QUICK CAREER SUMMARY
Group Creative Director - Freelance Consultant August 2022 - Present
Global Creative Director @ Ogilvy Chicago - January 2020 – July 2022
VP Creative Director @ FCB Chicago - July 2018 – December 2019
Creative Director @ Ogilvy Johannesburg - April 2015 – July 2018
Creative Director @ Metropolitan Republic (WPP) - August 2013 - December 2014
Assistant Creative Director + Senior Writer@ FCB Johannesburg - May 2012 - July 2013
Senior Writer @ Metropolitan Republic (WPP) - July 2011 - April 2012
Writer @ DDB Johannesburg - November 2008 - June 2011
FREELANCE
GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR + WRITER
AUGUST 2021 - PRESENT
Decided to dabble in the freelance life for a bit. Happily helping with creative direction, big ideas, 360 campaigns, social vibes, writing of any and all kinds, film production, fancy presentation footwork, thinking up and peddling award-winning ideas, pitching new business, polishing case studies and pretty much anything you creatively cook up. I'm comfortable with remote or on-site. My video call game is strong and my water cooler chit-chat is on fleek. Reach out if you need a human-first grown up, who you can really rely on. I promise to get the job done and make the process fun.
Current Collaborators: MRM og Mccann NYC (Mccann (EltaMD, Durex, K-Y, Goldbond, Enfamil, ), Agit8 London (Asics), FCB Chicago (Kotex, Poise).
*Legally eligible to work in the USA and UK.
OGILVY CHICAGO
GLOBAL CREATIVE DIRECTOR
JANUARY 2020 - JULY 2022
After some very valuable time spent at FCB Chicago, Candice rejoined the Ogilvy network in the role of Global Creative Director on the SC Johnson account.
Candice helped run the global creative communication for Glade, an international leader in the Air Care category. During her time on the account, it was one of the largest pieces of business in the Ogilvy global stable. She worked to evolve the brand to break free from category clichés and reposition themselves as timelier and more modern. She oversaw everything globally, from classic above-the-line comms to product naming + positioning, innovations, paid and organic social, website copy, brand activations and beyond. She found this to be an incredibly rewarding challenge that proved to be both creatively inspiring and professionally invigorating.
She also worked on new business initiatives and other key, blue-chip Ogilvy Chicago accounts including, Scrubbing Bubbles, Tyson Chicken City of Chicago and Dove.
ACCOUNTS WORKED ON: Glade (SCJ), Scrubbing Bubbles (SCJ), Tyson, Walgreens, Dove, City of Chicago.
FCB CHICAGO
VP CREATIVE DIRECTOR
JULY 2018 - DECEMBER 2019
Candice was fortunate enough to be headhunted from South Africa to help the FCB management team run the Cox Communications account as VP Creative Director. Cox predominately sells Internet, Cable TV, Phone, Smart Home and Security services. At that time, it was the largest piece of business in the FCB network globally.
Under the leadership of her SVP ECD, she ran a team of 30+ people and worked on integrated creative solutions for all areas of the business. She managed and produced multiple large-scale 360 campaigns, helped improve the overall creative standard, achieved notable business results in both customer upsell and conversion, and the creative work during her tenure beat all previous result benchmarks set by the Cox business (as noted by third-party research). In collaboration with her esteemed manager and business partners, they saw the agency account grow by +/- 8 million dollars in revenue in 12 months.
She was also shortlisted in the Radio Mercury Awards, being 1 of 100+/- commercials that represent some of the best audio work being done in the USA and internationally.
ACCOUNTS WORKED ON: Cox Communications, Michelob Ultra
OGILVY JOHANNESBURG
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
APRIL 2015 - JULY 2018
After a fruitful few years on the South African freelance circuit, Candice decided to make Ogilvy JHB her home in April 2015. She took on the exciting challenge of Creative Director, helping the management team implement the first fully integrated creative department for Ogilvy's biggest client; Vodacom. At the time, Vodacom was an 87-million-rand piece of business that serviced 37 million customers and was one the largest pieces of business in South Africa. Vodacom is Vodafone's affiliate in South Africa, was 1 of the 6 top performing regions globally and during her tenure the South African rehion had the highest market share in the Vodafone business. It was a mega account and opportunity.
