Suzanne Brenner
Owner
ProWRITE
Tel: +27 11 482 1072
www.prowrite.co.za
Suzanne Brenner is the sole proprietor of proWRITE, a professional outsourced writing service utilised by corporates. A BA graduate of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, Brenner was appointed editor of Darling magazine in 1983. She joined the SABC six years later where she worked as a senior producer in television; she was seconded to the TV News election unit in 1994, and continued to work on the news desk, as a staffer and subsequently as a freelancer.Brenner served as a staff representative interacting with management in the transformation of the SABC and also on the task group of the minister for posts, telecommunications and broadcasting for the integration of the public broadcasting services. She launched proWRITE in 2003. As a service to her community, she compiles and edits a free Melville newsletter.
Barbara Cooke
Partner
The Brand Survey Company SA
Tel: +27 11 234 0656
Barbara Cooke, now a partner in The Brand Survey Company SA, which she started in 2002 with Tim Bester, was the general manager research and marketing at National Magazines, the magazine division of the Nasionale Pers Publishing Group, now Media24, for more than 13 years. She joined the company from Lindsay-Smithers FCB where she was the account director.Prior to this, she was the director of research and planning at J Walter Thompson, which she joined after two years with one of its major clients, Stellenbosch Farmers Wineries. Cooke has founder member status of the Southern African Market Research Association, which made her an honorary member in 1993.In 1994 she received the Protea Award from the SA Association of Marketers and was named the “marketing person of the year”. In September 1999 she started Marketing & Media Research Brokers with her husband Tim Cooke. Cooke served on the council of the Technikon Witwatersrand until its amalgamation with RAU to form the new University of Johannesburg.
Gail Curtis
Executive CEO
Saatchi & Saatchi SA
Tel: +27 11 548 6000
www.saatchi.com
Gail Curtis is CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi South Africa, head of the international agency’s Africa Network, and sits on its European board. Named by Finweek the most powerful woman in advertising, she was the first woman in South Africa to start her own advertising agency, which she took into the top 20. The Old Shanghai Firecracker Factory was acquired by Saatchi & Saatchi in 2005.She was also the only women awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by Financial Mail for her innovation in the industry. Curtis is a founder and trustee of Yeti, which was set up to fund the Imagination Labs, an initiative that encourages talented, formerly disadvantaged youth to enter the creative industry. She encourages others to have confidence in their ability to succeed, to be passionate about what they do and not to be afraid of having big ideas.
Anastacia Martin
Managing Director: Publishing
Mail & Guardian
Tel: +27 11 250 7300
www.mg.co.za
Anastacia Martin is managing director: publishing at the Mail & Guardian. She started her career at Independent Newspapers before moving on to Avusa, first as general manager sales and trade marketing at the Sunday Times and then as deputy publisher of the Sowetan and Sunday World.She then spent a year at Primedia, but it was not long before she returned to the print industry, this time as the first woman to hold a managing director’s position at M&G Media Ltd. Martin studied post-graduate management courses at both Wits Business School and Henley University; she is recognised for her strategic approach and broad knowledge of the publishing and media industry.She believes that true leaders love to create opportunities for others, know their strengths and weaknesses, encourage performance and innovation, are open to new ideas and understand the importance of team relationships. Her strategic appreciation of the needs of the quality readers of the M&G is being used to re-engineer the newspaper in the minds of advertisers.
Ayanda Mbanga
Managing Director
Ayanda Mbanga Communications
Tel: +27 11 234 6041
www.ayandambanga.co.za
Ayanda Mbanga is founder and managing director of award-winning recruitment advertising agency, Ayanda Mbanga Communications. The company specialises in building other companies’ employer brands in the eyes of prospective candidates, thus increasing the chances of attracting the best skills.A bachelor of journalism graduate from Rhodes University, Mbanga gained practical experience and hands-on knowledge writing recruitment advertising copy for Saatchi & Saatchi for five years before establishing her company in 1998 with just four employees. Today, 10 years later, the company employs more than 30 people, operating full-service advertising agencies in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, with media billings in 2007 in excess of R100-million.
