Adam joined OpenText in October of 2001 and has served the organisation in numerous roles, including Product Management, Marketing, Engineering, Information Technology, The Office of The President/CEO and PMO, Partner Development and Mergers & Acquisitions. Adam presently holds the station of Chief Marketing Officer and SVP and also oversees OpenText's Global Partner & Alliance operations..
Ailsa Wingfield currently serves as head of thought leadership across Nielsen's global emerging markets, with responsibility for helping companies 'future-proof' their businesses through strategic foresight, knowledge creation and thought leadership curatorship. Ailsa has extensive experience in Africa working with global and local brands in multiple countries across the consumer goods and telecommunications industry..
Alan Knott-Craig is a South African entrepreneur and author. He is the founder of Project Isizwe as well as executive chairman of Hero Telecoms, Ever Africa, and Happimo NPC..
Amanda Dlamini is a graduate from the University of Pretoria, GIBS, UNISA's Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute (TMALI), and Harvard Business School. She's held various marketing positions in leading FMCG companies like South African Breweries (SAB), Nampak and Tiger Brands, and she spent a significant tenure as a Senior Strategist for Ogilvy and Mather Africa, based in Nairobi (Kenya)....
Andy Hadfield is the CEO of volunteering platform and CSI management tool forgood. He launched his first startup aged 19 before going on to hone his skills in a number of tech ventures, sales apps and one of the first digital engagement programmes in the country, The Deloitte Way.
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..
A former CEO of Grey South Africa and President/CEO of Grey Canada, Ann Nurock is now the Africa Partner of Relationship Audits and Management, a global consultancy specialising in the measurement, risk mitigation and optimisation of B2B relationships. Contact details: | Twitter @Annnurock.
Babalwa is a trained storyteller who believes that social media has the potential to change the world as we know it. She believes emphatically in the power of creative content, and strives to see brands stretching the boundaries in how they tell their stories everyday.
Bianca Quinn-Diavastos is the managing director of the digital marketing agency Jetweb - "Digital on Demand". She has worked in media and publishing since 2006, and has gained a diverse range of experience spanning the marketing and strategic digital industries..
Bogosi Motshegwa is a strategic planner at Thinkerneur, a brand strategy consulting firm and is Advisory Council Member at Vega School of Design | Brand | Business. He is a brand consultant who specialises in but is not limited to, brand, digital and communication strategy..
After eight years in the business, Brett was appointed as executive creative director of FCB Johannesburg. Under his leadership the agency won more awards than ever before in its 80-year history, including South Africa's first-ever Cannes Grand Prix....
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.
Caroline Currie is sales and marketing director for The Clarion Group. Clarion Retail is a division of The Clarion Group specializing in offering creative in-store print branding solutions with a cutting edge approach to industry innovations..
I am passionate about building authentic connections with brands and communities. "The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself." - Albert Camus.
As a solutions-driven creative with a passion for collaboration, Charlene is the newly appointed creative director at Grey Johannesburg's shopper division..
Chris Botha is Group Managing Director, The MediaShop, Johannesburg. Chris started his life in media when he was a student at the University of the Free State.
Chrisna is a hands-on, practical, and solutions-driven individual, who values purpose, passion and a good sense of humour. She heads up strategy at Weathermen & Co, a four-year old agency in Windhoek, Namibia, that's quickly grown to become the biggest, with clients like Tafel Lager, Ohlthaver & List, FNB Namibia, NamDairies and MTC.
Craig Johnston is the marketing manager at Seidor Bluekey and has been in the marketing industry for almost a decade. With vast experience in marketing strategy and campaign execution, he has developed a solid foundation in both traditional and digital marketing..
Sconetent is a digital agency that looks to partner with the best possible clients to aid them in developing a strategic message that is delivered to the correct audience at the right time..
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.
As a freelance film and theatre journalist for more than 30 years, published playwright and creator of the independent training initiative The Writing Studio, Daniel Dercksen has been a contributor for Lifestyle since 2012. Visit www.writingstudio.co.za.
Daniel is an independent communication consultant working with leading organisations on mapping out strategic communication, executive communication and crisis communication needs. He regularly speaks at local and international conferences about research, crisis communication, leadership communication, agility and integration.
Daniella Shapiro is Founder and CEO of DaniellaShapiro.com, a consulting company on the front lines of marketing, social media and branding strategies. Daniella recently launched the Oolala Collection Club, an e-commerce proudly South African, unisex, cutting-edge skincare and lifestyle brand.
