Nedbank chief marketing officer (CMO) Khensani Nobanda has been named the 2025 most admired marketing professional in South Africa by Scopen.
Nobanda has been the recipient of numerous awards in recent years, including being named the FM AdFocus Industry Leader of the Year in both 2021 and 2024.
In 2021, AdFocus wrote that Nobanda was “an extraordinary marketer with a track record to prove her capability”, noting three years later that this still held true.
Nobanda has long been a vocal advocate for creativity as a lever for commercial impact and has relentlessly sought to push the marketing industry forward.
Other marketing professionals to make the top 10 list are AB InBev’s Vaughan Croeser, KFC’s Grant MacPherson, Absa’s Sydney Mbhele, Volkswagen’s Bridget Harpur, Momentum Metropolitan’s Nontokozo Madonsela, Shoprite Checkers’ Neil Schreuder, former Nando’s CMO Doug Place, Vodacom’s Andisa Ntsubane and Heineken’s Andrea Quaye.
Scopen’s Top 10 Most Admired Marketing Professionals for 2025, an elite list determined through peer nomination by leading marketers and agency professionals, is based on rankings from Agency Scope 2025, a comprehensive study of South Africa’s marketing ecosystem. Agency Scope identifies the companies and professionals earning the highest regard across the industry, from standout marketing initiatives and campaigns to the agency brands that marketers most want to work with and the clients that agencies most want to partner with.
“The names on this year’s most admired marketing professionals list are there because their peers genuinely believe these leaders set the bar,” says Cesar Vacchiano, president and CEO of SCOPEN Global.
Johanna McDowell, CEO of IAS and partner in Scopen South Africa, adds: “Being recognised by your peers — the people who truly understand the pressures, pace and ambition of this industry — is a remarkable achievement. Congratulations to all 10 leaders who have earned their place on this year’s list.”
The big take-out: The names on this year’s most admired marketing professionals list are there because their peers genuinely believe these leaders set the bar.
— Cesar Vacchiano
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.