Exclusive: Makosha Maja-Rasethaba takes strategic lead at M&C Saatchi Abel

Makosha Maja-Rasethaba appointed as Chief Strategy Officer at M&C Saatchi Abel. Source: Supplied.

Multi-disciplinary team

Maja-Rasethaba will lead the multi-disciplinary strategic team of over 25 across the Johannesburg and Cape Town campuses.

Maja-Rasethaba takes up the new role in parallel to her existing role as Chief Diversity Officer for The Up&Up Group, which remains unchanged.

“Makosha has been an invaluable and long-term leader, partner and friend for 13 of the 15 years since we first opened M&C Saatchi Abel in South Africa”, says Robert Grace, co-founder and chief strategy officer of The Up&Up Group. “At a Group level we are continuing to bolster our strategic resources and capabilities by investing in our talent, with a focus on consistently building strategic fitness across our teams and disciplines.

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“The appointment of Makosha as M&C Saatchi Abel chief strategy officer, and the structure of one strategic resource pool within the agency, builds a bigger team of strategists with greater agility to serve the varying needs of our clients.”

Maja-Rasethaba says she is excited to build on the strong foundation and strategic focus for the agency as it continues its growth trajectory.

“This is an exciting time to take on the role of chief strategy officer at M&C Saatchi Abel especially with our rapid, Pan-African growth. As we enter this next chapter, with some of the most iconic brands on the continent, I look forward to cementing a razor-sharp focus on producing impactful work for our ever-growing roster of clients,” says Maja-Rasethaba.

Integral to creative solutions

The Up&Up Group’s chief creativity officer Neo Mashigo says that strategy is absolutely integral to unlocking creative solutions. “I always say that strategy is the first creative act. The partnership between strategy and creative teams is essential in delivering work that does the precise job that it needs to do. Makosha and her team are not a separate department but an integrated part of our process, end-to-end. It’s how we’ve always worked, and with a singular department under Makosha’s leadership we can amplify this further to the benefit of the work we do, and ultimately the results for our clients.”

The newly formed Up&Up Group, previously The M&C Saatchi Group South Africa, comprises M&C Saatchi Abel, Connect, Levergy, Razor, Dalmatian, Black & White and 2Stories. The Group’s focus has been on building strong strategic leadership across each of the companies and capabilities they represent, and Maja-Rasethaba’s appointment is a significant move in putting strategic thinking front and centre of the solutions the Group’s companies deliver to clients.

“Our strategic orientation for the Up&Up Group is one of driving absolute clarity – both as a strategic outcome, but also as a departure point for the solutions we deliver for our clients. And this is common across all our companies and the capabilities we deliver,” says Grace.