INDUSTRY AWARDS

Elizabeth Mokwena named Jury President for 2025 Bookmark Awards

By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2024

Seasoned pan-African brand builder with Unilever honoured to assist the IAB South Africa in ‘a redemptive year for our industry’.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau South Africa (IAB SA) has announced that Elizabeth Mokwena as the new Jury President for the 2025 Bookmark Awards, one of the country’s premier digital media and marketing awards. 

Mokwena is a seasoned pan-African brand builder with more than 14 years of experience in the FMCG industry and brings a range of knowledge and expertise to the role.

Elizabeth Mokwena. Photo: LinkedIn

As the Home Care Executive Marketing Director for Unilever Africa, she is responsible for expanding the footprint of the portfolio across the region. She describes her work as “giving global brands an African passport, whilst giving African brands global exposure” and has a passion for nurturing the next generation of African brand builders.

“I believe in the power of creativity to change the world,” says Mokwena. “Digital innovation compounds the possibilities of doing this faster, more cost-effectively and with scale.

“I think 2025 is a redemptive year for our industry and I am honoured to assist the IAB South Africa and the Bookmarks in identifying and celebrating digital work that has had a measurable impact.

“I am confident we will raise the bar for South Africa’s digital work this year. Excellence is the standard.”

Takes over from Khensani Nobanda

Mokwena takes the helm from Khensani Nobanda, Group Executive for Marketing and Corporate Affairs at Nedbank, one of the country’s major banks.

“IAB South Africa extends its gratitude to Nobanda for her exceptional leadership as the Jury President of the Bookmark Awards from 2022 through 2024. Her dedication and insights have been instrumental in shaping the awards programme in a post-pandemic landscape,” the IAB says in a press release.

The Bookmark Awards is overseen by the IAB South Africa Agency Council, which welcomes the following new members to its Bookmarks Committee for 2025: News24 Publisher, Jerusha Raath; RAPT Creative Agency Integrated Creative Director, Tanya de Jongh; IAB Executive Director, Chris Borain; and Mindshare South Africa Managing Director Adrian Naidoo.

The new members join longtime committee members Robyn Campbell, Managing Director at Publicis Machine, and Pippa Misplon, Managing Director at Retroviral.

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