Retail Trends

Ailsa Wingfield is Executive Director: Intelligence for Nielsen Global Markets. She helps companies capture today and tomorrow's prospects by identifying and exploring demand generating trends through strategic foresight, knowledge and thought leadership creation. With a passion for Africa and Middle East, she established the Africa Prospects Indicator which determines overall country prospects and the sources of potential, across economic, business, consumer and retail metrics.

Alain Dos Santos is the Regional Managing Director for Montblanc Africa. Based in the luxury Maison's regional office in Johannesburg, Dos Santos is responsible for expanding Montblanc's presence & operations in key markets across the continent. His role follows 5 years as Montblanc's MD for Brazil, during which he oversaw milestones including the transfer of Montblanc from its historical family external distributor to fully integrated subsidiary within the Richemont Group, & the first Richemont Maison in Brazil to launch its e-commerce offering..

Bradley Elliott is the managing director at digital customer experience specialists, Platinum Seed..

Futurist, economist and trend analyst. Partner at Flux Trends..

Cecil Ungerer is the Chief Sales Officer at in-store advertising innovators Smart Media..

Chantel Botha is a brand and business innovator who focuses on how customers connect with brands. She finds meaning in designing engaging customer experiences that creates value for brands and their patrons..

Christele Chokossa joined Euromonitor as a research associate in July 2016. She is currently a senior analyst and focuses on researching industries such as Travel & Tourism, Retailing, Consumer Foodservice, Digital Consumers and Consumer Finance in sub-Saharan Africa.

Danette Breitenbach was the editor and publisher of Advantage, the publication that served the marketing, media and advertising industry in southern Africa. Before her editorship, she was deputy-editor as well as freelancing for over a year on the publication before that.

Daniella Shapiro is Founder and CEO of DaniellaShapiro.com, a consulting company on the front lines of marketing, social media and branding strategies. Daniella recently launched the Oolala Collection Club, an e-commerce proudly South African, unisex, cutting-edge skincare and lifestyle brand.

Trend strategist, Dion Chang, is the founder of research trend specialists, Flux Trends. He is an innovator, creative thinker and walking ideas bank.

Doug Place is the Chief Marketing Officer of Nando's IMEA. He is responsible for leading a team that implements the marketing strategies for Nando's restaurants in more than 13 countries across Africa, the Middle East, India and Pakistan.

Dov Girnun is the CEO at Merchant Capital..

Eben has over 20 years retail, pharma & FMCG experience in South Africa. He understands consumer & shopper behaviour patterns, and is an expert in CE.

Emma Longden started Sitting Pretty in 2009. As she became more aware of the horrors of the clothing industry, she rebranded in 2013 to align her ranges with her own values - ethical clothing produced in a manner that is kind to the environment and the people who make the garments.

Feroz Koor is the Group Head of Sustainability at Woolworths..

Jason Stewart is the co-founder and MD of HaveYouHeard (www.haveyouheard.co.za), a communications agency immersed in culture to influence it. With 11 years' trading experience and offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and London, HaveYouHeard uncovers unique insights to create innovative ideas that influence the audience by bringing the brands it partners with to the centre of culture..

Jonathan Robinson is the founder of Bean There Coffee Company. He works with African coffee producers across the continent - often having the privilege of visiting them.

Kirsten Dewar is the Managing Director at Platinum Seed..

Retail editor and lifestyle contributor at Bizcommunity.com. Cape Town apologist.

Leigh Crymble is a behavioural linguist and language practitioner and founded BreadCrumbs in 2019 - South Africa's first Behavioural Linguistics firm that is rooted in behavioural theory and combines sociolinguistics, psychology and marketing principles to create personalised and persuasive communication..

Leo Van De Polder is the Global Development Director at Shop! Association..

Marian Salzman-known as one of the world's top five trendspotters - has a communications career that has spanned more than three decades, across multiple industries and the globe. She now heads up comms - , owned and paid - at Philip Morris International (PMI) as it embarks on its transformation to a smoke-free landscape....

Enthusiastic UCT graduate with a passion for fashion, film and words..

Marylee Townshend is currently the Learning and Development Director at IRI. Marylee has a strong track record with over 24 years of experience in both marketing research and education.

Meagan is a fashion designer, stylist, writer and public speaker. She owns a small clothing business called Calista Clothing and enjoys using her knowledge to empower women..

Mia Morkel is the Managing Director of Retail Rewards at wiGroup, a South African provider of global mobile transacting solutions. Mia works with some of the world's leading retail and hospitality brands to develop technology solutions that enable richer brand experiences through mobile loyalty, rewards, and other value-added services..

Michael Lebona joined Pernod Ricard South Africa in 2017 as General Manager for the Inland Region, including Lesotho and Swaziland, following a long-standing commercial career in the food and beverage industry. Lebona leads a team of approximately 65 people from Sales, Merchandising and Special Events with a focus on achieving strong performance for both Pernod Ricard and its customers.

Morne Cronje is Head of Franchising at FNB..

Murray Gardiner is director of Bluecode Africa. He has been at the forefront of financial inclusion in Africa for more than 30 years..

Nicola Cooper is a trend researcher, analyst and cultural strategist at Nicola Cooper & Associates (NC&A), as well as in-house trend research at 99c advertising and communications agency.

Director at Ebony & Ivory: Advertising & Creative Agency.

Odette van der Haar joined Publicis as the MD from 1 September 2019, before which, she was the CEO of JWT Jhb. She was also CEO of the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) (www.acasa.co.za), the industry body of the SA advertising and communications sector, and previously headed up Sentech's Advertising, Events and Sponsorships portfolio....

Paul Cook is co-founder and Managing Director of Silvertree Holdings, which builds, invests into and operates disruptive consumer brands, including UCOOK, Faithful to Nature, PriceCheck, Pet Heaven and many more. Paul holds a PhD in theoretical physics from the California Institute of Technology. Before 2013, he worked as a consultant in McKinsey & Company's Johannesburg and London offices, focused on growth strategy in Africa and the strategic implications of global trends..

Rachel Thompson is the Insights Director at GfK South Africa. She has 16 years of experience in market research, working first for Research International and then moving to GfK South Africa in 2009.

Richard dos Santos is Director of Sapics, The Professional Body for Supply Chain Management..

Robyn Smith is the founder of South Africa's leading ethical retailer, Faithful to Nature. Passionate about showing others that businesses can still be profitable and ethical, Robyn is inspiring and advising more and more key players in the market on creating sustainable success..

Rowan Leibbrandt is a founding partner of Truman & Orange, a premium drinks company. Returning to South Africa to apply 20 years' experience in various management positions at blue chip liquor companies, Rowan has lived in Swaziland (where he was born), the UK, Russia, Germany and worked extensively in France, Germany, Portugal and Greece.

Sean Sullivan is an Associate Media Consultant at The MediaShop..

Semona Pillay is a lecturer and the Programme Coordinator for the Diploma Retail Business Management at the Department of Marketing Management at University of Johannesburg. She lectures Marketing Communications on the Bunting Road campus and Integrated Marketing Communications on the Kingsway campus.

Tzvia Hermann is foremost a mother to two, wife, entrepreneur and founder of The Beautique Group, which includes The Laser Beautique, Beautique Brands and Beautique Academy. She launched her career in aesthetics in South Africa after living in the UK and travelling Europe, exploring many countries and their contribution to the aesthetic industry..

Vera Valasis is the Executive Director at Franchise Association of South Africa (FASA)..