Curriculum Vitae Jana du Plessis-Muller +27-83-441-**** ac714p@r.postjobfree.com

Personal Details:

Date of Birth 14 February 1980

Address Diemersfontein Wine Estate, Wellington, South Africa

Secondary Education:

Die Wilgers High School, Pretoria (matriculated with 3 distinctions in 1998)

Tertiary Education:

MA in Creative Writing Rhodes University (obtained with distinction March 2016)

Diploma in Copywriting Vega The Brand Communications School (obtained 2004)

BA Publishing University of Pretoria (obtained 2002)

Work Experience:

Freelance & Contract Positions since May 2013 at the following companies:

Creative Director, Copywriter & Content Strategist (Freelance) February 2017 – present

I freelance for a range of clients and agencies, including Friends of Design Academy of Digital Arts; Design for development; FCB / Hellocomputer; Conversion Advantage; and the DGB group.

Creative Director (Full-time) Conversion Advantage July 2017 – September 2018

Clients: Pet Insurance Australia, BabyLove Australia & New Zealand, Navicle (Australia & USA), Safari Outdoor (SA), Shamwari Private Game Reserve (SA), Bravecto® (SA), Simonsig Wine Estate (SA)

Conversion Advantage, a digital marketing agency based in Paarl, South Africa, appointed me as Head of Digital Content in July 2017, and promoted me to Creative Director in September 2017. I oversaw all digital strategy and creative concept work that came through the agency for our clientbase of national and international brands, while managing a team of strategists, copywriters and designers.

Senior Lecturer (Contract) Concept Interactive Institute March – April 2017

The Concept Interactive Institute approached me to launch a Critical and Creative Studies Module for the Entrepreneurship and Project Management Diploma students. I created, oversaw and lectured the module for a period of 6 weeks, including curriculum development, student evaluation, and summative and formative assessments.

Copy Group Head / Senior Copywriter (Contract) Crio November 2016 – January 2017

Clients: Computicket Brand, Computicket Travel, MTN Solutions, Karusaf Karoo Lamb

As creative group head at Crio, an innovations agency based within The Jupiter Drawing Room, I managed the TTL campaigns for the above clients – with a strong focus on digital – along with the Senior Art Director/Group Head, while managing and mentoring a junior to mid-weight creative team.

Senior Copywriter (Contract) Primedia Broadcasting September – October 2016

Clients: KFM, 947 Music Radio, 702 Talk Radio & Cape Talk

Senior Copywriter (Contract) Saatchi & Saatchi June – August 2016

As senior creative, I headed up the PMI (Marlboro & Chesterfield) TTL accounts in terms of copy direction, as well us provided concepts for Rhodes Brand, KWV and Harley Davidson, while overseeing a junior to mid-weight creative team.

Senior Creative Strategist (Contract) Design Infestation January – May 2016

Clients: Old Mutual, STBB Law Firm, IBTC Education, Open Design Festival, Cape Town Tourism

During my 5-month contract, I worked as creative and content strategist, overseeing content for all clients, as well as providing strategic and creative direction in the design and online space.

Senior Digital Strategist (Contract) Jolly Good Digital Oct 2014 – Dec 2015

Clients: Nissan SA, Montego Pet Nutrition, Tygerberg Animal Hospital

As senior creative and strategist, my responsibilities included overseeing all content and concepts, implementing creative campaigns, and providing strategic and creative direction in the digital space for our clients, and managing a small team.

Senior Copywriter & Creative Strategist (Contract) King James November 2013 – September 2014

Clients: City of Cape Town, Oxford University Press (SA), Burger King (SA), Johnnie Walker (Africa)

I worked at King James as senior copywriter and creative strategist, overseeing content strategies and digital TTL campaign concepts, while managing a team of junior creatives.

Online Content Manager (Contract) New Media Labs May – July 2013

I was responsible for the management of the online platform: We Love, a community-based platform showcasing the places Capetonians are passionate about. Responsibilities included content creation, planning, editing & curation; creative concept implementation and content strategy.

