Wendy Verwey Bekker Email & Phone Number

Johannesburg, Gp, Za

Remote

• Staff management of African team based in Ghana, Nigeria and US, all in a remote setting (seven directs). Market development, driving growth in subscriptions and signings to the Label Services division through weekly staff video conferencing meetings (Google Meet), shared documents (Google Suite) and daily team instant messaging (Slack).• A&R scouting & analytics research, content acquisition, direct signing of Artists, Producers and Labels with or without advances / marketing funds as well as talent management. Moving relevant subscription clients up the value chain to Label Services.• Industry representation at trade events and speaker at conference panels (Acces - Ghana, South Africa, Dar es Salaam; The Music Imbizo - South Africa; DOADOA - Uganda; BIMC & Botswana-EU Policy Dialogue, Botswana) as well as online events (Bandustry, Ditto X IG Live, Tjoon Knowledge Drop, Mdundo Music Licensing).• Deal Negotiation with industry stakeholders and service providers: telecommunications companies, African-based streaming services / DSPs, physical manufacturers, rights management organisations and industry bodies.• Marketing, content rollout and influencer strategy recommendations within the Label Service division. Develop route to international market for African clients, or establishing a domestic presence for international and Diaspora artists. • Trade Marketing and playlist pitching of African and International content to editorial teams at streaming services: Anghami, Apple Music Africa, Apple Music MENA, Apple Music Turkey, Audiomack, Boomplay, Deezer Africa, Joox South Africa, Pandora, Simfy & Music Time, Spotify Africa, Tidal (Uganda), Youtube South Africa, Youtube Nigeria.• Sourcing of third-party PR and publicity service providers, as well as servicing of priority audio and video to top African media (radio, TV, online).

Remote

Ideate, develop, market and sell existing and new services & products surrounding: - Programmatic access to metadata and realtime data, eg. API access- Machine-learning powered recommendations, eg. Mood and Genre playlists- Automated playlisting and syndication, eg. Dynamic Brand playlists on streaming services- Custom data modeling reporting, eg. Local Popularity for promoters- Developer tools for interactive radio, eg. Dynamic on-demand scheduling

Pretoria Area, South Africa

- Manage strategies to achieve revenue and ticket targets for the festival. Oversee Marketing budget, media partnership ROI & write sponsorship proposals.- Implement updated systems and technologies, build new relationships to increase the festival’s competitive advantage & accelerate new audience development.- Report to the CEO and supervise a team of five directs dedicated to promotions, social media, content and graphic design.

City Of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Manage the International Rock & Pop Department: forecasts, budgeting, P&L and staffing. Present forward planning with customers eg. Musica, Apple Music & iTunes, Vodacom, MTN, Deezer and prepare for future partners eg. Spotify. Identify new business opportunities to generate alternative streams of income: tours, product bundling and merchandising. Report directly to the MD of UMGSA.

City Of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Supervise day to day activities of three directs, brief suppliers and oversee the rollout of marketing plans. Manage showcase events & press conferences for international acts eg. Aloe Blacc, Phillip Phillips, Carly Rae Jepsen. Project Manage the distribution of new business products. Facilitate negotiations between Artist management, rights holders, telecommunications companies and other entities eg. Justin Bieber’s management, Vodacom & Blue Label Telecoms.

City Of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Planning, creating, initiating and developing maximum exposure for international rock and pop artists signed to UMG. Prioritise acts and manage 25 - 75 releases at any time, from set-up through to Life Of Project. Create internal Marketing Plans, copywriting for ATL & BTL advertising, oversee ECRM programs and social media. Negotiate cooperative marketing activities, media buying and delivery of marketing material and content. Provide tour support and coordinate PR when International Acts visit South Africa.

City Of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Project managed UMGSA’s B2B. Executed launch, coordinated workflows and wrote the company B2B manual. Grew the database to 500 users in the first year.Account management of digital clients: MTN, Vodacom and Cell C. Publicity for international acts. Promotions at radio, press and online media.

Mba, Business Administration

Organisational Behaviour (A) Marketing (A)

Certificate, Macromedia Dreamweaver

Certificate, Macromedia Flash

Btech (Cum Laude), Fine Art