Name and Company

Profile

Position

Adrian Hewlett is a UCT marketing graduate with a passion for sales and the advancement of the online industry. 

He founded the Habari Group in 2004 and has grown the company to become South Africa’s leading new media sales house and below the line promotions agency.  Habari Media exclusively represents MSN’s network, Sharenet and Careerjunction, to name a few, and runs offices in all major SA centres, as well as Lagos, Dakar, Accra and Maputo.  The below-the-line business, Habari Direct, has developed a unique offering in the South African market which allows brands to execute promotional activity rewarding high volume winners with high value lifestyle experiences.  He has also launched Justmoney – a financial comparison site.

In addition to this, Adrian is a founding member and current Chairman of the OPA.  He played an instrumental role in advancing the development of the OPA, growing its membership base from 20 – 79 members (including 18 agencies) in a single year. He has successfully headed up a team that has completely re-branded the OPA and increased the awareness of the online industry.  This culminated in the introduction and hosting of the first ever digital awards ceremony, The Bookmarks. 

He remains positive over the health of the online environment and believes that in these tough economic times, online will continue to show impressive growth stats as media buyers realise the potential of this medium to reach consumers.

Nikki Cockcroft graduated from UCT with a business degree in Information Systems. Nikki began her online career as IT manager for Acceleration, a leading online agency in South Africa. Within 9 months Nikki had progressed to Campaign Manager, whilst still managing the IT infrastructure.
In March 2003, Nikki joined 365Digital as Business Development Manager progressing through the ranks to become the CEO and saw a successful MBO of the business and the subsequent sale to Primedia.
In September 2007, Nikki was appointed CEO of Primedia Online which includes the likes of iafrica.com, the 365 sport brands and 365Digital.

Andrew “Tank” Lanning (38) is the editor and publisher of the recently launched www.sport24.co.za. Andrew is responsible for putting together what 24.com hopes to become the most comprehensive broadband and socially networked web 2.0 sports offering in South Africa.
He started his career in 1995 in Cape Town as a picture researcher / marketing apprentice at then Touchline Photo, now Gallo Images, was made head of the division in 1996, before starting the online division at Touchline Media and managing it from 2001. Andrew moved to 24.com to take up his current position in April 2007.
Andrew is a graduate of UCT with a social science majoring in Economics, and a post graduate diploma in marketing management. He has also completed a media management course at the University of Stellenbosch, and a Publishing on the Web course at Stanford University in California
Those with the best memories on earth might remember him as a 1989 SA schools tighthead prop who got a few games for Western Province when Keith Andrews was on Bok duty, while others might have come across him as the author of the Front Row Grunt blog on Sport24.
It was in 1995, at the ripe old age of 24, that a particularly serious neck injury forced him to give up playing rugby, but thanks to a solid piece of titanium and some fused cow bone holding his neck together, he is now able to partake in pretty much any activity he chooses, except rugby!
After a sensational few years at UCT, where rugby might have got more of his attention than the prescribed text books, he took an interest in the media world, especially the digital side of things. And for their sins, Sport24, have been lumped with him as their editor and publisher.

Josh Adler is Chief Executive of Prefix Technologies, one of South Africa’s leading software houses focused on solutions for traditional and new-media. He is also the founder of MIO Media, a small independent publisher focused on music industry skills and development. Both MIO Media and Prefix Technologies are OPA members.
Prefix has emerged as a content management and delivery powerhouse in South Africa with its industry-leading products - pMailer Enterprise and Preditor CMS for Publishers – now behind the success of many well-known publishing brands.
MIO Media’s Music Industry Online portal has been a cornerstone of the local internet content landscape since 1999 with its “industry-catalyst” content mandate.
Josh’s academic background is Computer Science while his professional background is in media publicity and journalism. This combination of experience provides a unique perspective on content, publishing and technology.
Along with his business interests, Josh is an active participant in various leadership initiatives and is an alumni of Brightest Young Minds, Common Purpose, NEXUS and the Cambridge Programme for Industry. He is also a trustee of the Buyani Education Trust and a sponsor of the Twenty30 professional volunteerism project.

Colin Daniels is the Publisher of The Times Online, the digital arm of The Times and Sunday Times newspapers, where he oversees digital strategy and runs the Avusa iLab, the company’s commercial innovation unit.
Prior to joining Avusa, Colin was a new media lecturer at the highly respected New Media Lab—a division of the Rhodes University School of Journalism and Media Studies—where he taught digital theory and production to post-graduate journalism students.
He is contributing writer to a range of media and technology publications and is also a respected conference speaker.
For the past 2 years Colin has held the position of Head of Research on the OPA Executive Committee.

Ben has been at the helm of Stonewall+ Digital Marketing since 2005 and has rapidly grown the company into a formidable force within the South African digital marketing landscape. His role has encompassed a combination of overall client leadership together with creative strategy for key accounts.

Ben is also a founding partner in sister agency, Stonewall+ Media, a separate online media buying agency that provides strategically led online media solutions to leading South African brands and marketers.

To date Ben has worked with leading brands and marketers that include: 5FM, Red Bull, General Motors (Chevrolet, Cadillac, Opel & Hummer), Miller Genuine Draft, Investec, Siemens, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Adidas, DSTV and Nintendo.

His accolades to date include:

• Founding committee member of the Digital Forum
• Loeries 2006 Chairman: Interactive Category
• Key Note Speaker 2006, 2007, 2008 (Various digital marketing conferences)
• 5 Construction New Media Awards
• 2 Loerie Awards (Silver & Bronze, 13 Finalists)
• Featured in 4 Taschen Publications, including Best Web Design Studio edition
• 2008 Digital Agency of the Year Finalise (Tony Koenderman Ad Review)