Full-time Positions from 2004 to 2012 at the following companies:

Digital Copywriter / Content Strategist (Full-time) Publicis Machine March 2012 – March 2013

Clients: Citroën (SA), L’oréal Paris (SA), Garnier (SA), Marmite (SA), Appletiser (Global), Patrón Tequila (SA), El Jimador Tequila (SA), Southern Comfort (SA)

After 6 months of working as digital and content copywriter, I was promoted to head up the social media/digital department in terms of creative and strategic output, and managed a team of social media managers based in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Responsibilities included management of content strategists and social media team leads; overseeing content strategies, conceptualisation & implementation of digital campaigns as well as reporting and analytics.

Copywriting & Advertising Lecturer (Full-time & Part-time) Vega School of Brand Leadership March 2007 – February 2012

As a branding and advertising school, Vega offers a three-year Bachelor’s Degree that teaches students all aspects of copywriting and advertising to prepare them for industry. During my five-year involvement at Vega, I taught across the Bachelor’s Degree, and after one year of teaching was appointed subject navigator (Department Head) across Vega’s three campuses, as well as head of first year on the Johannesburg campus. Role included group as well as one-on-one teaching, curriculum research & development, industry networking, curriculum writing and implementation. In 2010 I moved to a part-time position on campus to focus on my side project: novel writing, and as a result published two novels.

Copywriter (Full-time) Tourvest Travel January 2006 – February 2007

As in-house copywriter I was responsible for all material created by the marketing department, including brochures, newsletters, websites and print advertising for our travel clients, Absolute Travel and Tourvest Travel.

Features Writer (Full-time) Siyaya Publishing June 2005 – January 2006

Writing and editing of travel features and articles for two in-flight magazine titles called abouTime & indwe. Job entailed travelling to destinations within Southern Africa for research and interviewing purposes, writing and editing articles and supplying finished work on deadline.

Radio Copywriter (Full-time) Jacaranda 94.2 August 2004 – May 2005

Responsibilities included on-air content and creative conceptualisation of on-air competitions and generic ads for Jacaranda 94.2fm, a Gauteng-based music and entertainment radio station.

Writing Career Highlights:

Novel: Vat ’n gap. South Africa: Tafelberg Publishers, 2011

Novel: Mieke rock uit. South Africa: Tafelberg Publishers, 2012

Stage Play: Trappe van Vergelyking (writer, director & producer), Feb 2012

Featured on Magazine Cover: Rapport Magazine, My Tyd, June 2012

Short Stories in Literary Journals

‘Your Spanish Fling.’ Fanzine. September 2015. http://thefanzine.com/your-spanish-fling/

‘Instagrammed.’ Itch. Issue 15, 2015. http://www.itch.co.za/writing/instagrammed

‘South African Women.’ New Contrast, 2017. http://www.newcontrast.net

Magazine Articles/Essays

‘Women. Bodies. Self.’ Entropy. September 2015. http://entropymag.org/women-bodies-self/

‘FreeTheTits.’ Entropy. October 2015. http://entropymag.org/freethetits/

‘Mad Women.’ Entropy. May 2016. http://entropymag.org/mad-women/

Awards & Achievements:

Bronze Loerie Award, 2012, Integrated Campaign Category: Marmite SA

Gold Bookmarks Award, 2012, Digital Integrated Campaign Category: Marmite SA

Publicis Machine Wolves Programme: Chosen as a member of Machine’s internal management & training programme

Master of Arts in Creative Writing Awarded With Distinction in March 2016

References:

Paul Wessels, Rhodes University, MA Creative Writing Coordinator

Email: ac714p@r.postjobfree.com Cell Phone: +27-79-578-****

Stacy Hardy, Rhodes University, MA Creative Writing Lecturer

Email: ac714p@r.postjobfree.com Cell Phone: +27-72-782-****

Brian Palmer, Jolly Good Digital, Digital Director

Email: ac714p@r.postjobfree.com Cell Phone: +27-83-415-****

Christo Maritz, Design Infestation, Founder & Executive Creative Director

Email: ac714p@r.postjobfree.com Cell Phone: +27-83-457-****

Sonja Fahn, Brand Union, Creative Director

Email: ac714p@r.postjobfree.com Land Line: +27-21-486-****

Thinus Janse van Rensburg, Group Account Director, Conversion Advantage

Email: ac714p@r.postjobfree.com Cell Phone: +27-82-940-****

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