JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Wunderman, a
leading global digital agency, announced today that Haydn Townsend has been appointed as Group Chief
Executive Officer of South Africa,
effective immediately. Townsend has been consulting with the
company for six months.
Townsend, a self-proclaimed "cross-functional" marketer, brings
more than 20 years of experience to the role. He will oversee the
entirety of Wunderman's South African operations, which employ over
400 people across Wunderman-owned companies including Aqua,
Applogix, Base Two and Cerebra. In addition, Townsend will be
responsible for expanding the agency's regional footprint with a
particular emphasis on growing clients' businesses through the
strategic use of data and digital marketing. The group's local
clients include cellular network provider MTN, Standard Bank,
Coca-Cola, Shell Global, DSTV Africa and Mercedes Benz, among others.
"After only six months at Wunderman, Haydn has really stepped up
to drive our momentum in South
Africa," said Mel Edwards,
CEO of Wunderman EMEA. "I am thrilled he's agreed to take on a
larger role in building our success. His entrepreneurial mind and
diverse background are well suited to the job and will be
instrumental for us as we continue to grow our offering throughout
the region."
"We have an incredible team here in South Africa and I'm inspired by the ideas and
results we're delivering to our clients every day," said
Townsend. "I believe there is a tremendous opportunity for
Wunderman to drive digital transformation and I'm excited to help
bring our Creatively Driven. Data Inspired. message to the
market in a much larger capacity."
Townsend has an extensive background in marketing
communications. Prior to joining Wunderman, Townsend served as
Deputy Managing Director at Ogilvy Johannesburg, Executive Director
of Strategy at The Jupiter Drawing Room and Chief Executive Officer
at Trinergy Brand Connectors. Most recently, he launched a new type
of creative agency called Pangea Ultima where he pioneered a model
of creative collaboration that gives clients access to young
creative hot-shops while still providing larger scale ideation,
strategy and management. Townsend holds a Chartered Marketer
qualification from the Graduate School of Marketing, a bachelor's
degree in Psychology as well as a post graduate diploma in
advertising from AAA School of Advertising.
About Wunderman
Wunderman is Creatively Driven.
Data Inspired. A leading global digital agency, Wunderman
combines creativity and data into work that inspires people to take
action and delivers results for brands. In 2015, industry analysts
named Wunderman a leader in marketing database operations as well
as a strong performer in customer engagement strategy.
Headquartered in New York, the
agency brings together 7,000 creatives, data scientists,
strategists and technologists in 175 offices in 60 markets.
Wunderman is a WPP company (NASDAQ: WPPGY). For more information,
please visit www.wunderman.com and follow us @Wunderman.
Contact
Martina
Suess
+1 (212) 210-3859
martina.suess@wunderman.com
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SOURCE Wunderman