Marketing and Communications Strategy..

Born in Ghana, Yaw Dwomoh is the Managing Director of Idea Hive, a specialist Brand Storytelling company based in Johannesburg that enables medium-to-large brands to craft their brand stories in a way that is authentic, connecting with customers in a way that captures their hearts and their purchasing power..

Zama Mlanjana is a marketer specialising in e-commerce and omni-channel, with close to 7 years of industry experience. Her focus is on customer experience, studying trends and working with developers to improve UX and help grow retail business revenue through profitable e-retailing strategies..