After eight years at the helm of Nahana Communications Group, Brett Morris is stepping down as CEO and taking on the role of Executive Creative Chair. Stepping up into the CEO spot is Thabang Skwambane, previously Group MD of the FCB Joburg and Hellocomputer Joburg agencies. Skwambane’s position will be filled by Joey Khuvutlu.

Nahana is a collective of leading specialist agencies that provide creative solutions across the marketing ecosystem. These include FCB Joburg, Hellocomputer Joburg, HelloFCB+, McCann1886, Fuelcontent, Meta Media, The Media Shop, Craft, Lucid and Weber Shandwick.

Morris, who previously headed up creative for the group, will be once again focussing on supporting the Creative Leadership Team as their agencies double down on the creative product, making sure they continue to deliver creativity that is an economic multiplier for their clients.

“I’m incredibly excited to be handing over the reins to Thabang. He has stewarded FCB and Hellocomputer in Johannesburg through some of their biggest accolades and business growth in the agency’s history,” commented Morris.

“Thabang is a very unique leader with a rare and enviable skillset, a fact recognised by Adweek in 2020 when they included him on their Creative 100 Honour Roll which celebrated gifted professionals who inspire current and future generations not only with their work, but with their passion for creativity.

“Thabang’s business acumen has been a huge support to me and the rest of the group and I have no doubt he’ll take Nahana from strength to strength,” he added.

“After seven years almost to the day, it is time for change and I’m honoured and excited to take on this new challenge,” said Skwambane. “The ups and downs have been the most dramatic of my life.

“I can only thank Brett for bringing me into the Nahana family and giving me this opportunity. I fully intend to build on the incredible business he has led for almost a decade and partner my executive team to keep growing our business, our people and ourselves.”

Both Morris and Skwambane are upbeat about the prospect of Khuvutlu taking on extra responsibilities for the group’s fortunes.

“Joey has spent the last five years evolving his crystal-clear understanding of the nexus of communications with the digital and marketing technologies that have ballooned in the global and local communication world,” said Morris. “That’s why I am certain he is the right person to lead the FCB and Hellocomputer Joburg entities as the world, the economies and the communities we live in are in flux. “

Skwambane concurred: “Over the last two years specifically, FCB Joburg and Hellocomputer Joburg created a group with a shared vision and a shared management team. This new look business has come out of the other end of a pandemic, an economic recession and a seismic social shift in the South African market with a collection of world-class skills and solutions.

“Joey has been a part of that process of change from the very beginning. A creative, an entrepreneur and a born leader, during his 18-year career he has found a way to balance all three critical ingredients to run a successful set of creative services businesses. This is the reason why he represents our credo that creativity is an economic multiplier for the brands we manage in an omni-channel world,” Skwambane said.

For his part, Khuvutlu is honoured to lead a talented team of individuals at a time like this in the evolution of its business.

“We’ve weathered a storm that has decimated the marketplace and brought many businesses in our industry to their knees. Now we are in the strongest position we have ever been to bring the New “New” Normal to our client’s businesses, by bringing the consumer and our brands even closer together in a timeless and timely manner. I look forward to getting stuck in and meeting with our clients and partners to map the next chapter.”

The changes at Nahana, FCB Joburg and Hellocomputer Joburg were effective on March 1 this year.

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More about Brett Morris:
Under his creative leadership FCB won more awards than ever before in its 90-year history, including South Africa’s first ever Cannes Grand Prix and One Show Best of Show.

He has been recognised numerous times at major award shows including Cannes, One Show, D&AD and Clios; and has 3 AdReview Campaigns of the year and the Sunday Times Marketing Excellence Grand Prix to his credit.

He has served as chairperson of South Africa’s industry body, the Creative Circle and was ranked as one of the top 5 creative directors in the country by his peers. He was also voted by his peers as most admired agency leader in Johannesburg for five years in a row and three times across South Africa and was also named Industry Leader of the Year at the Financial Mail AdFocus awards.

More about Thabang Skwambane:
After graduating from UCT, he began his career working with Mark Shuttleworth as a crypto certification authority, and then as a merchant and investment banker. He then co-founded Kaelo Healthcare, a leading wellness and healthcare provider bringing affordable quality healthcare and addressing critical illnesses such as HIV and AIDS.

He joined FCB in February 2015 after receiving his Masters degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Skwambane has led FCB Joburg to be recognised as the AdFocus Agency of the Year and Large Agency of the year in 2016 and 2017. He also is the Vice-Chair of the Association for Communication and Advertising South Africa and has served on the board since 2015. The agency has also been recognised as ‘The Agency Getting Integration Right’ as well as ‘The Agency Doing The Most for Diversity & Transformation’ by Marklives.com.

Skwambane was included in Adweek’s Creative 100 Honor Role in 2020. The annual Creative 100 celebrates gifted professionals – from agency leaders to creators, celebrities and influencers – who inspire current and future generations not only with their work, but also with their passion for creativity. Skwambane was specifically honoured within the Global Agency Leaders category, which recognised 11 global creative leaders who are “shaping the world’s most inventive marketing in a year that has brought the Earth together.”

More about Joey Khuvutlu:
Joey Khuvutlu, a serial ‘creative industries’ entrepreneur, founded his first boutique brand consultancy, Plutonic, in 2005 while in his third year of his undergraduate degree. Plutonic would grow to 25 employees with studios in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Polokwane. In 2009, Khuvutlu launched a second brand consultancy, Dreamstation, and ran it for three years. In 2013, he merged with a technology agency, Kicksaints, and multimedia studio, 8Bit Octopus, to form Threefold Creative.

Threefold, led by Khuvutlu, would go on to offer integrated solutions before integrated agencies were common-place. The consultancy delivered brand design, digital and technology solutions as well as multimedia content for it clients. During this time, Threefold collaborated with agencies such as Ogilvy JHB and FCB JHB to deliver Loerie Gold winning campaigns.

In 2017, and after being part of the Nahana enterprise development program, Threefold was acquired by Nahana. This move saw Khuvutlu take the helm of Nahana’s specialist digital agency, Hellocomputer. In this role Khuvutlu has led the agency in delivering digital communication solutions for brands including Toyota, ABSA, South African Tourism and Old Mutual.

Khuvutlu is an active industry contributor, having judged multiple award shows including The Loeries, Bookmarks and Effie’s. In 2019, Khuvutlu became the founding Chairman of the IAB’s Education Council. During his tenure, he and his council members focused on working with industry and education institutions to address skills gaps and shortages in the ever- growing digital communications landscape.

Khuvutlu holds a BA Brand Communication Management from Vega, has completed the Management Advancement Program at Wits School of Business as well as Innovation Strategy through Columbia Business School and the University of Maryland.