Koo Govender
Koo Govender is the VWV Group’s first female CEO in its 30-year history. Formerly the Corporate Marketing and Communications Director at M-Net, Govender took over the reins at VWV Group in September 2013.
Koo’s combination of business and marketing acumen coupled with her experience with high profile events and stakeholder relationship management is unrivalled. At a time when VWV Group expands into new markets and launches new platforms like those offered by VWV Massive - the division that uses music and entertainment properties and platforms to achieve client brand objectives - she brings a unique perspective and has all the right credentials to lead a strong organisation like VWV Group.
Govender, who has worked at the MultiChoice Group for 22 years, developed a real sensitivity to different markets during her tenure, and has an unqualified depth of understanding when it comes to holisitic marketing and consumer market segmentation.
Govender is a passionate and proven marketer with an outstanding record of accomplishment. During her career she has won various Loeries and Promax Awards for on-air promos for the Group and was the first Chairwoman of Promax SA, the world’s premier body for promotion and marketing professionals working in electronic and broadcasting media. She has been a semi-finalist for the Most Influential Woman in 2010: Media category – CEO Magazine; Finalist for 2012 Most Influential Women in Business and Government Awards – CEO Magazine; and is a regular judge for awards likes the Shoprite Checkers Women of the Year and CEO Magazine Women of the Year.
A spiritual person, Govender’s life is directed by her philosophy that “life is not only about success but about significance and living your true potential”. Married and a mother of two, she has travelled extensively, has performed many motivational and guest speaker engagements on Women Empowerment and Mentorship, is a golf enthusiast and enjoys interior decorating.
Website URL: http://www.vwv.com
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"Marketing needs to continually re-invent itself if it wants to retain the 'X' Factor
Wednesday, 04 June 2014 12:21 Published in Branding
The American TV series, ‘Mad Men’ is not only a fascinating sociological study of the world of ‘free love’ and political incorrectness of the 1960s (can you believe how everybody smokes all of the time, and how the women in the programme are seen to fulfil only supportive roles), but it also provides a fascinating historical perspective of the evolution of marketing over the last 50 or so years.
The 60s marked the emergence of the “Era of Mass Marketing” facilitated by the arrival of supermarkets and mass media which meant that a manufacturer needed to communicate with the consumer in order to attract them to his product. Advertising provided the most potent form of connection and given that the majority of the products were relatively new, it was sufficient to go out with a simple demonstration of how the product worked, plus just a hint of the benefit to the user.
In a very short period of time the number of similar products began to make differentiation critical. In some cases this could be achieved by design and innovation, but in many cases the products performed similarly and it was up to the marketers to find a way to differentiate them. Enter Al Ries and Jack Trout with their definitive book, “Positioning the Battle for Your Mind”, which even today remains a classic text-book on the importance of ‘owning a space or a gap in the mind of the consumer’.
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Proposed Restrictions on Alcohol Marketing Detrimental To Development of Sport & Music In SA
Thursday, 13 March 2014 10:34 Published in Advertising
The abuse of alcohol is a major social issue in South Africa; road accident statistics, the incidence of domestic violence, and most shockingly, the prevalence of foetal alcohol syndrome confirms this. The cost to the nation is unquestioningly vast. It’s not difficult to understand why the Government believes that the restriction and even prohibition of marketing of alcoholic beverages will provide the solution. But the question that needs to be considered is - will it really achieve this goal when the problem is systemic and rooted in societal challenges. The challenges that are at the very core of South Africa’s current inability to install societal values that will truly result in a better life for all.
Looking at this from a different perspective, one must ask if serious consideration has been given to the broader economic and societal consequences of the proposed ban. In a considered response to the approval of the Draft bill by Cabinet in Sept 2013, Sports and Recreation Director-General Alec Moemi, expressed great concern at the impact of such a bill on Sport and referred to an anticipated negative impact on the economy of R 7.4 billion per annum.
- alcohol abuse
- advertising restriction
- dark marketing
- sports sponsorship
- smoking