Nazzlee Byars: BRAND MANAGER in Johannesburg, GT

(Grid Worldwide, Most awarded Brand agency in South Africa) • Project led the Grid rebrand which was successfully and creatively launched during an industry awards weekend. • Assisted in driving brand development, maintenance and optimization. Shifting our philosophy and offering from a traditional branding and design to a through the line brand specialist agency. • Assisted in developing the agency's new narrative that’s underpinned by the new offerings and philosophy of ‘make it mean something’. • Participated in meetings to identify opportunities. • Project led key pitches some of which have already contributed to more than 20% of the agency's annual income ie. ROMBOT(won), Hyundai(won), South African Tourism(won), Kigali Innovation City(pending), Brand South Africa Dubai World Expo(pending) • Communicated effectively with clients to achieve positive outcomes of briefs. • Assessed changing markets, customer conditions, and competitor data to better inform the Strategic and creative process. • Adopted a proactive customer service approach, communicating as soon as any issues arose to mitigate the problem and quickly resolve the situation. • Assisted clients in deploying effective advertising to increase their business opportunities. • Created spreadsheets to track client information including client proposals, contracts, subcontracts, hours worked vs value of output. • Project manage the submissions, of selected iconic work, for all key annual internal & local creative & financial awards ie. OneShow, D&AD, Clios, Cannes, Adfocus, Loeries. • Produce and Project manage all key annual big-budgeted agency events ie. mid-year (client) wrap, Loeries agency weekend, and end of year wrap. •Brands I've worked on: FNB, Liberty, KFC, Qatar Tourism Authority, Carling Black Label, Hyundai, South African Tourism, ROMBOT, Alexander Forbes, Woolworths

This was an additional role I undertook while working as Brand Manager. • Led the integration of the Tbwa global network tools of Disruption within the agency. • Created and facilitated weekly internal working sessions to accommodate the entire agency over a period of time. • Assisted in the development of a philosophy of ‘disruption for brand’. • Planned, developed, and led negotiation of key business partnerships. • Managed a team of 3 people. • Initiated and led an internal research skills development division made up of account executives we dubbed as Disruption Ninjas. • Managed a team of Disruption Ninjas to research key insights and cultural shifts for all clients which included FNB, KFC, Liberty, Qatar Tourism Authority, Alexander Forbes, Woolworths and more. • Created and facilitated weekly internal insights sessions, GLive sessions. • Assisted the Strategic Director with the development and facilitation of pitches and client Disruption workshops (KFC, Woolworths). • Developed multiple content pieces that emphasized our insights and ‘play in culture’ capabilities in order to drive awareness. This led to the acquisition of a number of new clients. (Carling Black Label, RM Partners, KFC, Woolworths, Liberty)

Assisted the Executive Strategic Director on delivering all key internal business initiatives such as; deployment of Workplace (an online real-time communication platform) across all our group agencies in Africa, Disruption Training (quarterly), annual Africa conferences • Key communication with all group agencies in South Africa and across Africa. • Key communication with relevant people within all agencies across the Tbwa network globally. • Response to the request for strategic information, case studies, industry insights, research specifically required by any agency with the Tbwa network, globally, in preparation of pitches or for specific briefs. Created and Facilitated various internal strategic workshops. • Assisted with creating and facilitating various client strategic workshops. • Project managed integrated pitches across various agencies within Tbwa SA (STD Bank, Liberty, MTN - all won). • Setup and facilitated key meetings with key stakeholders. • Sourced and managed suppliers for key business initiatives. • Produced and managed various internal events. • Coordinated multiple projects simultaneously to meet project deadlines. • Created process improvements, including new call center and commission-based pay plans. • Optimized processes by collaborating with upper management to implement innovative technologies. • Competitor analysis and trend research across various industries including Telco, Finance, Automotive, FMCG, Alcohol, Tabacco, ICT Brands I've worked on: Standard Bank, MTN, Liberty, Nissan, Philip Morris International, Qatar Tourism Authority, Mumm and more