A leading blue chip international company recently identified Dave as one of the top creative influencers in the country.
Dave Nemeth is a qualified designer who has held a variety of senior as well as executive positions with some of the countries leading retail groups, spanning a career of twenty years. Email Dave at , follow @davenemeth on Twitter and connect on Facebook..
Dean Oelschig is the founder of Halo, an indie communication design agency that creates ideas for business growth. Halo is setting out to make below-the-line sexy again.
Having worked at the 'Big Three' advertising agencies in SA and proving her creative mettle abroad, Desirée has won multiple local and international awards for her work - including Cannes Lions and Clios. She believes in the importance of craftsmanship - that it's not in the designing, but in the redesigning.
Elizabeth specialises in all things Consumer Law, plain language drafting and designing and delivering training. She prides herself on being slightly out there and bringing a fresh perspective to compliance issues.
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..
Eugene graduated from the University of Cape Town with distinctions in financial accounting and classical piano. He then spent over two-and-half years working in branding and communications at two of South Africa's top market research companies.
Microsoft global engagement lead for collaboration. Farren is also a divisional director for the Schools Division of the Advtech group appointed for his expertise on innovation and technology.
Farren has his roots in technology and applications, having formerly founded his own businesses, run a dynamic internet service provider and taken to market Apps which have topped the South African App stores..
Having joined the advertising industry in 2005, Gareth quickly made a name for himself in the industry. As a newbie he was invited to guest lecturer at the AAA during 2006 and 2008, providing unique insights into his first impressions of the workplace.
Garikai Nhongo is the managing director of KG&A Advertising in Rwanda and he is the group head of strategy for the global firm. He is also a blogger at www.thinkingentrepreneur.gq and www.garikainhongo.blogspot.com, an entrepreneur and a poet..
Reamogetse Motsepe, better known as Gee. Gee's career spanned across the scenes of traditional and digital playgrounds of the public relations industry.
Gillian Rightford's CV is a mix of marketing, advertising & management. A former Group MD of Lowe Bull, she started Adtherapy (www.adtherapy.co.za), a consultancy that aims to help agencies and marketers make better creative product - because it works better.
Glenn is a true entrepreneur. From the age of 16, he has been involved with Magnetic Storm, initially by assisting his brother with the setting up and de-rigging of AV equipment and thereafter maintenance of equipment; and at 25 years of age Glenn purchased Magnetic Storm.
Godfrey Parkin, CEO of Britefire (www.britefire.com), is an internationally renowned consultant and author in digital business strategy, social computing and online marketing. He has founded innovation-led companies in Zurich, London and Washington DC.
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..
Gustav Goosen is the CEO of The SpaceStation, a digital media sales company. The SpaceStation executes world-class, multi-platform digital media solutions across more than 40 premium websites, mobile sites and apps, from leading brands at Media24, 24.com and MultiChoice, making them a leader in the rapidly growing and evolving digital advertising arena in Sub-Saharan Africa..
Used to do this kind of work at Rhodes University, but on a South African and Pan African scale. Now, the remit is wider and shaped by the United Nations principle..
Ilse is a freelance journalist and editor who loves all things related to travel, wine, cars, and entrepreneurship. She is also the editor of Go & Travel, a platform connecting all the stakeholders in the travel & tourism industry.
Energy, personal finance and food processing is the strange combination of niches I have - by hook or by crook - fallen into. I also write just about anything under the sun for all media platforms including magazine, press releases, blogs and research articles..
Jacques Bentley began his career with a 13-year-long stint in the retail industry, where he refined his management expertise at Hi-Fi Corporation and Bakos Brothers. In 2012, he decided to make the shift from retail to wholesale and tested out the waters as a sales manager at AV Specialists..
Janine Lloyd is the CEO of PR Expert, an entrepreneur and motivational speaker. With 27 years in leadership and entrepreneurship in the communications, marketing and branding fields, Janine is known for being an inspiring leader, razor-sharp strategist and successful entrepreneur.
Jeanette is a multi-talented writer, ideas person, video editor, and director. She is fluent in four languages, and has the depth of knowledge and experience to lead social and content teams in telling a brand's stories online..
Jennifer Stein lives and breathes PR. With over 25 years in the industry she has extensive corporate and consumer PR experience across a number of sectors including automotive, IT, fast moving consumer goods, pharmaceutical, property, luxury brands and various services industries.
