Izak van der Walt
I am an experienced marketer who enjoys marrying creativity with measurement to deliver impactful work. As Business Unit Manager I currently manage cross functional teams to grow and manage key accounts at Haveyouheard. The majority of my career has focused on positioning financial and fin-tech brands in emerging markets. I would love to be more exposed to data driven campaigns and build on my current skill set within Sub-Saharan Africa.
+27827822902
Johannesburg, South Africa
Skills
- Brand and account management
- Qualitative research and analysis
- TTL and 360° Campaign Integration and Implementation
- Content and media strategy
- Influencer marketing
- Sponsorships and rights holder management
- Email marketing (SalesForce - ExactTarget and Campaign Monitor)
- Budgeting and forecasting
- Microsoft office suite
- Fluent in Afrikaans, English and Spanish
Personal Attributes
- Creative thinker
- Objective-driven and insight focused
- Confident and motivated
- Leader and team player
- Problem-solver
- Organised and attentive to detail
- Strong presentation and negotiation skills
Experience
Business Unit Manager, HaveYouHeard
September 2019 - Present
HaveYouHeard is a communication agency immersed in culture to influence it.
I currently serve as the Business Unit Manager on integrated TTL campaigns to manage teams across qualitative research, influencer, digital, experiential campaigns.
My role includes:
- New business pitches
- Client presentations
- Insight and strategy development
- Client budgeting and forecasting
- Department growth
My portfolio includes:
Lead Agency on Old Mutual's AMPD Studio sponsorship
- Social and influencer content creation and strategy
- Content Production
- Experiential execution
- ATL Media and broadcasting management
- Rights holder management
Uber Eats Influencer campaigns
Campari Nigeria TTL strategy and execution in Nigeria
Jeep Apparel - True Grit Influencer lead strategy and execution
Account Director, HaveYouHeard
March 2017 - September 2019
Account Director on Old Mutua, and lAmarula Global, Asics
My notable projects include:
- G.H. Mumm and Perrier Jouet global Influence study and qualitative analysis
- Hunters Edge campaign launch
- Old Mutual Soweto Marathon Influencer Pilot
- Amarula Global PR and Influence
- Gen Payne Communication Strategy
Assistant Brand Manager of Investor Marketing, Prodigy Finance
November 2015 - March 2017
Prodigy Finance is an innovative platform that offers loans to international postgraduate students attending top universities through a community platform, alumni, impact investors to earn a financial and social return.
My role focused on building and executing investor marketing strategies whilst working with the broader marketing team across digital, PR and design. I supported the collaboration across the Investor operations team as well as the business development team based in Cape Town, New York and London.
Key responsibilities included:
- Campaign strategy and execution
- Developing investor marketing collateral through the collaboration of key stakeholders
- Sourcing and analysing data to support the development of marketing collateral
- Investor email campaign management via Salesforce
- Paid media and organic marketing campaigns
- FCA Compliance
- Agency management
I'm most proud of:- 32 000 investor page visits and 1 000 investor registrations over the past 12 months
- Working with strict FCA compliance regulations to build marketing strategies to reach and engage with key audience segments across the globe
- Managing internal teams at 3x growth
- 32 000 investor page visits and 1 000 investor registrations over the past 12 months
- Working with strict FCA compliance regulations to build marketing strategies to reach and engage with key audience segments across the globe
- Managing internal teams at 3x growth
Senior Account Manager, Playmakers Sponsorship and Marketing
February 2014 - November 2015
Playmakers is a marketing and sponsorship solutions business. During my time Playmakers won best sports marketing agency during 2014 and 2015.
As a Senior Account Manager, I managed the sponsorship campaigns of the Absa Currie Cup 2015, Absa KKNK 2015 and Absa Cape Epic 2014. My key responsibilities included inter–agency project leader in account management, strategy, activations, public relations, budgeting, presenting and reporting.
My additional responsibilities and projects included building Barclays Pan-African 2016 sponsorship properties strategy
Research Manager, KLA
January 2011 - February 2014
KLA is a boutique market research agency, specialising in bespoke solutions aligned to strategic business and brand needs.
As a Research Manager on the South African Breweries account, my role covered the delivery of qualitative reports on brands such as Castle, Castle Light, Castle Milk Stout, Hansa Pilsener, Black Label, Redds, Flying Fish, Grölsch, Miller, Brutal Fruit, Hunters and Heineken.
Guest Liaison Officer for Argentine Football Association, High-Performance Centre (HPC)
April 2010 - July 2010
The University of Pretoria’s HPC is Southern Africa’s first elite performance sports facility.
During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, I was contracted by the HPC and Argentine Football Association (AFA) to serve as the official guest liaison officer.
My duties included:
- Media liaison
- Language support to AFA
- Operations and security planning
Education
- Honours: Bachelor of Arts in Marketing Communication (University of Johannesburg, 2009)
- Bachelor of Arts in Marketing Communications (University of Johannesburg, 2008)
- IEB Matric (St Albans College, 2004)
Courses
- Leadership (Insights, 2018)
- User Experience (Coursera, Georgia Tech, 2017)
- Digital Marketing (Getsmarter.co.za, UCT, 2016)
- Design and Photography (La Metro, Cordoba, 2005)
- Spanish intermediate course (Faculty of languages, University of Cordoba, 2005)
Leadership
- Business Unit Manager at HaveYouHeard leading client service on integrated campaigns
- Inter-agency lead on Absa KKNK and Absa Currie Cup campaigns, 2015
Internships
Strategy Internship, Mccann World Group, 2009
Under the management of previous CEO, Reihner Behrens, I assisted the insights and strategy departments that serviced Nestle, Steers and FIFA Match Hospitality Service.
