Nielsen Sports South Africa’s Client Service Manager on what her job entails, her thoughts on the challenge facing the SA sports industry, and how she likes to spend her down time.
Q: How would you describe your job?
A: Building and nurturing client relationships, and being responsible for ensuring client objectives are met.
Q: What does an average day look like for you?
A: Daily communication with multiple clients and managing various projects from brief to completion with the production team.
Q: How’s business and do you feel the ‘belt tightening’ of the past two years is easing off or still in place?
A: We continue to see the significant impact of the Covid-19 pandemic within the sporting industry. However, I do believe it is slowly easing off. We, Nielsen Sports SA, are in a fortunate position that sponsorships need to be measured to determine ROI, so even though the industry has taken a dip, that dip still needs to be measured.
Q: What are your strengths and weaknesses?
A: Strengths: Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to handle multiple outputs simultaneously.
Weakness: A fixer mentality and a need to “save” others.
Q: You have a PR qualification from UNISA. How has this qualification helped you in your current position?
A: I’m able to utilise the lessons and insights from the PR industry to highlight the success and efforts of a campaign and provide strategic recommendations in all areas to clients. It has also assisted me with general communication across the board.
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Q: What role do you believe research and data should play in the South African sports industry, and is this currently the case?
A: To provide a deeper understanding of where value lies by auditing commercial rights and proposed future structures. The insights gathered from the evaluation of various commercial rights assets has the ability to assist businesses to better understand sponsor relevance, brand and audience synergies, as well as sponsorship alignment. We’ve worked – and continue to work – with reputable brands and rights-holders who are able to achieve this through our research.
Q: What’s your overall view on the state of the SA sports industry, from a commercial point of view, two years on from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and its resulting impact?
A: There is a clear and definite decline in the industry, particularly commercially – budgets are being reduced and restrictions on in-stadia attendance have resulted in significant revenue loss for rights-holders. Rights-holders are going to have to work harder than ever to turn the situation around.
Q: Do you think it’s fair to say that the SA sports industry, including administration, is male-dominated, and if so, what would you do to change the status quo?
A. Definitely. I still hope for a women-led and inclusive sports industry. There is definitely a significant gap in our media when it comes to women’s sports reporting, so I would start by increasing women’s sports coverage with the goal to transform young minds through inspiring and informative women’s sports content. Young girls could read an article and be inspired and demand more.
Q: Do you have a favourite team, sport, player?
A: Teams: Kaizer Chiefs and Vodacom Blue Bulls.
Players: Keagan Dolly, Janine van Wyk and Marcell Coetzee.
Sports: rugby and soccer.
Q: Away from work, what are your interests and hobbies, and how do you unwind?
A: I enjoy trying out new and different restaurants, spending time with family and friends, and watching live sport.