Jennilee Peremore-Oliver is a Communications Consultant, and Owner/CEO or Jenniemore (Pty) Ltd, a Communications Consultancy based in East London, South Africa. She has a Master's Degree in Applied Media, a Bachelor's Degree in Media, Communication and Culture, and a professional certificate in Management from the Nelson Mandela University Business School.
JG Bezuidenhout, Digital Marketing Aficionado and COO of Bastion & Flowe (https://www.bastionflowe.com), a digital advertising technology company focused on delivering measurable results..
Joanna is MD of Ogilvy Public Relations South Africa (http://ogilvy.co.za/about-us/ogilvy-pr/). She started her career at Microsoft SA before going on to London, where she worked at Schroders Investment Management.
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.
Johnny's role at TowerStone is to define clients' brand promise and find ways of helping leaders engage with employees in such a way that they are committed brand ambassadors..
Josephine Wawira is a consultant in communication and public relations with over six years of progressive writing and broadcast experience. She is currently a writer for Africa's online hotel booking portal, Jumia Travel, focusing in the areas of travel, tourism, and hospitality as it relates to Africa..
Julia Ahlfeldt is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP). She consults to blue-chips and multi-nationals and advises them how to retain relevance and increase profits by transitioning from inwardly focused silos to being dynamic and customer-centric.
Kalliebree has several years' experience in implementing digital campaigns that align and achieve the key objectives of a brand.
Before joining Joe Public Connect as Head of Social, she was the Head of Digital at Meropa Communications.
I have a strong base in marketing and I believe in focused strategies that bring brands to their relevant audiences. Audiences are not broad and undefined as in the past, we are now in the future.
Kevin is a co-founder and director of ByDesign Communications, with over twenty years' experience in corporate communication strategy, media strategy, social media strategy and crisis counselling....
Khangelani Dziba is a Marketing and Brand Communications enthusiast who has over 7 years of experience in the industry. He enjoys writing about contemporary topics and has contributed significantly to marketing platforms which further saw him being dubbed Bizcommunity's Top 10 Most Read Contributor in 2018.
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.
Lara Utian-Preston is a passionately committed communications expert and strategist with a focus on promoting African content and events. Two decades of working across Africa have provided her with insights and experience that she puts to work for the projects she manages.
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.
Leigh Andrews (@leigh_andrews) AKA the #MilkshakeQueen, is Editor-in-Chief: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com, with a passion for issues of diversity, inclusion and equality. She's also on the Women in Marketing: Africa advisory panel, and can be reached at ....
Linden Birns is a founding partner of BHK Crisis Communications. With its representatives in Cape Town, Seattle and Toulouse, BHK is the world's only crisis communications practice specialising in the aerospace and air transport industry.
Hunt PR founder and director, Louise Hunt, has been in entrenched in the world of PR for over 20 years. Her experience in the field is fast gaining her a reputation as a thought leader and pacemaker..
Louise Marsland is currently Africa Editor: Bizcommunity.com; a Content Strategist and Trainer; and Trend Curator for Bizcommunity.com and her own TRENDAFRiCA.co.za. She has been writing about the media, marketing and advertising communications industry in South Africa for over 20 years, notably, as the previous Editor of Bizcommunity.com Media & Marketing; Editor-in-Chief AdVantage magazine; Editor Marketing Mix magazine; Editor Progressive Retailing magazine; Editor Business Brief magazine and Editor FMCG Files ezine..
With over 15 years of experience in the tech, digital marketing and mobile solutions space, Hundermark co-founded specialist mobile solutions consultancy Useful & Beautiful. With a passion for developing mobile products that are aligned to business goals, Hundermark's appetite for keeping abreast of the latest industry trends is fast establishing her as an expert tech commentator and opinion leader in South Africa.
I'm a creative and hardworking young woman, focused on growing professionally. I have proven success with implementation of marketing strategies and the creation and execution of event activations, marketing and PR campaigns..
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....
Having been in the industry for over 15 years, I have also built and managed award-winning teams and have been lucky enough to work with some of the best people in the industry. I am excited about the future of digital and to continuing my work in this exciting medium..
Mark started his digital career in 1997, navigating the likes of Netscape and Mosaic. Part of a small group of digital entrepreneurs in South Africa, he went on to start his first agency in 1999.
Marthinus van Loggerenberg heads up strategy at Hellocomputer Cape Town. He specialises in brand narrative, branded entertainment, word-of-mouth marketing, brand identity design and trend forecasting.
Marylee Townshend is currently the Learning and Development Director at IRI. Marylee has a strong track record with over 24 years of experience in both marketing research and education.
