Itumeleng Matlare

Brand management and marketing communications leader with 9+ years in FMCG across beauty, snacking and food, currently Senior Marketing Manager (Marketing Coordination, SSA Zone) for L'Oréal Paris. Career spans the full 360° of brand building — integrated communications, digital and social media strategy, influencer marketing, e-commerce and paid media — with P&L ownership on market-leading brands including L'Oréal Paris, Lay's, KOO and Mrs Ball's. Equally fluent briefing a multi-agency roster and presenting to headquarters: known for translating consumer and cultural insight into integrated campaigns that hold together across every touchpoint, from TV to TikTok to shelf.

Senior Marketing Manager — Marketing Coordination, SSA Zone (L'Oréal Paris) - L'Oréal

(2025-01)

• Coordinate L'Oréal Paris marketing across the full SSA Zone, executing integrated campaigns spanning Hair, Skin and Makeup and adapting global brand strategy to diverse local markets.
• Serve as the communications hub between zone sales teams, training departments and Paris headquarters, ensuring campaigns land consistently across markets and touchpoints.
• Track market trends, competitor activity and consumer behaviour across the zone; analyse sales and campaign performance and deliver insight reporting that shapes zone marketing decisions.
• Manage zone marketing budget tracking and resource allocation across multiple concurrent campaigns and markets.

Senior Product Manager — Skincare (L'Oréal Paris) - L'Oréal

(2024-01 - 2025-01)

• Owned the P&L and long-term product strategy for the L'Oréal Paris skincare portfolio, identifying growth and innovation opportunities across segments.
• Partnered with marketing teams to develop integrated campaign and communication strategies positioning the skincare range across retail, digital and e-commerce.
• Built and managed product forecasts and budgets; monitored sell-out performance and adjusted portfolio strategy accordingly.
• Maintained key retailer relationships to secure placement, promotion and in-store visibility.

Senior Digital Brand Manager — Skincare (L'Oréal Paris) - L'Oréal

(2023-01 - 2024-01)

• Owned the end-to-end digital strategy for L'Oréal Paris Skin: social media, website and CRM content, influencer marketing, e-commerce and paid digital advertising.
• Planned and optimised always-on and campaign-led digital activity across platforms, managing paid media execution and community engagement against brand and audience objectives.
• Built and ran influencer marketing programmes, identifying, contracting and managing creators to extend brand reach with target audiences.
• Directed content creation and curation across all digital channels — site, social, blog and email — ensuring a coherent brand voice.
• Analysed performance across traffic, engagement and e-commerce sales to optimise campaigns and report ROI; managed the digital marketing budget.

Senior Brand Manager — Lay's - PepsiCo

(2022-01 - 2023-01)

• Developed and executed long-term brand strategy for Lay's, defining positioning, audience segmentation and brand architecture for South Africa's leading snack brand.
• Led integrated marketing campaigns across TV, digital, social and print; owned campaign budgets, timelines and the brand P&L.
• Managed the full external agency roster — advertising, PR and digital — from brief through delivery, holding partners to brand and performance standards.
• Drove new product and flavour development end to end with R&D, sales and marketing, from concept to national launch.

Senior Brand Manager — KOO - Tiger Brands

(2022-01 - 2022-12)

• Set brand strategy for one of South Africa's most loved heritage food brands, leveraging brand equity while modernising positioning and communications.
• Ran integrated, culturally attuned campaigns across TV, radio, digital, social, print and OOH; managed P&L, budgets and multi-agency relationships.
• Led NPD and line extensions with cross-functional teams, ensuring relevance to South African tastes.

Brand Manager — Mrs Ball's Chutney - Tiger Brands

(2020-01 - 2021-12)

• Owned brand strategy and P&L for an iconic South African brand, balancing heritage with renewed cultural relevance.
• Developed integrated campaigns across TV, radio, digital, social, print and OOH; managed agency partners and PR to a consistent brand story across all touchpoints.
• Explored and developed new product offerings and line extensions from concept to launch with R&D and sales.

Assistant Brand Manager — Rice Category (Tastic, Aunt Caroline) - Tiger Brands

(2017-01 - 2019-12)

• Supported brand strategy and executed campaigns across digital, social, in-store and events for two distinct rice brands.
• Developed and managed digital and social content calendars; tracked budgets, KPIs and campaign performance for senior management.
• Coordinated agency partners and key retail activations in collaboration with sales.

Honours - Brand Management & Brand Leadership - Vega School of Advertising (2015-01 - 2015-12)

Bachelor of Arts - Political Science & English Language and Literature - University of Cape Town (2010-01 - 2012-12)