Claire Cobbledick helps in the search for 2016's brightest digital stars

18 Feb 2016

Head of Marketing for Gumtree South Africa, Claire Cobbledick, is used to working in the cutthroat, high-stakes sector of online classifieds. This year, she applies her keen eye for a winning digital campaign to the 2016 IAB Bookmarks Awards as one of the judges.

Claire Cobbledick helps in the search for 2016's brightest digital stars

Claire started her marketing career as a brand manager for Red Bull before joining The Jupiter Drawing Room. After becoming MD, a position she held for five years, she joined South Africa's largest online classifieds site as their head of marketing.

Claire Cobbledick

Her experience in both sides of online marketing allows her to judge the success of a Bookmark entry both an agency and brand perspective – something that is critical in driving integrated campaigns across the digital industry in South Africa.

“I love challenging thinking and ideas. Digital awards like The Bookmarks play a central role in motivating the industry both through recognition and functioning as a yardstick for digital excellence. These entries represent the unexplored frontier for trend-setting marketing ideas,’’ says Claire.

While online classifieds is not stricly e-commerce, Gumtree’s entire revenue comes from users who believe in the power of digital marketing. “Companies like Gumtree thrive if the digital ecosystem is thriving. Collaborative organisations like the IAB SA ensure that the digital ecosystem is constantly evolving and innovating.’’ Online classifieds also happen to be one of the most contested spaces in today’s digital landscape. Everything hangs on effective digital marketing, and the winner takes all.

Drawing inspiration from the wonderfully interesting mix of people she meets, Claire is firm believer that to be an exceptional modern marketer it’s important to be able to both wrangle and interpret data. “There are many people who can do one or the other but doing both is a rare skill.”

When Claire is not judging Bookmark entries or working on one of South Africa’s most diverse and interesting brands, she is busy being a mum to two energetic boys and the latest addition to the family Mr Scruff, a West Highland Terrier. Together with her family she loves to explore the beautiful Western Cape.

About IAB South Africa

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) South Africa is an independent, voluntary, non-profit association focused on growing and sustaining a vibrant and profitable digital industry in South Africa. The IAB South Africa represents the digital industry across all sectors including the media, the marketing community, government and the public, and also acts as the channel through which international bodies can enter the South African digital market. The IAB South Africa currently represents over 200 members including online publishers, creative, media and digital agencies, brands and educators between them accounting for more than 36 million local unique browsers and almost 1 billion page impressions. The IAB South Africa strives to provide members with a platform through which they can engage, interact and address digital issues of common interest, thereby stimulating learning and commerce within the South African digital space. To find out more about the IAB South Africa, visit its website (www.iabsa.net), like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/iab.southafrica and follow @iab_sa on Twitter.