Ipelegeng (Ipi) Thibedi joins Ogilvy South Africa’s as group managing director

Ogilvy has strengthened its senior leadership, with the appointment of Ipi Thibedi. Pictured left to right: Pete Case (CEO of Ogilvy), Ipi Thibedi (Group MD), Nkosinathi Biko (Chairman of Board, Ogilvy), Neo Makhele (Chief Strategy Officer), Angela Madlala (Chief People Officer), Graham Vivian (Chief Financial Officer)

Pete Case, CEO and creative chairman of Ogilvy, says they are delighted to welcome Thibedi to Ogilvy.

“her appointment is a signal of our ongoing commitment to driving meaningful business impact for its clients, strategic growth of our services and expanding our specialist services.

“We look forward to seeing the incredible impact she will have within our organisation.”

With over 20 years of industry experience, Thibedi has a proven track record as an experienced strategic advisor and growth driver, having worked with clients including Mastercard, MTN, IBM, Uber, Nestlé, GSK, Transnet, Telkom and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).
“Her outstanding track record in building meaningful relationships across diverse markets and categories makes her a perfect fit for our team.

“Thibedi’s leadership and strategic vision will be instrumental in enhancing our operations and ensuring Ogilvy remains at the forefront of our industry,” says Case.

Creating locally relevant and globally celebrated work

Thibedi expresses her enthusiasm for the next chapter.

“This is an opportunity to join a leadership team that has such strong commitment to driving impactful growth for its clients, its own people and our wider industry,” says Thibedi.

She admires Ogilvy’s continued pursuit of excellence, the expansive set of communication capabilities it has across its group and a true commitment to driving diversity and inclusion.

“This, combined with its unique approach to borderless creativity across its global network, creates immense levels of opportunity for our country to shine on the global stage.

“I look forward to partnering with the leadership team and clients in this continued ambition to create locally relevant and globally celebrated work.”

Vast experience

Before joining Ogilvy, Thibedi was the chief executive officer of Weber Shandwick Africa, a global strategic communications firm, where she led the agency’s expansion across the region.

In addition, she has many years of experience in business consulting and advisory services, spanning multiple blue-chip companies such as Deloitte and Altron.

Specialising in strategic business planning, C-suite advisory, corporate affairs, crisis management, and stakeholder engagement.

Thibedi is also an accomplished global board member, including being a non-executive director of PRCA UK.