MMA SA announces 2019 board, strategic partners
The board members are key players and hold senior C-suite or executive positions, representing a diversity of sectors – from FMCG to financial services. Each nominee was identified personally for their alignment to the MMA’s global board and for their active involvement in, and contribution to the local marketing industry.
Aiding mobile marketers to make better business decisions
As board members, their top-level experience and participation in the industry will play a major part in driving the MMA SA’s strategic direction, when during their one-year tenure they will aim to direct the organisation’s focus towards productive targets and take on a diverse spread of local initiatives.
Sarah Utermark, MMA SA country director says, “Our elected board members are our eyes and ears on the ground. Working in the industry, they bring to our attention the biggest issues that impact upon their day to day business such as, brand safety, measurement, organisational structures, attribution and business impact. This highlights the ongoing trends and innovations that affect mobile marketing’s efficacy.
“We, in turn, equip our senior board members with all the latest research and reports produced from the MMA global and regional. This helps them build capabilities internally as well as upskill their marketing teams. We would often use the insight provided to us from our board to help guide our annual research plans locally, as well as direct topics for discussions at one of our industry round tables or events.”
The board will also ensure that relevant MMA global programmes and research studies are leveraged at a local level to benefit and aid mobile marketers to make better business decisions.
The 2019 MMA SA board members are:
| Brand | Name | Title |
| Absa | Philip Cohan | General manager: Digital marketing, social media and direct marketing |
| DSG | Yaron Assabi | CEO and chair emeritus |
| Makro | Andrew Stein | Marketing and e-commerce director |
| McDonalds | Daniel Padiachy | Chief marketing officer |
| Mindshare | Zia Namooya | CEO |
| MTN | Neeraj Ramjathan | Group digital head, mobile advertising |
| Multichoice | Vincent Maher | Head of digital enablement |
| Samsung | Dudu Mokholo | Chief marketing officer – Africa |
| Standard Bank | Sagren Pather | Executive head, digital marketing and marketing analytics |
| Tiger Brands | Lunga Ngcime | Group digital CoE director |
| TymeBank | Luisa Mazinter | Chief marketing officer and MMA SA chair |
| Unilever | Enver Groenewald | Africa director, media marketing enterprise digital transformation |
| Vodacom | Ashraff Paruk | Managing executive, digital lifestyle services |
| Yonder Media | Rick Joubert | CEO |
Growth - in developing future skills
MMA chair, Luisa Mazinter, says that the new board will work very closely with the MMA to architect the future of marketing. “Our members represent the range of role players that exist within the marketing ecosystem. They bring their years of experience to the table to ensure that the initiatives that the MMA SA undertakes are of significant value to our members and the wider marketing community.”
Current projects that the new board will work closely with the MMA SA on are attribution, brand safety, brand and performance, creativity and business impact, fraud, marketer organisation structure and maximising ROI, among others.
In addition to the 14 board members, McDonald's, MTN, Standard Bank and Vodacom will form part of an executive committee as MMA SA’s strategic partners for 2019. Alongside the country director Sarah Utermark and the MMA chair and vice-chair, they will create a framework that will ensure a successful launch from SA into sub-Saharan Africa over the next few years. They will also be involved in all aspects of white paper releases, Smarties growth, thought leadership as well as the strategic planning and execution of local initiatives.
Utermark concludes by saying that, “the focus for the MMA SA in 2019 will be growth - in developing future skills as well as continuing to build the capabilities for senior executive level marketers. We welcome our 2019 board members and strategic partners to our team to help us achieve this.”
To learn more about the board, strategic partners and the MMA SA’s 2019 projects and programmes, click here.