Nandus du Plessis

Brand and marketing executive with 18+ years across global FMCG, B2B and deep technology. Builds marketing around commercial objectives, connecting brand, customer understanding, content, media, technology, demand generation and sales.

Experience includes global leadership roles at SABMiller and AB InBev, R2bn+ marketing responsibility across 13 African markets and 48 brands, a 60-country global remit, and building a B2B marketing function for a deep-technology group. Brings evidence, commercial judgement and different perspectives together to help leaders decide what to do next.

Marketing Director - Resonance Alliance - Remote from Johannesburg

(2024-08 - 2026-05)

Toronto-headquartered deep-technology group

• Led global marketing strategy and portfolio repositioning across five deep-technology verticals and six endorsed brands, shifting the business from a holding-company model to a unified endorsed-house architecture.
• Led client marketing services alongside the group role, developing and delivering marketing strategies and campaigns for external deep-technology clients.
• Built the B2B marketing function from scratch, including positioning, brand identity, marketing operations, sales-marketing handoff, HubSpot onboarding, email workflows, social publishing and core automation.
• Worked with CEOs, CTOs, Chief AI Officers, Heads of Quantum, CMOs, Marketing VPs and Directors across North America, Europe and Japan.
• Increased comparable monthly qualified executive conversations from approximately 5 to 70+.
• Designed and executed a Fujitsu quantum campaign generating 264 MQLs and 34 SQLs using Fujitsu's own lead-qualification system; led campaigns for seven quantum-technology clients including Fujitsu and BMO.
• Tripled the community by shifting the content model from news reporting toward value-added thought leadership.
• Rebuilt the main and vertical websites and maintained approximately 2 million annual visits on Quantum Insider despite significant AI-driven pressure on comparable media-site traffic.
• Established weekly sales and marketing dashboards, monthly insight reporting and a content model built around long-form flagship pieces supported by shorter channel content.
• During the tenure, annual revenue grew to approximately US$10M and profit grew 100% year-on-year.

Founder - Crazy Ginger

(2020-01)

Independent strategic work

• Lead brand, marketing, go-to-market and commercial strategy work across B2B, B2C and B2B2C businesses.
• Work with founders and leadership teams to understand the business and market, challenge assumptions, define priorities and decide practical next steps.
• Turn strategy into clear positioning, campaigns, content, proposals, commercial narratives and implementation plans.

Product & Digital Transformation Strategy Contractor - TransUnion South Africa

(2021-01 - 2022-12)

• Delivered a strategy-only engagement focused on conceptualisation and validation of a new digital-advertising offering designed to diversify the business.
• Developed strategic concepts and recommendations for handover rather than owning implementation.

Strategic Consultant - Digital App & Online Performance - KFC

(2020-01 - 2020-12)

Independent head-office engagement focused on digital app and online performance.

Africa Zone Director: Brand Connections - Anheuser-Busch InBev - Johannesburg, South Africa

(2018-01 - 2019-12)

• Held accountability for R2bn+ marketing spend across 13 African markets, 48 brands and six disciplines spanning media, sponsorship, digital, creativity, capability and experiential.
• Led the Africa implementation of Draftline, building the Johannesburg operation to approximately 50 people in five to six months and winning approximately R35M in internal business.
• Led connections strategy, agency relationships and major experiential programmes including Castle Lite Unlocks, working with senior stakeholders across the region.

Global Head of Content & Creative Excellence - Anheuser-Busch InBev - New York

(2017-01 - 2018-11)

Global Director-level role

• Led global approaches to improving creative and content quality across the AB InBev portfolio.
• Audited US$102M in Facebook video investment; 97% of video content in the audit failed the relevant effectiveness/visibility standard.
• Worked with Picasso Labs on content evaluation and helped develop creative-effectiveness standards and tools.
• Increased viewability within the first 2.5 seconds by approximately 99% in the measured sample.
• Developed the Draftline global operating model and implementation toolkit and led selected early studio implementations.

Global Head of Connections - Anheuser-Busch InBev - London / New York

(2016-01 - 2017-12)

Global role

• Held direct global connections responsibility for Corona, Stella Artois and Budweiser across media planning and strategy.
• Led global media capability and connections planning spanning digital, experiential, sponsorship, media and creativity.
• Developed global social-listening, crisis-response and creative-effectiveness approaches.

Head of Digital Content & Social Engagement / Global Digital Marketing Capability Lead - SABMiller - Johannesburg / London

(2014-01 - 2016-12)

Global remit

• Established SABMiller's global content capability supporting 200+ brands across a 60-country remit.
• Worked directly in 28 countries and trained approximately 700 marketers, agency partners, staff and capability stakeholders; average training rating approximately 9.2/10.
• Led an indirect team of approximately eight executing global initiatives.
• Authored the first global Digital Content & Engagement Playbook and standardised 200+ digital brand assets, moving 70+ brands toward digital-first standards within 24 months.
• Established a Social Command Centre in Bogotá and supported global social-listening standardisation.

Digital Communications / Brand & Campaign Leadership - Castle Lite, SAB Ltd

(2011-01 - 2014-12)

• Led digital brand communications and integrated campaign development across social, mobile, content, activations and influencer activity.
• Grew the Facebook community from 250 to 133,000 in 15 months with 43% engagement.
• Delivered South Africa's first branded web series and a first-in-market RFID activation.
• Contributed to the first approximately four years of a brand turnaround that subsequently sustained double-digit growth over a longer period.

Assistant Brand Manager - Castle Lite, SAB Ltd

(2010-01 - 2011-12)

• Managed national through-the-line trade assets including approximately 2,000 draught taps and 21,000 branded refrigerators.
• Built a capability programme across 21 districts for approximately 600 sales representatives.

Account Manager, District West - SAB Ltd

(2008-01 - 2010-12)

• Managed off-premise customer accounts and a team of three merchandisers across sales execution, trade marketing, launches, promotions and customer relationships.

Founder & Creative Director - Tripod Marketing CC

(2006-01 - 2008-12)

Founded while completing university studies

• Built a student-owned marketing business serving 21 university residences.
• Sold more than 8,000 shirts in under seven days without paid media.

BCom Law - Law - University of the Free State (2007-12)

Postgraduate Diploma - Digital Marketing - Digital Marketing Institute, United Kingdom (2011-01)

Postgraduate study - Strategic Brand Management