STEPHANIE LEIGH TIMM
Destination Manager: Growth & Consumer Marketing Leader | Premium Wine | Commercial Strategy | Innovation
Cape Town
Summary
Consumer-centric wine marketing and destination growth professional with 12 years of experience in premium wine, brand execution, events and commercial destination leadership. Deeply embedded in the Durbanville Hills brand ecosystem, I combine category understanding, consumer behaviour insight, commercial discipline and structured execution to create experiences and campaigns that build brand equity and deliver measurable business value.
While my formal title has not been Growth & Innovation Manager, my career has consistently sat at the intersection of consumer insight, commercial performance, experience innovation and cross-functional project delivery. I bring a practical, brand-home lens to innovation: understanding how consumers discover, interact with, buy into and advocate for wine brands in real time.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
Work History
Destination Manager
Durbanville Hills
11.2018 - Current
- Lead destination strategy and execution with accountability for consumer engagement, premium brand experience, on-site campaigns, VIP engagements and commercial destination performance.
- Identify growth opportunities from direct consumer engagement, campaign performance, visitor behaviour, feedback patterns and commercial reporting.
- Develop and execute seasonal, experiential and occasion-led programming pipeline that supports brand visibility, destination relevance and revenue objectives.
- Collaborate across Brand, Sales, Production, PR, Trade Marketing, Digital, Finance, agencies and operational teams to align strategy, execution and guest experience.
- Manage footfall, EBIT and OPEX performance, prepare board/stakeholder reporting and present business plans, campaign outcomes and commercial progress.
- Support brand-management delivery in capacity gaps, including campaign coordination, creative alignment, content planning, on-site storytelling and physical touchpoint consistency.
- Coach and align teams through working sessions, ensuring clear briefs, expectations, timelines and success metrics.
Functions & Events Assistant /Public Relations Officer
Durbanville Hills
04.2013 - 10.2018
- Managed consumer-facing events, PR support, media hosting, trade and VIP visits, and brand-home experiences.
- Supported campaign activations and event-based consumer engagement, building a foundation in brand visibility, relationship management and executional discipline.
Education
Bachelor of Arts - Bcom General
UNISA
Cape Town 04.2001 -
National Diploma: Events Management - Commerce - Events
CPUT
Cape Town 04.2001 -
Certificate Cources -
Earlier Education
Cape Town 04.2001 -
Skills
Growth opportunities & consumer understanding
Hands-on understanding of premium wine consumers, occasions and destination behaviour; I use feedback, footfall, engagement and commercial reporting to shape campaigns and experiences
Innovation pipeline & beyond-the-bottle thinking
Created and executed seasonal programming, VIP experiences, on-site storytelling and consumer journey improvements that extend brand relevance beyond the bottle
Commercial acumen / revenue management lens
Managed destination performance KPIs including footfall, EBIT and OPEX, and delivered material profitability and visitor recovery outcomes
Cross-functional project leadership
Collaborates across Brand, Sales, Production, PR, Trade Marketing, Digital, agencies and operations to move work from strategy into execution
Insight-led storytelling and launch support
Supports campaign rollouts, content briefing, creative alignment, agency coordination and consistent brand execution across touchpoints
Accomplishments
- Drove EBIT growth of 1,100% over seven years, growing profitability from R200K to R2.4M through operational, financial and experience-led leadership.
- Restored destination visitor numbers to pre-COVID levels and delivered an additional 11% growth beyond baseline performance.
- Led multiple seasonal campaigns that strengthened destination engagement and brand equity for Durbanville Hills.
- Delivered measurable commercial improvements by enhancing consumer journeys, operational efficiencies and experience design.
- Represented the destination perspective in Durbanville Hills planning, contributing practical consumer and market feedback into brand priorities.
- Provided brand-manager support during capacity gaps across campaign components, content coordination and operational delivery.
Core strengths
Consumer & Growth Insight
- Consumer behaviour observation
- Occasion-led thinking
- Journey optimisation
- Guest feedback interpretation
- Premium wine category understanding
Innovation & Brand Experience
- Campaign concept support
- Beyond-the-bottle experiences
- Agency and creative briefing
- Digital/social coordination
- Brand storytelling and consistency
Commercial & Project Execution
- EBIT/OPEX management
- Performance reporting
- Budget and timeline discipline
- Cross-functional stakeholder alignment
- Board/stakeholder presentations
Timeline
Destination Manager
Durbanville Hills
11.2018 - Current
Functions & Events Assistant /Public Relations Officer
Durbanville Hills
04.2013 - 10.2018
Bachelor of Arts - Bcom General
UNISA
04.2001 -
National Diploma: Events Management - Commerce - Events
CPUT
04.2001 -
Certificate Cources -
Earlier Education
04.2001 -