Anastacia Martin
Managing Director: Publishing
Mail & Guardian
Tel: +27 11 250 7300
www.mg.co.za
Anastacia Martin is managing director: publishing at the Mail & Guardian. She started her career at Independent Newspapers before moving on to Avusa, first as general manager sales and trade marketing at the Sunday Times and then as deputy publisher of the Sowetan and Sunday World. She then spent a year at Primedia, but it was not long before she returned to the print industry, this time as the first woman to hold a managing director’s position at M&G Media Ltd.Martin studied post-graduate management courses at both Wits Business School and Henley University; she is recognised for her strategic approach and broad knowledge of the publishing and media industry. She believes that true leaders love to create opportunities for others, know their strengths and weaknesses, encourage performance and innovation, are open to new ideas and understand the importance of team relationships. Her strategic appreciation of the needs of the quality readers of the M&G is being used to re-engineer the newspaper in the minds of advertisers.
Ayanda Mbanga
Managing Director
Ayanda Mbanga Communications
Tel: +27 11 234 6041
www.ayandambanga.co.za
Ayanda Mbanga is founder and managing director of award-winning recruitment advertising agency, Ayanda Mbanga Communications. The company specialises in building other companies’ employer brands in the eyes of prospective candidates, thus increasing the chances of attracting the best skills. A bachelor of journalism graduate from Rhodes University, Mbanga gained practical experience and hands-on knowledge writing recruitment advertising copy for Saatchi & Saatchi for five years before establishing her company in 1998 with just four employees. Today, 10 years later, the company employs more than 30 people, operating full-service advertising agencies in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, with media billings in 2007 in excess of R100-million.
Nina Morris
Owner
Morris Jones & Company
Tel: +27 11 486 1284
Nina Morris, born in Helsinki and schooled in Johannesburg, headed back to Finland after school to study graphic design at the Helsinki Academy of Advertising. She worked in one of the leading design and advertising agencies in Finland before returning to South Africa, where she quickly rose within the advertising industry to leading client facing positions at Ogilvy and then Leo Burnett.She also lectured at Inscape Study Centre. In January 2001 she co-founded M&C Saatchi South Africa, with leading creative Angel Jones. Less than 18 months later, the pair bought out the Saatchi brothers and formed the award-winning agency morrisjones&co. “Allvertising” has been a key strategic aspect of the agency, as well as its South African-ness, and has resulted in involvement in the success of such brands as kulula.com and, more recently, household names such as Wimpy and Virgin Mobile. Morris also steered the 2006 black empowerment of the agency through a meaningful 26% deal with a well-known, but low-profile businessman.
Susan Napier
Managing Director
Ireland/Davenport
Tel: +27 11 463 2252
www.ireland-davenport.com
Susan Napier (formerly Ferguson) is the managing director of new-kids-on-the-block ad agency Ireland/Davenport. Between 1995 and 1997 she lived abroad, while working at Marie Claire in London, in the public relations department of US West International, also in London, and freelancing for Fairchild Publications Group in New York.On her return to South Africa she became a freelance columnist for The Mercury. She then joined Target International Advertising as a strategic planner before being selected in 1998 to establish the Durban branch of Tequila, the “below the line” agency within the TBWA network. Two years later she became a senior account director at TBWA Hunt Lascaris in Johannesburg.In 2005 John Davenport and Philip Ireland asked her to join them as the third partner in a new advertising agency, Ireland/Davenport. Since then the new agency has won critical contracts such as the Castle Lite and other projects from South African Breweries. The agency also won the BMW account in December 2005, as well as Nu Metro and CTM. Napier holds a diploma in journalism from Natal Technikon.
