MACHINE gathers momentum

Wimpie Le Roux

Brendan Hoffmann

Kenneth van Reenen

Latest appointments include that of Wimpie Le Roux as MD for the Johannesburg business, as well as Brendan Hoffmann and Kenneth van Reenen, as a Creative Group Head team.

Le Roux will take up the MD position in the Joburg office. He joins the MACHINE team from DraftFCB, where he has worked for the past 15 years on accounts including Toyota (he was instrumental in the launches of the new generation Corolla, RunX, Hilux, Land Cruiser Prado as well as the re-introduction of Lexus to South Africa), FNB (which saw him play a pivotal role in the brand's communication leading up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup™), and Vodacom Retail (where he headed up a 45-member team dedicated to high-volume, quick-turnaround communications).

Le Roux is very excited to join the MACHINE family, commenting that one of the major draw cards of the agency is its unique culture and tangible passion for building client brands through creativity.

"Over the past two years, MACHINE has managed to convert a large number of potential clients into successful business partnerships. The agency has some equally ambitious goals for 2014 and I believe that my 15 years of experience across a wide variety of clients will help achieve those goals," he says.

For the past two years, Hoffmann and van Reenen have worked together as a creative team at FoxP2 having previously worked together at DDB in Johannesburg.

Coming from an 11-year string of respected agencies in both Cape Town and Johannesburg (Joe Public, DDB, Lowe, FoxP2), Hoffmann has won numerous awards both locally and internationally. He brings with him a wealth of art direction knowledge, creative thinking skills and leadership experience. "We've made a call on MACHINE being an agency perfectly positioned to succeed in the modern advertising landscape" says Hoffman.

In 2007, van Reenen became the World's Youngest Cannes Grand Prix Winner and has continued to produce work that has been recognised at award shows around the world. In 2013 he was announced the most awarded creative in South Africa under 30 years old and was invited to The London International Awards in Las Vegas to represent South Africa. Van Reenen has worked on numerous blue chip brands including McDonald's, Honda, National Geographic, Canon, Energizer, Property24 and Unilever.

The appointment of this new Creative Group Head team speaks to the agency's on-going focus on building its creative credentials:

"The addition of this heavy-hitting duo not only bolsters our senior leadership band in the studio but it also offers creative guidance, mentorship and support for all staff across the MACHINE group," says MACHINE founder and CEO Adrian Hewlett.

"With our quick growth rate over the last year, having Wimpie, Brendan and Kenneth on board will bring a wealth of experience and talent to help our clients build their businesses, and in so doing, contribute to building our business," he concludes.