Candice worked on the account in a tight creative unit, consisting of an Executive Creative Director and three specialist Creative Directors (brand, digital and retail). In her aole as integrated creative director for brand, Candice championed creative innovation and excellence, solved business problems, managed client relationships and oversaw 30 creative employees. She also managed hiring budget, hiring of new creatives.
In her time on the account, her team made great progress in integrating the account creatively, improved speed-to-market and delivered some of the best business results in the history of the Vodacom brand. Candice also had the once-in-a-decade opportunity of managing a full global brand repositioning, with great success. She was awarded esteemed internal accolades from Vodafone Global and amassed prestigious local creative awards. Two of my landmark campaigns were also voted South Africa’s Best Loved Campaigns by Kantar Millwood Brown in 2015 and 2016.
From a creative innovation point of view, Candice had the privilege of ideating and producing some projects for Cadbury and KFC. Between 2015 and 2018, she was lucky enough to produce two pieces, 'Cadbury PreJoy' and 'KFC Suppertime Stories'. These campaigns managed to collectively win a coveted Gold Film Lion at Cannes, two D&AD Wood Pencils, 2 x One Show Merits and a Bronze One Show Pencil, an MMA Smartie Award, a Gold Bookmark, a Gold Loerie and other notable creative accolades.
The above achievements saw Candice ranked in the Top Twenty South African Creative Directors and Top Twenty South African Writers in 2017, by the Creative Circle.
ACCOUNTS WORKED ON: Vodacom, KFC, Mondelez, Multichoice
FULL AWARDS LIST:
Creative Circle: Ranked in the Top Twenty South African Creative Directors for 2017 by the Loerie Awards.
Creative Circle: Ranked in the Top Twenty South African Writers for 2017 by the Loerie Awards.
Cadbury Pre-Joy: Cannes Lions Gold in Use of Online Film, Cannes Lions Shortlist in Food and Drinks, Cannes Lions Shortlist in Content Placement, Adweek’s 15 Best Commercials of 2017 (as picked be the Cannes Lions film jury), Wood D&AD Pencil in Use of Online Advertising, One Show Merit, Second Place at Creative Circle Ad of the Year, Bronze Campaign Loerie, Best of Ogilvy Inductee, Creative Pool Gold.
KFC Suppertime Stories: Wood D&AD Pencil in Experiential, One Show Bronze Pencil in Innovation in Branded Entertainment, One Show Merit in Mobile Applications, One Show Merit in Use of Mobile Technology, Creative Pool Gold, Integrated 3rd Place in Creative Circle Ad of the Year, Gold Global MMA Smarties, Silver Global MMA Smarties, Whipped Cream Gold, Gold Loerie, Silver Loerie, Campaign Silver Loerie, Campaign Bronze Loerie, Bronze Loerie, Gold Bookmarks Pixel in Innovative Use of Media, Silver Pixel in Mobile Campaign , Silver Bookmarks Pixel in Digital Installations & Activations, Silver Bookmarks Craft Pixel in Marketing Copywriting, Silver Craft Pixel in Use of Sound, Bronze Bookmarks Craft Pixel in Software, Coding & Tech Innovation, Gold Assagai, Silver Assagai, Bronze Assagai, Integrated 3rd in Creative Circle Ad of the Month.
Vodacom Play Every Day: Kantar Millward Brown Best Liked Campaign, Voted Best Campaign in the Vodafone Network, Vodacom CEO Award, Next Generation Award for Best Integrated Marketing Campaign, Next Generation Award for Most Innovative Digital Campaign, Bronze Bookmarks Pixel in CRM, Loyalty Programs & Gamification, MarkLives Ad of the Week.
Vodacom Youth Day: Craft Bronze in Marketing Copywriting, MarkLives Ad of the Week, Bookmarks.
METROPOLITAN REPUPLIC (WPP)
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
AUGUST 2013 - DECEMBER 2014
As a freelancer, Candice was contracted to work on a project-by-project basis for over a year. In this time, she worked as a writer and Group Creative Director on MTN Global, a $15 billion South Africa based multinational mobile telecommunications company that operates in many African, European and Asian countries. During my time on the account, it recorded 232,6 million subscribers across its operations.