Ann Nurock
Chief Executive Officer
Grey Worldwide SA
Tel: +27 11 293 6205
Ann Nurock has been CEO of Grey Group Africa, one of South Africa’s top advertising agencies, for four years. She also heads up the African region of the company which is undergoing a rejuvenation, based on marketers’ realisation that Africa is a greenfield market. She is directly responsible for the profits and margins required by the parent company in New York and for the daily running of the company: there are 104 people in the Johannesburg head office and 30 in Cape Town.In 2005 she was elected vice-chair of the Association for Communication and Advertising and is still a board member. She won the 2004 South African Jewish Business Achiever of the year, the first woman ever to win this award, and was also a finalist in 2004 both for the South African Businesswoman of the Year award and South African Boss of the Year.
Zandile Nzalo
Founder
Zanenza Communications
Tel: +27 11 886 3775
www.zanenza.co.za
Zandile Nzalo is the founder of Zanenza Communications, an agency specialising in communication strategies, public relations and event management. Her previous portfolios include, among others: general manager, Channel O (DStv); media director, loveLife; as well as presenter on SABC TV, Radio Bop, Bop TV and Talk Radio 702.Nzalo was named Top Emerging Female Entrepreneur in the Top Women in Business Awards in 2004. She sits on several boards including Indalo Yethu Trust, Bokamoso Trust, the AAA School of Advertising and the MAPPP-Seta advertising chamber, and is the immediate past CEO of the Association for Communication and Advertising.
Pamella Mongoato Radebe
Managing Partner
Takura Marketing Communications
Tel: +27 84 777 2106
Email: [email protected]
A Rhodes University School of Journalism graduate, Pam Mongoato Radebe is managing partner of Takura Marketing Communications, a nascent service provider in the strategic and corporate communications field in South Africa. Radebe cut her teeth in corporate communications at the Independent Electoral Commission where she was part of a team responsible for the communications strategy and provision of information about South Africa’s first democratic elections to global media contingents.In a career spanning 13 years, she has gained valuable experience in publication production, investor relations, corporate social investment, media relations and stakeholder engagement at AngloGold Ashanti, Pathways for Kids in San Fransciso and the third mobile network operator, Cell C. Radebe was instrumental in developing and raising the profile of the popular national Take a Girl Child to Work Day campaign, a programme she led for three years.
Odette Roper
CEO
Association for Communication and Advertising
Tel: +27 11 781 2772
www.acasa.co.za
The Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) represents about 100 ad agencies, responsible for 95% of measured ad spend in South Africa. CEO Odette Roper has had wide experience in the industry. She joined ACA in October 2007 from Sentech Ltd, where she headed the company’s advertising, events and sponsorship portfolio.She has also served as group head of marketing, business development and strategy for the African Technology group of companies and has held managerial positions in these specialities for the SA Post Office Limited, Siemens, BP Southern Africa and Rentworks.Roper holds an H.Dip: business management, a national diploma in marketing management and has completed several executive courses in insurance and direct marketing. She describes herself as “a hard-working, self-motivated and disciplined individual who is always willing to learn — I have been fortunate to gain all-round experience across the various spheres of the marketing, advertising and communications industries — I love life and all it has to offer. I have no regrets – only life lessons.”
Renee Silverstone
CEO
The Jupiter Drawing Room
Tel: +27 11 233 8800
www.jupiter.co.za
The Jupiter Drawing Room (Johannesburg) bills in excess of R1-billion annually. CEO Renee Silverstone has enormous experience of a broad spectrum of clients ranging from FMCG to blue chip corporates. She lectures regularly in advertising and marketing at the Institute of Marketing Management and Damelin.Silverstone, who officially opened the doors of The Jupiter Drawing Room for business with Graham Warsop in May 1989, is particularly proud of the fact that the Johannesburg agency was voted by Deloitte last year as one of SA’s Top Performing Companies as a result of sustained excellence in corporate performance.Silverstone was voted Agency Leader of the Year by Financial Mail/AdFocus, based on her leadership and contribution to the unparalleled success achieved by The Jupiter Drawing Room in 2006, and in August 2007 she won the coveted accolade of South African Businesswoman of the Year in the entrepreneurial category. In addition, she was honoured with the Absa Jewish Achiever award in the business achiever, non-listed company category.
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