ADVERTISING TALENT

Parusha Partab appointed Chief Strategy Officer for new VML SA

By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2024

Previously strategy head at Wunderman Thompson, she will now lead the function at recently merged agency group.

Advertising agency VML South Africa has appointed Parusha Partab as its Chief Strategy Officer. Prior to the merger of agencies VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson to form VML, Partab held the position of Group Strategy Director at Wunderman Thompson.

A well-known figure in the local industry, Partab was named ‘Strategic Planner of the Year’ at the Global Women in Marketing Awards in 2023, one of the Mail & Guardian‘s ‘Top 200 Young South Africans’ in 2023, and serves as a senior office bearer with the Interactive Advertising Bureau of South Africa (IAB SA).

“Partab is one of the most imaginative and skilled strategy leaders I have had the opportunity to work with,” says Jarred Cinman, CEO of VML South Africa.

Parusha Partab. Photo: Supplied

“She brings a refreshing and quite revolutionary mindset to the business and will now be leading the best strategy team in the industry. We are thrilled to have her take on this new role.”

As the first chief strategy officer of the newly formed VML SA, Partab’s work will lay the foundation for the business’s approach to strategy going forward.

Taking on the new challenge

“I am extremely grateful and bursting with excitement about taking on this new challenge,” Partab says.

“Our new business represents a huge depth and vast range of capabilities, making it a powerful offering in the industry. But what excites me even more is the opportunity to work alongside some of the most sincere and skilled experts who share our vision for the future.”

“We have 40-plus strategists across the group, with a specialised B2B taskforce focusing on B2B and ABM (account-based) marketing – and deep expertise in brand and communication strategy, social and content media strategy, as well as digital and tech.”

Partab adds: “Strategy sits at the intersection of insight and foresight. Consequently, we have dedicated strategists focussed on developing and integrating our AI tools to enable efficiencies for our clients through AI.”

She has been a contributor to Strategic Marketing for Africa, the magazine of the African Marketing Confederation.

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