Candice oversaw day-to-day campaign work and two large-scale Pan-African 360-degree campaigns, each of which saw massive success in their respective markets.
The most notable campaign she worked on was the Nando's 'We Serve the People' campaign, which was a resounding success locally. The campaign reached over a 3rd of the SA Public, was the 2nd most watched Global YouTube Video in SA in August 2013 and the most watched Local YouTube Video in August 2013. It also amassed over 19 665 737 million views in 2014 and those numbers have been steadily climbing since. This piece of work has become iconic in the South African market and political upheavals often result in a recirculation of the work.
Candice was also lucky enough to head-up the creative for the Nando's 2013 Neknomination Response. This was a hugely rewarding project to manage and one that raised much-needed funds for the chosen charity, beating the initial campaign target by a landslide.
In addition to the above, Candice worked on integrated campaigns with digital partners and won both digital and above-the-line business. The most notable pitch win was the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), a prestigious global creative organization.
ACCOUNTS WORKED ON: Nando's South Africa, MTN Global, MTN South Africa, MTN Africa, FNB Brand, FNB Business, IAB
FULL AWARDS LIST:
Nando's We Serve the People: Shortlist Loeries 2015 / Internet Video, First in Ad of the Month / Television
FCB JOHANNESBURG
SENIOR COPYWRITER + ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
MAY 2012 - JULY 2013
Candice worked as a lead Senior Writer and Associate Creative Director, oversaw junior teams and worked on integrated campaigns with digital partner Hellocomputer.
The most notable campaign that she worked on was the World’s First Live Tweeting Badger. For a budget of under $1,000, the campaign generated more than $17 million dollars in earned media globally, delivering an ROI of 1:17 384+. The communication also reached more than 80% of the local South African population and an audience of over 800 million people globally. As a result, in 2013 zoo visits increased by 4.5% and event attendance by 48%. The zoo was voted Johannesburg’s Top Tourist Attraction and they built a loyal and active social following, increasing their Twitter following by 1,833% in just a few weeks. Tweeting Badger was a massive success for the Johannesburg Zoo and brought in a stream of local and international awards and accolades for FCB Johannesburg.
In addition to this, a TV commercial Candice produced for Oreo Cookies was beloved by the South African public and scored extremely well in LIKING, NOTING, RECALL and BMS. It was voted Top 5 on Kantar Millward Brown’s Most Liked Ads of 2013.
ACCOUNTS WORKED ON: Vodacom, Toyota (Brand), Tiger Brands (Beacon Chocolate, KOO), Wimpy FeedSA, Johannesburg Zoo, SARS, Oreo Cookies
FULL AWARDS LIST:
Tweeting Badger: WEBBY Honoree, AdReview Campaign Award, One Show Interactive Merit, Cannes Shortlist Cyber Copy, Cannes Shortlist Social Platforms, Cannes Shortlist / Cyber Community Building, FWA Site of the Day, Gold Bookmarks Pixel / Brand Content, Gold Bookmarks Pixel / Brand Content, Shortlist Loerie / Digital Writing Craft, Silver Loerie / Digital Social Media, Bronze Loerie / Media Innovation, Loeries Craft Certificate / Best Use of Technology, Second in Ad of the Month / Digital Campaign
METROPOLITAN REPUBLIC (WPP)
SENIOR COPYWRITER
JULY 2011 - APRIL 2012
Candice was hired as a middleweight writer and worked to a senior level.
In this time, she worked a creative lead on First National Bank (FNB). FNB is one of South Africa's "big four" banks. It is a division of First Rand Limited, a large financial services conglomerate, which trades on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE).
In 2012, FNB’s incredible product innovation resulted in them becoming a category leader in the world of banking. They were even voted the World’s Most Innovative Bank at the 2012 BAI-Finacle Global Banking Innovation Awards. Candice helped ideate and produce a key campaign that helped solidify them as a leader in the minds of consumers. The campaign was very successful and even resulted in one of the country’s foremost cartoonists doing a spoof about FNB’s marketing & innovation vs. their competitors.
