By: Natasha Archary
Buli Ndlovu joins Gugulethu Mfuphi on Pivot Point to share how her courage to pivot aided her leadership.
With over 16-years of experience in marketing and numerous awards, Buli is the Executive Head of Retail and Business Banking Marketing at Nedbank.
Describing what she’s achieved in marketing as “fun”, Buli has earned a reputation as a strategic leader in the financial services industry.
Having worked with a number of prominent brands in the country, Buli’s “Do It Afraid” mantra, reflects her unwavering determination to overcome challenges which she faces in her role.
“I’ve had the incredible privilege of working with some of the country’s most-loved brands. Marketing for me is how you might address consumer’s needs, and connecting brands to the needs that the customer has.
Often as marketers we think, ‘Oh I’ve got this product that I need to sell, and approach it from a, how can I retrofit this to suit a need?’, as opposed to starting the other way around, and go, what problems are out there that we as a brand can address and play a part in.
I think this is the only way brands win and become loved by the people who buy into them.”
Buli Ndlovu on Pivot Point
Reflecting on her career, Buli Ndlovu shares that although what she does can be classified as a lot of fun, there are challenges, which includes taking a struggling brand and turning their image around.
“Having a voice in the boardroom is not just about presenting the fun stuff, you need to be able to hold your own and speak the language of the business by delivering the results.
As consumer’s behaviour changes, you need to be in tune with those changes, so you can perceive and evolve your approach and strategy to meet them wherever they are at their consumer journey.”
Giving an example of how important flexibility is in the world of marketing, Buli shared how Covid-19 forced her to pivot with a huge campaign and shifted her perspective to engage with consumers in a relative manner.