Mathew is a brand strategy and communications professional with broad experience working in Europe, America, Africa and Middle East. He is a strategist by training and has won DBA and APEX awards for marketing effectiveness..
Matt has a strong media background centred around digital media strategy. At VML South Africa, Matthew looks after the media, social media and data departments ensuring clients' properties, brands and experiences reach engaged audiences with measurable success.
Preschern is a seasoned marketing and business strategy professional with more than 20 years of experience in strategy and transformation consulting, marketing strategy, brand positioning, demand generation, digital marketing, and communications. In September 2012, Matt received the BtoB "Top Digital Marketer" award....
Megan Bowman is a senior consultant at Kantar Consulting, a strategic sales and marketing consultancy. She approaches marketing problems through both and art and science lenses with experience crafted through global marketing at Unilever and quantitative market research at TNS..
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 Zahariev is an entrepreneur who, at the age of 26, has founded and grown three prosperous tech startups based out of Cape Town and Johannesburg. Zahariev possesses a strong work ethic, which is backed by an innate entrepreneurial character.
Mike Freedman is founder of Freedthinkers (www.freedthinkers.com) which has partners in Johannesburg, Cape Town & Durban. Freedthinkers works with clients in the private & public sectors to understand what is, discover what can be & reach clarity on how to get there.
I studied a BCom law and then an LLB at the University of Stellenbosch and qualified as an attorney in 2008. In 2010 I left the law to help launch and run new ATL agency, Halo Advertising.
Mike Saunders is the CEO of DigitLab, an international speaker, and has had the privilege of working with some of the worlds most prestigious organisations including Vodafone, IBM, Microsoft, KPMG, Norton Rose, Mr Price, Toyota and Exxaro. Along with his experience in business, Mike has also contributed to leadership programmes for Gordon's Institute of Business (GIBS)..
Mike Silver is the founder of Elevator, a brand experience agency now part of the Smollan Group. Mike has been working in the below-the-line and brand experience arena since 2000.
Mike is the founder and CEO of Cerebra, a specialist in social media and social business consulting, education and implementation for corporate brands. Now as part of the Wunderman Group following its acquisition in 2013, Cerebra provides support to one of the largest digital agencies in the country....
Mongezi Mtati founded WordStart to help companies generate buzz around their products and services among South African influencers. He is passionate about helping brands to connect the dots from social media, digital data and human interactions outside the web.
Mtati is also digital analyst, a speaker and a contributor on some of South Africa's leading platforms..
Mpho Nkomonde is the Group Account Director at Leratadima Marketing, one of South Africa's leading 100% black South African owned agencies.
Mpho is an executive with unparalleled experience in brand strategy, events and communications management; Mpho has experience from a variety of industries including Publishing, Broadcast, Fashion and Music.
Natalia Rosa is the director of Big Ambitions, a specialist Cape Town-based travel content marketing consultancy. Rosa is a passionate follower of online marketing, social media, retail travel, inbound tourism and publishing..
Natasha Fourie is the head of marketing intelligence and insights of DCMN South Africa. For more information about the services offered by DCMN's Insights team, please click here or send an email to ..
We are all given a purpose.
Mine is to communicate, to touch peoples' lives, to inspire dialogue and to hopefully make a difference in others' lives....
Odette van der Haar is CEO of the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) (www.acasa.co.za), the industry body of the SA advertising and communications sector. She is also a current board member of Brand Council of South Africa (BCSA).
Ofentse is a social media manager and content producer who holds a Diploma Animation from Boston Media House, with skills in photography, video production, video editing, animation, community management and strategy development. He started off his career as a marketing intern working the roles of video content producer and social media community manager at Montecasino and was then later promoted to Digital Community Specialist at the Tsogo Sun Group.
Paula is the IAB SA CEO, with a 20-year career commencing in brand marketing at Speedo, then marketing at Touchline Media, joining digital agency Gloo in its first year of inception, going on to become MD of the CT office, and then MD of the integrated business, Gloo@Ogilvy post the merger with Ogilvy in 2015..
Paula Raubenheimer is head of programmatic at SouthernX, The SpaceStation. Paula has a B Bus Science (Law) degree and completed Post-Graduate studies in Marketing and Advertising Communications.
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.
Pepe Marais is the founding partner and group chief creative officer of brand and communications group Joe Public United. He lives for creativity that deeply connects with people.
His passion is to co-create an environment and culture that breed exponential growth, Growthn - the growth of Joe Public United's clients, people and ultimately our country..
