Halo Strengthens Senior Leadership Team

Halo has strengthened its senior leadership team across Johannesburg and Cape Town as the independent agency enters its next phase of growth, bringing together expertise across creative, strategy, design and client leadership, with a shared focus on creating work that delivers both cultural impact and commercial results.

The leadership team comprises Founder and Chief Creative Officer Dean Oelschig, Managing Director Amber Mackeurtan, Design Director Ashraf Majiet, Client Services Director Lungi Ngobese, Head of Strategy Rayhaan Mehtar, and Executive Creative Directors Coenie Grebe in Johannesburg and Alex Goldberg in Cape Town.

Together, they reinforce Halo’s commitment to building an agency where independence is the point, not just the model, giving talented people the freedom to make ambitious work, while remaining relentlessly focused on the effectiveness of that work for clients.

Between them, the team brings decades of experience across some of the industry’s most respected agencies and brands, with accolades spanning Cannes Lions, The One Show, D&AD, Loeries and the Effie Awards. That depth of expertise underpins Halo’s ambition for its next chapter: to create work that people notice, remember and talk about, and that ultimately moves the needle for the businesses behind the brands.

For Oelschig, deepening Halo’s senior ranks is as much about clarity as it is ambition. ‘As we look ahead, our focus is all about the work, but we know that to do that, you have to have the right leadership and environment to attract and retain the best talent in every single position across the agency,’ he said.

Mackeurtan is focused on building an agency where culture, creativity and commercial outcomes are held to the same standard. ‘Talent only takes you so far,’ she said. ‘Culture, and creating an environment where talented people can do their best work, and where clients feel like true partners, that’s when you produce incredible and effective work.’

The Right People, Not The Most People

A thread running through Halo’s recent growth is patience. The agency has been deliberate about who is part of it and why.

‘We have always believed the right talent is worth waiting for,’ said Oelschig. ‘Bringing in leaders like Ashraf, Ray and Lungi was never about filling roles. They are highly regarded in our industry and each have a long-standing relationship with someone in our agency, so we knew the culture fit was perfect and their personal ambitions are aligned to the agency’s.’

That philosophy also shaped the recent appointment of Goldberg, who joined Halo’s Cape Town office as Executive Creative Director after a career spanning London to Lagos.

Speaking about the move, Goldberg said the environment around talented people matters just as much as the talent itself, ‘There are a lot of talented people in this industry. What makes the difference is the environment around them. When the structure, the culture and the client mix is right, everyone becomes the best version of themselves.’

With a leadership team built for ambition, Halo is focused on what’s next: work that is creatively ambitious and commercially effective, spoken about by regular people, and built to last.

‘We’re still deeply committed to South Africa as a creative hub and want to prove our ability on a global scale,’ said Oelschig. ‘We are building an agency that talented people want to be part of, that clients trust, and that consistently delivers work that we’re all proud of, work that earns attention, creates impact and delivers results.’

HALO ADVERTISING
https://www.brandhalo.co.za