Ogilvy South Africa

About Us

In 1948, David Ogilvy founded the agency that would become Ogilvy & Mather. Starting with no clients and a staff of two, he built his company into one of the eight largest advertising networks in the world with more than 500 offices and 20,000 staff across 169 cities.

Ogilvy & Mather South Africa’s origins lie with a small hot shop in Cape Town, founded by Bob Rightford, Brian Searle-Tripp and Roger Makin in 1976. After merging with Ogilvy in 1984, Ogilvy & Mather RS-TM dominated the local creative scene during the first decade and over the next twenty years was recognized as a brand-focused agency that acted with integrity.

During the 1990’s, Ogilvy & Mather South Africa soared creatively under the leadership of Robyn Putter (1950-2010), who eventually went on to become the global creative head of WPP.

Today, Ogilvy South Africa is the leader in the industry, focused on building and transforming brands. Employing more than 900 staff across three offices, Ogilvy remains true to David’s vision; we still see ourselves as a company that does more than ads and have proven that by maintaining our humility and an almost divine discontent at our past successes, we can do more than stay relevant. For more than 50 years, Ogilvy South Africa has created iconic advertising for clients such as KFC, VW, SAB, BP, DStv and Mondelez amongst others, and we continue to live by our founders credo of existing to “Make brands matter”.

Leadership
Nkosinathi Biko - Chairperson

Nkosinathi Biko

Chairperson

Nonzukiso ‘Zukie’ Siyotula  - Non-Executive Director

Nonzukiso ‘Zukie’ Siyotula

Non-Executive Director

Pete Case - Group Chief Executive Officer

Pete Case

Group Chief Executive Officer

Jamel Benfella - Chief Financial Officer

Jamel Benfella

Chief Financial Officer

Angela Madlala - Chief People Officer

Angela Madlala

Chief People Officer

Neo Makhele - Chief Strategy Officer

Neo Makhele

Chief Strategy Officer

Kabelo Moshapalo - Chief Creative Officer – Johannesburg

Kabelo Moshapalo

Chief Creative Officer – Johannesburg

Tracey Edwards - Managing Director – Ogilvy Johannesburg

Tracey Edwards

Managing Director – Ogilvy Johannesburg

Vicki Buys - Managing Director – Cape Town

Vicki Buys

Managing Director – Cape Town

Melissa Carney - Managing Director - Ogilvy Experience

Melissa Carney

Managing Director - Ogilvy Experience

Gillian Bridger - Managing Director - Ogilvy Healthworld

Gillian Bridger

Managing Director - Ogilvy Healthworld

Camilla Clerke  - Executive Creative Director – Cape Town

Camilla Clerke

Executive Creative Director – Cape Town

Samantha Presbury - Managing Director – Ogilvy PR & Influence

Samantha Presbury

Managing Director – Ogilvy PR & Influence

Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE)

Today, we're a company that reflects the energy and diversity of our country
and are a BEE Level 1 contributor.

BEE Certificate