Grey EMEA has announced the appointment of Sizakele Marutlulle (known as Za) to lead the South African office of the agency. Marutlulle replaces outgoing CEO Tim Byrne on 1 February 2011.
Marutlulle is a former COO at South African Tourism and has been running her own communications consultancy called Moonchild. She was also deputy MD of HerdBuoys McCann-Erickson until 2004.
According to Marutlulle, her stint as SA Tourism COO has helped give her a greater global perspective of the challenges brands face.
“The world of tourism deals with nations and countries as destinations so, yes, familiarity with the global landscape of country brands did indeed give one a sense of similarity between consumer brands and nation brands – both are about competitive distinctiveness, on-going innovation and investing in unlocking consumer insights in order to remain contemporary,” she says.
“Great brands, whether local or global, succeed when the brand promise meets the brand experience consistently…”
Her short-term focus for the year ahead will lie in new business growth, 360 integration and retaining current staff.
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