#Newsmaker: Zanele Ntulini appointed as CID's new managing director

Brenda Khumalo bids Collective ID farewell

Collective ID  26 Jul 2019

The agency said in a press release that “Ntulini’s appointment to the Collective ID family, will continue to significantly drive CID’s transformation journey and business growth.”

Zanele Ntulini has been appointed as CID’s new managing director. Image supplied.

Ntulini previously co-owned MDOT, a through-the-line advertising and design agency, where she served as its marketing and strategy director.

With over 17 years of experience in both traditional and non-traditional marketing, strategy development, branding and communications, she has a stellar track record of developing robust integrated marketing communication strategies that deliver business results.

“I am excited to enter this new chapter in my career. I aim to continue to drive creative excellence for the agency by developing the agency model to remain relevant with the changing needs of marketers and enhance the full value-chain we deliver across all key touch points – internally and externally – to help create long-term value for our staff, clients and partners,” said Ntulini.

Here she shares with us her journey, what it took to make it this far in her life and how her experience equipped her for the new role.

Congrats on your appointment! How do you feel about it?

Permanent excitement like a four-year-old, let loose in Hamleys Toy Shop. I’m grateful for being trusted by the shareholders and board to run this super cool entity. Being part of the WPP group is exciting and I look forward to the brands we will be working on. Mood – the two songs that keep playing on repeat in my mind is "Happy" by Pharrell Williams and "Monate Mpolaye" by DJ Sumbody.

When is/was the effective date?

1 July.

What excites you most about the agency and where it’s going?

The creative excellence and strategic insights that the agency has been delivering for the past 15 years since day one as Ireland/Davenport to where it is today as CollectiveID. I have huge respect for the founders. We live in a world with ever-changing needs of companies, marketers and society as a whole and that provides us with unlimited opportunities as an agency to solve real business challenges with a mix of communication solutions that transform brands and impact on the bottom line.

What do you love most about your career in marketing/advertising?

The joy of tackling business challenges as a marketer and working across different brands. Developing, creating, crafting, rebuilding, rethinking, innovating – so much to be done so no two days are ever the same. Life can’t get any more exciting than that, other than winning the lotto!

Any career highlights you’re particularly proud of?

For the past 17 years, I have been blessed to work at some dynamic organisations such as Discovery, Hollard, FNB, Liberty, Altech Autopage to name a few and develop some awesome talent who have gone on to do amazing things in the world.

My biggest development curve, which I’m extremely proud of and took me out of my comfort zone, was co-owning a BTL agency called MDOT. I have the utmost respect for any individual who has started a business from scratch – that is the real training ground for any marketer.

Tell us a bit about your experience and how this has equipped you for your new position.

I’m a classical marketer who’s also an entrepreneur, so I always look at business challenges with an “if this was my business” lens as that ensures I take full accountability for whatever I am working on. Marketing and everything that goes with it is the “love of my life”!

My key ingredients for making it this far in life are logic; passion; expertise in what you love to do every day; respect; humility; and, most importantly, an open mind! This coupled with my 17 years of being a marketer and recently co-owning a business has equipped me well for this position. A big smile and lots of laughter works wonders as well!

What are you most looking forward to/enjoying so far?

Working with some phenomenal talented individuals who have been doing amazing work and growing the business – I love a good challenge! I am excited at the prospect of building a new age agency that understands the journey of a marketer and the challenges they face and how we co-partner with them to solve the business challenges they are tackling each day and uplift the brand.

What’s at the top of your to-do list (at work)?

Having recently lost the Standard Bank account, I have a big job ahead to rebuild and grow CollectiveID and move the business into the next phase of its lifecycle. We have some phenomenal talent who are ready to unleash their awesome ideas. To continue to play an active role in driving transformation, which CollectiveID has made great inroads. I am all about girl empowerment, growing a female-led agency is top of my list!

What are you currently reading/watching/listening to for work?

I’m an avid podcast listener as I have a long commute each day – some of my favourite podcasts are "Making SMEs Matter", "SuperLead", "The Matt Brown Show", "CEOWise", "Disrupt with Mpumi Nhlapo", "The Thrive Global Podcast with Arianna Huffington" and "Chica Travel with Lelo".

My current read is Vagabond by Lerato Mogoatlhe.

Tell us something about yourself not generally known?

I’m a fan of old school house music – early '90s vibes. And I’m a shisanyama ndlovukazi (ultimate braai master)!

Stay up to date with Ntulini and Collective ID on Facebook and Twitter. For more news about the company, head over to the Collective ID press office.