Peter Barnard is an art director at Flume, a digital marketing agency in Johannesburg, South Africa. During his career, he has worked with high profile clients such as Universal Music Group, Warner Bros, Samsung, Guess Jeans, Sage, Cisco, and Nedbank.
Peter Khoury is the CCO of TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris Johannesburg and intends on taking South Africa's most iconic agency to new heights. Khoury has dabbled in the movie business as a creative and marketing consultant on the local film Stone Cold Jane Austen, as well as the DStv series Ayeye....
Pieter Geyser is a Google Certified Partner and "m"Ad Man for Search, Display and Shopping. He utilises his experience and resources in Marketing to develop unique concepts..
Pine Pienaar is the Managing Director of Afiswitch, a role he stepped into in 2008, with the purpose of further entrenching his decades worth of biometric and AFIS experience into Afiswitch's service offering to the market..
Priscilla Kennedy is founder and CEO of Piehole.tv, a video production company based in Somerset East. She is also a writer, creative director and voiceover artist of kickass online videos at Piehole.tv and has experience as a copywriter in advertising agencies working on brands such as Coca-Cola, Heineken, Nescafe, Meteor..
Owner at 5:25 Productions specialising in video production and post-production including editing, motion graphics, sound and original music. Other services include digital conversions, DVD and Blu-Ray authoring..
Richard Mullins is the director at Acceleration. He opened Acceleration's Johannesburg office in 2000 and has played an instrumental role in the growth of Acceleration in South Africa..
Romi studied a Bachelor of Business Science with her honours in Marketing at the University of Cape Town. She is currently an Account Manager at digital marketing agency, Flume..
Roy Morrison is passionate about emerging technologies, digital marketing, and technological innovation in emerging markets. Besides working in a digital marketing agency consulting international companies on their digital marketing strategies, he also runs a blog Rise Africa Rise focused on scaling innovation across Africa and beyond using digital technologies..
Samantha Page, the former editor of Oprah's O magazine, works as a media consultant, writing for a number of publications and working on projects in the content marketing space. She was with O magazine for 12 years, six of them as editor.
Sheida is a research manager for social media platform, Facebook, who is focused on consumer research and insights; enriching data with story and ennobling story with data..
Sheila Afari, managing director at Sheila Afari Public Relations, is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur and has serviced clients in territories such as the UK, New York, Los Angeles, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Botswana, Mozambique, Cameroon, Zimbabwe and South Africa..
Sheila McGillivray's knowledge of the advertising industry spans four decades. Sheila's energy, enthusiasm and passion for her work has grown with every new position and challenge.
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.
Sue Disler has more than 25 years of experience in the advertising and marketing as a designer (and sometimes coder), art director and strategist, the last 20 largely dedicated to digital. Email her at , follow @suediz on Twitter or find out more on Linkedin..
Sugeshni Subroyen brings more than 18 years of experience in marketing and communication disruption to her role as head of marketing for the Mint Group of Companies and also serves as a director for Mint Inland..
Taazima Kala-Essack is a lead consultant at Hotwire PRC, the public relations consultancy aligned with Botswana-based FCB Wired, one of the agencies in the FCB Africa network. In 2017, FCB Wired was named winner of the Medium Enterprise category in the 'Grant Thornton Botswana/Business Botswana' Private Business Growth Awards..
Founder and proprietor of Pace Digital, Talitha Spykerman has been active in the marketing industry for many years. She was Marketing Manager for 6 leading travel brands in South Africa and Head of Sales & Marketing for Hard Rock Cafe Johannesburg, where she developed her passion for and cut her teeth on creating successful integrated marketing campaigns..
Thandukwazi Gcabashe is an Account Director at Magna Carta Reputation Management Consultants, an award-winning reputation management agency with offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town and an Africa network that spans 18 markets..
Thomas Sepheka is a husband, father to two boys, a research specialist and founder of Insight Story brand consultancy. He's also the drummer for a Cape Town band The Urban Legends..
Uzoma is a copywriter and marketing strategist with Tequila, one of Nigeria's leading marketing communications agencies. He has over six years experience in advertising and has worked on brands such as Cadbury, Visa, Heineken and Total.
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..
With a rich history and culture, Zubeida had an impressive repertoire, spanning over many years at industry giants, before starting and then dominating with her own company BrandTruth. BrandTruth incorporates multiple levels of marketing including but not limited to consulting, social media, story-telling and full content creation.
South SudanMarketing & MediaSection
