[South Africa] Tanja Lategan appointed Managing Director of Creative Spark

Digital Agency Creative Spark has announced the appointment of new Managing Director, Tanja Lategan, who will steer the digital agency through its next phase of growth and ramp up the company's integrated marketing offering.

Creative Spark, acquired by the M & C Saatchi Group in 2015, is a Johannesburg and Cape Town-based specialist digital agency partner with clients Philips, Kimberly-Clark, EOH and Gautrain. More recently, the agency has been appointed the digital transformation partner for Medscheme and the full-service digital agency for the Danone stable of brands which includes NutriDay, Ultramel and YogiSip.

Lategan will oversee the delivery and continued growth of the seven-year old agency comprising of about 60 people that provides strategic digital solutions, creative digital design, web and app development to clients in both South Africa, across the continent, and within the M&C Saatchi network.

Lategan comes with 14-years digital experience – most recently heading up Primedia Online, where she was responsible for the launch of sales agency Dash of Lime and founded the content marketing business Juice Content, which subsequently grew into a fully-fledged digital marketing agency, servicing the likes of Adidas, Old Mutual, Cell C, Yahoo! and Telkom.

Says Lategan: "I am very excited to join such an inspirational group of creative companies. As a member of the M&C Saatchi Group, Creative Spark is in a position to provide brilliantly simple solutions for their clients, delivered by their diversity of talent, range of services and ability to innovate.

"I look forward to continuing to build on Creative Spark's reputation as an industry leader in innovation, and to ensure that it will not only be regarded as one of the most sought after digital agencies in South Africa but also contribute to M&C Saatchi Abel's mission to be one of the most desired creative companies on the continent."

"In an increasingly complex world digital has become more than just a medium. It has become an enabler. Adopting an omni-channel customer centric approach, driven by insights, inspired by world-class creative and enabled by digital technology will be a key focus to driving the company's integrated marketing solutions."

Matthew Buckland, the outgoing Managing Director and founder of Creative Spark, moves into a group role as Founder and Chief Exec: Digital, with a focus on key Creative Spark clients and group digital clients.

"We are very pleased that someone of Tanja's exceptional digital talents will be joining the agency management team. Our agency and Tanja have had a close relationship for a number of years, and we have tracked Tanja's impressive career in the digital industry for some time now, including her entrepreneurial endeavors at Primedia Online. We are excited for this next phase of our incredible growth story," says Buckland.

Founding Partner and Chief Executive of the M&C Saatchi Group in South Africa, Mike Abel says: "Delivering powerful ideas for a digital world is core to our strategy as we focus on our vision of becoming the most desired creative company on the African continent. Tanya is a key hire, bringing both huge depth and breadth of experience, an entrepreneurial orientation and the all-important practical know-how to deliver both to clients and on our vision."

Lategan started working in the digital technology industry 14 years ago. Her career in digital marketing kicked off with Naspers' Touchline Media in 2006, where she played a vital role in building and growing their digital media department.

In 2008 she was approached by Primedia Online and accepted the position of Commercial Director, where she assumed responsibility for all the commercial activities within the company.

In 2010 Lategan was responsible for the launch of a new business unit called Dash of Lime which she grew into serious contender in the digital advertising sales space, signing on clients such as IOL, E! Entertainment, CBS, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Oprah Magazine, The Daily Mail, Ster Kinekor, KFM, 947 (Highveld), Cape Talk, 702, Eye Witness News and Computicket.

In 2011 Lategan was promoted to the position of Chief Executive Officer of Primedia Online, which included managing the iafrica.com publishing business, as well as the 365 Digital advertising technology business, in addition to running the Dash of Lime advertising sales agency.

In 2012 Lategan identified an opportunity to launch a content marketing agency to take advantage of this new fast growing area in the digital space. Under Tanja's leadership, Juice Content grew into a fully-fledged digital marketing agency offering content strategy & production, design & development, social media, direct marketing, PPC & SEO, analytics and marketing automation, servicing the likes of Adidas, Old Mutual, Cell C, Yahoo! and Telkom.

In 2013 she was selected as one of the Mail & Guardian's top 200 Young South Africans, a prestigious award that aims to recognise the leaders of tomorrow, "people who challenge themselves by finding innovated ways to solve problems and are likely to impact public life, business and civil society for decades to come."

In 2014 InspiringWomen.co.za named Lategan the most inspiring woman of the month and in 2016 she was nominated as one of the most influential women in Digital Marketing as part of Burn Media's All Star Series.

Www.creativespark.co.za