ACCOUNTS WORKED ON: First National Bank (Brand), MTN, Sanlam (Brand), Durex, Wimpy
DDB JOHANNESBURG
COPYWRITER
NOVEMBER 2008 - JUNE 2011
This was Candice's first job in advertising. She managed to secure a coveted internship right out of college, was hired and worked to a middleweight level.
Over this period, Candice worked on many accounts, but most crucially helped the DDB management team onboard and stabilize the brand + retail portion of the First National Bank (FNB) account. Above working on day-to-day campaigns, Candice also helped with a national rollout of their repositioned brand identity.
Candice also worked on an intensive, spec-driven print campaign for Honda that required proficient writing skill. The campaign saw success in the market and received local acclaim at the South African hailed Loerie Awards.
Further to the above, Candice worked on integrated campaigns and assisted the agency in key above-the-line pitches. The most notable pitch wins during her time there were Converse and Brutal Fruit.
ACCOUNTS WORKED ON: Brutal Fruit, Boehringer, Cell C, Converse, Coca-Cola, Cresta Hotels, Dickies, Durex, Energizer, Emirates Airlines, First National Bank Product, Glad, Honda, HTH, Johnson & Johnson, Life Healthcare, Mango Airlines, McDonalds, MTN, OKI Printers, Schick, Ster-Kinekor/Playstation Unilever (Knorr, Aromat, Raja, Royco, Robertsons), Wrigley’s, Weber Barbeques.
FULL AWARDS LIST:
FNB How can we help you (2011): Gold Midas Television / Electronic Banking (PayPal), Silver Midas / Television Campaign / Banking, Midas Finalist / Electronic Banking TV
Honda Short Stories (2011): Campaign Bronze Loerie
Orbit Aqua (2009): 4 Shortlists Loeries / Print Campaign
EDUCATION & QUALIFICATIONS
VEGA: THE BRAND COMMUNICATIONS SCHOOL (2008)
Candice received a Bachelor of Arts with Honours, specializing in Creative Brand Communications.
UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN (2004 - 2006)
Candice received a Bachelor of Arts Degree, having majored in English and Media and Writing.
UPLANDS COLLEGE (2000 – 2003)
Candice matriculated from Uplands College in 2003, with a distinction in English. Uplands College is an well-respected independent / private school, affiliated to the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa. Students write the examinations of the Independent Examination Board (IEB).
ST STITHIANS (1998 – 1999)
Candice attended Stithians College for High School. St Stithians is a premier independent / private school, affiliated to the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa. Students write Independent Examination Board (IEB) examinations.
ST KATHERINE’S (1988 – 1997)
Candice attended St Katherine’s for Elementary School. St Katherine’s is an independent / private preparatory school, one of the most prestigious and academically revered preparatory schools in Johannesburg and South Africa. St Katherine’s is affiliated to the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa and students follow the Independent Examination Board (IEB) curriculum.
REFERENCES ON REQUEST:
Liz Taylor - currently Global Chief Creative Officer at Ogilvy
Joe Sciarrotta - currently Deputy Global Chief Creative Officer at Ogilvy
Mariana O'Kelly - currently Global Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy Chicago
Erica Schachte - currently Executive Group Director at Ogilvy Chicago
Zac Roseburg - currently Executive Group Director at Ogilvy Chicago
Avital Pinchevsky - currently EVP, Executive Creative Director at FCB
Justin Enderstein - currently SVP, Executive Creative Director at FCB
Dean Paradise - currently Executive Creative Director at FCB
Cary Pierce - currently EVP, Group Management Director at FCB
Monserrat Valera - currently Group Creative Director @ Disney
Matthew Barnes – previously Chief Creative Director at Ogilvy & Mather JHB
Pete Case – currently Chief Executive Officer & Creative Chairman, Ogilvy South Africa Group
Fran Luckin - currently CCO of Grey Africa
Paul Warner - currently owner and Chief Creative Officer at MetropolitanRepublic
Peter Khoury - currently Chief Creative Officer at TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris
Jonathan Deeb - currently Chief Creative Officer Proximity Worldwide, RED Proximity London
Brett Morris - currently CEO of FCB Africa
Gareth Lessing - previously Executive Creative Director DDB South Africa