Sheila McGillivray's knowledge of the advertising industry spans four decades, starting as an Account Manager at De Villiers and Schonfeldt in Zimbabwe in 1973 and now as vivacious Tribe Leader of a small, successful agency called One Lady and A Tribe, which has over a relatively short period built a reputation for having an exceptional turnaround time and being passionate about everything they do.
And, it's the years between then and now that have provided Sheila with an intimate knowledge of the operations of various business sectors and their specific marketing strategy requirements, both above and below the line.
A four-year tenure at TBWA\GAVIN\REDDY saw Sheila heading up the Retail Portfolio as Managing Director: Retail on CNA, Edgars and Boardmans, generating highly profitable returns for the portfolio and managing a team of 40 people.
In 2006, Sheila relocated to Cape Town to launch Saatchi Saatchi X, the Global Shopper Marketing division for Saatchi Saatchi. The model recognises the difference between the consumer and the shopper and focuses not only on the FMOT but all touch-points that deliver traction to turn shoppers into buyers.
Then, she moved to Grey South Africa where she filled two roles: Executive Client Service Director and Joint Managing Director for PODatGREY. She was employed to improve the agency's delivery and turnaround and she achieved this goal in no time. As an Executive Client Service Director she ran a team of talented individuals who worked on both local and global portfolios.
Finally, realising that she could put all of her knowledge, passion and drive to good use by running her own agency, One Lady and A Tribe was born and is now shaking things up in the advertising industry.
One of the Tribe campaigns currently making waves is Centrum Guardians, an initiative which Centrum manufacturer Pfizer Consumer Healthcare has not only lauded on a global level but it was recently a winner of the prestigious Global Eye on Innovation President's Award for achieving significant business impact through innovation.
Centrum Guardian is cause marketing at its truest. It's about doing good and doing good business and not just CSI. The campaign has had a significantly positive impact on South Africa's Emergency Services.
The remarkable results are also reflected in the PR. With the communication representatives from each Emergency Service linking to the Centrum Guardians campaign, the total value of PR is R16 million with a ROI (return on investment) of 1:120 during 2012 alone.
Sheila's energy, enthusiasm and passion for her work has grown with every new position and challenge. Her experience in the industry is exceeded only by her willingness to keep learning and innovating.
