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Nov 2025 – Present · Johannesburg, South Africa

Digital
Brand Strategist

First Advertising

📍 Johannesburg, South Africa 🏢 Advertising Agency 👥 Multi-industry clients 💼 Including First Rand Group

Overview

At First Advertising, I develop digital strategies across a diverse portfolio of clients, spanning financial services, retail, and consumer brands. As Digital Brand Strategist, I own the full cycle of digital activation — from initial audit and strategic planning through execution, performance tracking, and continuous optimisation. This is agency-side delivery at pace: managing multiple client priorities simultaneously, adapting strategies to algorithm changes, and translating commercial goals into measurable digital outcomes.

A significant part of the role involves applying Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) and AI-driven search strategies — an area where my published research directly informs client recommendations. I bring institutional rigour to agency delivery: structured reporting, data-led decision-making, and a strong emphasis on making results legible to non-technical stakeholders.

Key Achievements

  • → Drove 16%+ increase in web visibility for FNB through integrated SEO, GEO, and content strategy — translating commercial priorities into data-driven, actionable recommendations.
  • → Led digital content planning and campaign management for First Rand Group and additional multi-industry clients, defining short, medium, and long-term channel goals aligned to business objectives.
  • → Delivered monthly performance reporting to client stakeholders — building custom dashboards in Looker Studio that translated complex multi-channel data into clear strategic narratives.
  • → Orchestrated cross-functional collaboration between editorial, development, and performance marketing teams to align content strategy with organic search and commercial objectives.
  • → Conducted full digital audits covering keyword research, website architecture, technical performance, content analysis, accessibility, user journey, and backlink profile — informing strategy across all managed accounts.
  • → Applied LLM citation strategies and structured data implementation to improve brand visibility in AI-generated search responses — a capability rooted in published academic research.