by Herman Manson (@marklives) M&C Saatchi Group (South Africa/Africa) has experienced rapid growth in Gauteng, resulting in the promotion of Jerry Mpufane, group managing director (Gauteng), to the position of chairperson of the M&C Saatchi Abel JHB Group of Companies. Alan Bell, former MD at The Hardy Boys, takes on the role of partner and MD at M&C Saatchi Abel’s Joburg office.
Apart from M&C Saatchi Abel Johannesburg, M&C Saatchi Connect and M&C Saatchi Africa also operate in the region, as does Dalmatian, the Cape Town agency acquired by M&C Saatchi PLC in mid-2016, and Creative Spark.
Bell and Mike Abel, M&C Saatchi Abel chief executive partner, used to work together at Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town and caught up after Bell left The Hardy Boys in late 2016. Bell had run OgilvyAction in Durban before joining The Hardy Boys in late 2010, initially as client service director and then later as MD. He left the agency in October 2016.
Mpufane has more than 20 years’ experience in brand marketing, and has held executive-level positions in both agency and the corporate sector. Past agency experience includes that of MD of FCB Joburg and later as CEO at The Jupiter Drawing Room (Johannesburg). He was also previously the group marketing director at the SABC, as well as GM: global brand at South African Tourism.
Abel has also confirmed that the Johannesburg agency is currently looking for a new ECD after its current executive creative partner, Bridget Johnson, decided to resign after a year in her current position. A replacement will announced in due course.
Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com. He was the founding editor of media.toolbox (1998–2006) and Mobile.Works, and the co-founder of Brand magazine. He has served on the editorial boards of The Journal for Convergence, as well as of Fast Company South Africa. Winner of the 2011 Vodacom Social Media Journalist of the Year award, he was also a finalist twice in the Highway Africa Award for the Innovative Use of New Media in Africa (2003 and 2004). Over his 20-year-plus career, Herman has contributed to numerous journals and websites in South Africa and abroad, including the Mail & Guardian, .net, Intelligence, AdVantage, Men’s Health, Computer World and African Communications. He has consulted on web architecture to several financial institutions.
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