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Management changes at Creative Spark, Buckland to focus on Burn Media

Digital Agency Creative Spark today announced management changes at the company, with its founder, Matthew Buckland, moving from his Chief Executive position to focus on news and media outlet, Burn Media.

Tanja Lategan, Managing Director of Creative Spark, expressed support for this move.

Says Lategan: “While myself and the Creative Spark team are incredibly sad to see Matt move on to other projects, we are supportive of him chasing his passions. We wish him nothing but the best on this new and exciting chapter of his journey, and as we ourselves look to the future of Creative Spark, we’re excited to forge our way forward and continue down our path of success.”

Creative Spark is an award-winning, 8-year-old digital agency with approximately 70 staff in Cape Town and Johannesburg, with clients that include Danone, Medscheme, Kimberly-Clark, Gautrain, EOH, and more.

Burn Media is an online publishing business which includes brands like memeburn.com, ventureburn.com, gearburn.com, and motorburn.com. The sites report on digital trends and disruption, delving into the incredible rise of entrepreneurship, startups, and venture capital in South Africa and Africa.

Acquired by the M&C Saatchi Group in 2015, Creative Spark is a Johannesburg and Cape Town-based specialist digital agency partnering with clients Kimberly-Clark, EOH, and Gautrain. More recently, the agency has been appointed the digital transformation partner for Medscheme and full-service digital agency for the Danone stable of brands which includes NutriDay, Ultramel, and Yogi Sip.

In addition to his new focus on Burn Media, Buckland will continue to consult for Creative Spark on some of its key clients.

On the management changes, Buckland says,

“We are crafting a new chapter in our company’s journey towards becoming an ‘Agency of the Future’. Several months ago I passed on the leadership baton to Tanja Lategan who has a work ethic, wealth of knowledge, and digital agency experience which are already reaping rewards. She is an excellent advocate of our integrity, innovation, and speed-centric culture and is just the right person to lead the agency forward. Alongside Tanja, we have a formidable management team, passionate about our clients and contributing to their success.”

Mike Abel, Chief Exec and founder of the M&C Saatchi Abel Group says:

“Matthew has always been hugely passionate about the Burn Media business which he founded a number of years ago, so I was not surprised by his decision to focus more fully on this. Bringing in Tanja as Managing Director last year, has allowed him to completely let go of running Creative Spark, and to re-immerse himself in his innovative media company. I have little doubt that both Creative Spark and Burn Media will continue on their trajectories of success, by offering their clients outstanding work, thinking, and service.”

Creative Spark appoints Tanja Lategan as new MD

Digital Agency Creative Spark today announced the appointment of new Managing Director, Tanja Lategan, who will steer the digital agency through its next phase of growth and ramp up the company’s integrated marketing offering.

Creative Spark, acquired by the M&C Saatchi Group in 2015, is a Johannesburg and Cape Town-based specialist digital agency partnering with clients Philips, Kimberly-Clark, EOH and Gautrain. More recently the agency has been appointed the digital transformation partner for Medscheme and full-service digital agency for the Danone stable of brands which includes NutriDay, Ultramel and YogiSip.

Lategan will oversee the delivery and continued growth of the seven-year old agency comprising of about 60 people that provides strategic digital solutions, creative digital design, web and app development to clients in both South Africa, across the continent, and within the M&C Saatchi network.

Lategan comes with 14-years digital experience – most recently heading up Primedia Online, where she was responsible for the launch of sales agency Dash of Lime and founded the content marketing business Juice Content, which subsequently grew into a fully-fledged digital marketing agency, servicing the likes of Adidas, Old Mutual, Cell C, Yahoo! and Telkom.

Says Lategan: “I am very excited to join such an inspirational group of creative companies. As a member of the M&C Saatchi Group, Creative Spark is in a position to provide brilliantly simple solutions for their clients, delivered by their diversity of talent, range of services and ability to innovate.

“I look forward to continuing to build on Creative Spark’s reputation as an industry leader in innovation, and to ensure that it will not only be regarded as one of the most sought after digital agencies in South Africa but also contribute to M&C Saatchi Abel’s mission to be one of the most desired creative companies on the continent.”

“In an increasingly complex world digital has become more than just a medium. It has become an enabler. Adopting an omni-channel customer centric approach, driven by insights, inspired by world-class creative and enabled by digital technology will be a key focus to driving the company’s integrated marketing solutions.”

Matthew Buckland, the outgoing Managing Director and founder of Creative Spark, moves into a group role as Founder and Chief Exec: Digital, with a focus on key Creative Spark clients and group digital clients.

“We are very pleased that someone of Tanja’s exceptional digital talents will be joining the agency management team. Our agency and Tanja have had a close relationship for a number of years, and we have tracked Tanja’s impressive career in the digital industry for some time now, including her entrepreneurial endeavors at Primedia Online. We are excited for this next phase of our incredible growth story,” says Buckland.

Founding Partner and Chief Executive of the M&C Saatchi Group in South Africa, Mike Abel says: “Delivering powerful ideas for a digital world is core to our strategy as we focus on our vision of becoming the most desired creative company on the African continent. Tanya is a key hire, bringing both huge depth and breadth of experience, an entrepreneurial orientation and the all-important practical know-how to deliver both to clients and on our vision.”

 

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