Alistair Mokoena

O&M were on a talent acquisition trail last year and ended the year with the Gloo merger and Mokoena's appointment to the position for another successful year in 2015.

Mokoena was the MD of FCB for the past two years and has held leadership positions at some of South Africa's blue-chip companies, on both the agency and client side, including Unilever, South African Breweries, Mondelez, and at Absa, where he was head of marketing.

"Ally has extensive integrated marketing experience from both the client and the agency side. His perspective will be invaluable to us as we adapt our model to service an ever-changing integrated marketing landscape," said Abey Mokgwatsane, CEO of Ogilvy & Mather South Africa, at the announcement of Mokoena's appointment.

The key client list of the agency currently includes top global and local brands such as Coca-Cola, Unilever, MultiChoice, KFC, SABMiller, Mondelez, Kimberley-Clark, GSK, Nestle, BP and so on.

About Alistair Mokoena

Alistair Mokoena is the newly appointed Managing Director at Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg, after serving as MD of FCB for the past two years. His 17-year marketing career spans agency and brand experience and he spent eight years of his career as an Ogilvy client. Mokoena holds an MBA as well as a BComm and LLB degree from Rhodes University. He completed a Management Development Programme at UCT's Graduate School of Business and is also a Chartered Marketer through The Marketing Association of South Africa.

Q: What is your creative/business focus right now?
A: Our single-minded business goal is value creation for all our stakeholders. In other words, our staff, our shareholders, our clients and the end consumer.

Q: What is your core strategy?
A: We create value by driving two core pillars: creative excellence and effectiveness.

Q: Most important attribute needed to do your job?
A: You have to be an entrepreneur who cares about people and business results.

Q: The biggest trend to note in the industry?
A: Breaking down of career walls: marketers are becoming ad guys and ad guys are becoming marketers. The two worlds should overlap but should never become one. There has to be a healthy tension between the two.

Q: How will you make an impact?
A: Understanding what value means to your stakeholders helps you meet their needs. That how I achieve impact.

Q: What would you still like to achieve in your career?
A: I'd love to be a business school professor one day.

Q: What is the legacy you would like to leave in the industry?
A: A successful, strategic, creative soul who cares about improving the lives of those around him.

Q: What inspires you?
A: I live to make the world a better place, one life at a time. That's my life purpose.

Q: How do you inspire others?
A: I generally inspire others by living my purpose. I build great relationships by showing respect for other people's values.

Q: What are you currently reading for work?
A: 'The art of possibility' by Benjamin Zander.

Q: Tell us something about yourself not generally known?
A: I'm crazy about wildlife and landscape photography. I shoot with a Nikon.

Q: At the top of my 'bucket list' is...
A: I wanna do a PhD at Harvard, drive a Ferrari and watch the great migration in the Serengeti. Any one of these will do.