Laurel Mader steps into Managing Director role at FoxP2 Cape Town

Having successfully served as Client Service Director for FoxP2 Cape Town for just under a year, Laurel Mader has recently been promoted to Managing Director, joining Group CEO Charl Thom, Executive Creative Director, Justin Gomes, and Creative Director Michael Lees-Rolfe as a part of FoxP2 Cape Town’s senior leadership team.

The Managing Director position at FoxP2 Cape Town was originally created by directors Charl Thom, Justin Gomes and Andrew Whitehouse in order to gear and scale the FoxP2 brand for growth into other markets and segments. The position would allow Charl Thom to step into the more macro role of CEO, which would allow him to focus some of his attention on establishing a new FoxP2 agency in the Johannesburg market, and to drive business growth in other parts of Africa.

Over the last two years The FoxP2 Group has expanded through the successful establishment of new agency FoxP2 Johannesburg, and the two offices now services clients Diageo and Liberty in markets beyond South Africa’s borders, such as Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique. This follows the forging of successful alliances with standout independent agencies in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda. Over this same period the FoxP2 Cape Town office has also welcomed on board a range of new local clients such as Coca Cola (PowerPlay), Cipla Pharmaceuticals, Stanlib and Diageo.

‘Expanding in all these areas means spending a lot of time on a plane, and we need a strong individual on the ground to take care of the day to day management of the Cape Town agency, and to help implement the vision that the directors and shareholders have for the business. Of all the decisions we make in our business, I consider hiring the right people as the most critical one. When Shannon Delaporte, our previous Managing Director, departed middle of 2013 after a successful stint, to spend more time with her young daughters, we needed someone outstanding to fill the position.

‘Laurel has exceptional experience, she has spent time on the client side as Marketing Manager for Investec Asset Management, and the bulk of her advertising career was with fellow independent agency King James. Our independence is incredibly important to us, as it affects how we run our agency and how we take every single one of our decisions. When Laurel proved to us that she has an innate understanding and shared appreciation of this and the FoxP2 culture, we knew we had our person. Her impact on the agency has already been felt after her first six months in the role.

‘It seems my career path was ultimately prepping me to land up at FoxP2. It’s very validating to help steer an agency like this, with its fierce independence and unflinching pursuit of big, potent ideas. Every day is about harnessing, augmenting and crafting those ideas, because that’s what will make a meaningful difference to our clients’ brands. And to do that we need to foster an environment that seamlessly allows innovation, exploration and experimentation to take place. Because this allows us to attract the best talent and the best clients – which makes for good business,’ said Mader, FoxP2 MD.

‘We are excited about what Laurel brings to the Cape Town table. We will continue to seek relationships with like-minded clients in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, while we also continue to spread our wings into Africa – I believe the potential for doing great work in the various African economies right now, is one of the most exciting opportunities an entrepreneur could wish for,’ said Thom.

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