Wendy Mbatha

• Lead generation of global partners with a shared target market as Talk360.
• Develop and execute global marketing strategies to enhance brand visibility and market penetration.
• Lead cross-functional teams to implement integrated marketing campaigns across multiple channels.
• Mentored junior marketing staff, fostering professional growth and enhancing team capabilities.
• Develop & execute integrated marketing campaigns with partners (channels: digital, influencer, and community groups/events).
• Manage partnerships, community organisations and events to enhance brand relevance and engagement.
• Build and manage a scalable, performance-driven global partnership that drives acquisition, engagement and commercial growth across key markets.
• Build meaningful connections between the Talk360 brand and its communities (Informal market and African diasporas) through culturally relevant campaigns, strategic partnerships, and brand activations and experiential events.
• Identify strategic locations and events to host the co-branded activations.
• Collaborate with global and local teams (product, sales representatives and design) to improve product using consumer insights, maintain consistent brand identity & messaging across all consumer touchpoints.
• Analyse brand performance metrics to measure awareness, engagement and customer acquisition.
• Share online and field insights to introduce localised creative approaches to improve campaign engagement and product features.
• Develop and present quarterly activation calendars.
• Conceptualise, plan and execute activations with assistance from agencies and sales representatives.
• Arrange co-branded activations with partners
• Community channels: spaza shops, churches, cultural associations and migrant events.
• Prepaid vouchers: resellers (1Voucher, Flash, Kazang, Shop2Shop), remittance partners (Mukuru & Ria Sikhona) and affiliate networks.
• Owned channels: WhatsApp groups, Talk360 social pages, CRM and email.
• Influencer & ambassador channels: Local promoters, community leaders, or partner staff (eg. Flash vendors).
• Define the global channel architecture that connects Talk360 to its diaspora markets; distribution channels, affiliate platforms, influencers, payment & fintech partners.
• Channel & brand playbooks, partner performance dashboards, commercial alignment and partner enablement.
• Analysed market trends and consumer insights to inform product positioning and messaging.
• Managed relationships with key stakeholders and external partners to drive collaborative marketing efforts.
• Presented results and insights from marketing efforts to executive leadership for informed decision-making on future business initiatives.

• Build, manage, and optimise the informal partnership of channels that drive acquisition, engagement, and revenue.
• This includes: conceptualising, designing, activating, and managing local and digital partners that connect Talk360 to its users, ensuring every touchpoint is measurable, value-adding, and locally relevant.
• Brand activations in key strategic regions mapping all the different go-to-market and engagement channels that influence customer acquisition, retention and partner revenue.
• Ensure each partner and channel has clear value propositions, co-branding assets, training and feedback sessions.
• Regular tracking and insights; monthly reports, campaign experimentations & ROI Tracking.
• Identifying and onboarding new channels; voucher partners, community-based groups, informal supermarkets and spaza shops.
• Developed strategic partnerships to enhance service offerings and expand market reach.
• Led cross-functional teams to implement innovative customer engagement initiatives (social media intern & junior data analyst).
• Analyse market trends to inform business decisions and drive competitive advantage.
• Oversaw budget allocation for strategic initiatives, ensuring alignment with company goals.
• Fostered relationships with key stakeholders to support collaborative project execution.

• Brand management
• Brand positioning & identity
• Develop and execute brand campaigns across owned, paid, and partner channels.
• Drive localisation of campaigns for different communities.
• Manage co-branded marketing with seven (7) partners.
• Brand governance to ensure consistent implementation across markets.
• Lead public relations (PR) activities; copywriting and increasing brand awareness through PR activities.
• Maintain and manage competitive intelligence and comparisons by working with cross-functional stakeholders.
• Understand the lifecycle of clients on the platform and identify opportunities for growth.
• Working with external agencies and internal resources to provide after-sales support through email marketing and in-app notifications.
• Build strategic relationships and partnerships with key industry peers, including agencies, key opinion leaders and vendors.
• Prepare and monitor the marketing budget on a quarterly and annual basis.
• Measure and report on the performance of marketing campaigns, gain insight, assess against goals and formulate new strategies where required.
• Developed and executed targeted marketing campaigns to enhance brand visibility.
• Analyzed market trends and consumer insights to inform strategic decision-making.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to align marketing initiatives with business objectives.
• Managed social media platforms, driving engagement through content creation and community interaction.

Social media community management:

• Developed social media content strategies to enhance brand awareness and engagement.
• Analysed campaign performance data to provide actionable insights for future strategies.
• Community management
• Oversee the corporate social responsibility portfolio.
• Collect and create content for the internal newsletter and salespersons' success stories.
• Design corporate marketing collateral.
• Responsible for Corporate Identity and Brand Image abidance by employees.

Events

• Arrange and coordinate 65th birthday Celebration
• Follow the link for a snippet of the event (https://bit.ly/2UBpBVl)
• Design invitations for employee engagement activities
  Plan and organise employee engagement activities and wellness days.
• Plan and organise CSI events ( Christmas & Easter parties, goodie bags, catering and career fairs).
  Prepare and plan the structure for workshops.

Ad hoc tasks:

• Update pricing lists and liaise with suppliers.
• Process invoices, purchase orders and order stationery.
• Member of Employee Engagement Committee.
• Manage feedback process for sponsorships and funding.
• Created and updated marketing materials to align with brand guidelines and messaging.