Robert van Rooyen has joined the McCann Erickson team as executive strategic planning director, effective 1 November 2008. He comes to McCann Erickson after a year at The Jupiter Drawing Room as executive strategic planning director and brings to the McCann family experience and strategic prowess.
Says Andrew Shuttleworth, MD McCann Erickson South Africa, “Rob is renowned in the industry as a ‘change agent' who is able to pull together insights to come up solutions that others would not even imagine. We are delighted that Rob will be joining McCann and excited to experience his extraordinary thinking applied to McCann's clients in a manner that is truly South African.”
After his time at DDB Frampton's, Van Rooyen enjoyed the position of senior strategic planner for agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, Red Nail and Lowe Bull Calvert Pace. In 2003, he joined Ogilvy Johannesburg as senior strategic planner as well as head of field brand investigation. In 2006 he was appointed to the position of subsidiary planning director - Ogilvy for the Brand Activation, Zoom, Ogilvy Healthcare and Ogilvy Africa portfolios.
His extensive experience includes work on brands such as McDonald's, Absa, 5FM, Coke Light, Johnson & Johnson, LifeScan, Toyota, Incredible Connection, Distell, SAB Miller, Plascon, Samsung, Sun International Resorts, Avis, Edgars and many more. He has also been a part of success stories such as the EGO to Axe name change, SuperSport - Let's play initiative and building of the Twist brand for Coca-Cola.
“I am delighted to be joining McCann Erickson. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to work with creatives such as Vanessa Pearson and Festus Masekwameng, I look forward to getting stuck into the great brands that the agency represents and to playing a role in the agency's continued growth,” says Van Rooyen.
