A bit about me :)
Natalie’s love affair with advertising and all things art direction has lasted over 15 years. In the past, she has worked for some of South Africa’s leading network and independent agencies where she was lucky enough to learn from legends on how to turn good into great and win some awards along the way. She’s been quite judgey in the past on both local and international awards juries and once she was even ranked No. 4 art director in Africa/Middle East. A recent highlight was being shortlisted among some pretty inspiring women in the top 5% of over 1300 applicants for the Cannes Lions See It women’s leadership programme 2024.
Having worked on and launched all sorts of global and local brands, from banks to telcos and from beer to fried chicken, she decided to make the leap to the UK, landing in her current role at McCann Worldgroup where she is leading campaigns for global B2B accounts like Mastercard, Fujifilm, Equinor and Reckitt.
Although she art directs from 9-5, from 5-9 she’s a keen side-hustler, taker of photos and maker of things. She loves running and podcasts which, it turns out, go quite well together. An obsessive Japanophile, her cat lady reputation precedes her which she doesn’t entirely hate, and neither do Miku and Chibi, her twin cats and biggest fans.
References
NADJA LOSSGOTT Chief Creative Officer / AMV BBDO
NICK HULLEY Chief Creative Officer / AMV BBDO
SHELLEY SMOLER Chief Creative Officer / Droga5 London
DAMON STAPLETON Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer / The Monkeys Aotearoa
BRAD REILLY Chief Creative Officer / McCann Enterprise
MARIANA O’KELLY Global Executive Creative Director / Leo Burnett Chicago
RAPHAEL BASCKIN Executive Creative Director / Saatchi & Saatchi London
Shelley Smoler
Chief Creative Officer at Lucky Generals
insightful concepts. I was taught that good ads are 80% ideas and 80% execution
and Natalie brings both of those things together effortlessly. And as if that isn't enough,
she's also a really nice and humble human."
Nadja Lossgott
Joint Chief Creative Officer at AMV BBDO
"Natalie is a brilliant and stand-out art director and thinker.
She has wonderful flair and style both in the work she makes and the
way she works. If you need a talented bubble of positivity, this is it."
Brad Reilly
Chief Creative Officer at McCann Enterprise
"Natalie is a Trojan Horse - she is unassuming, considered, even quiet at first, but it
doesn't take very long for the force of her talent to burst forth and storm the challenge.
Conceptually, her curiosity is insatiable and her ideas are ambitious and surprising.
Good news is she can actually execute them too because as an art director, she has
impeccable taste, meticulous attention to detail and a genuine love of the craft.
This is all matched by a work ethic second to none.
Despite all of that though, she is still quite a nice person."
Awards
Loeries 2011 - Print Communication: Craft – Edgars Shoe Affair - 1 Gold
Ad of the Month 2014 – OOH – 1st Place – Bryanston Parallel Medium
Loeries 2014 – OOH – Bronze – Nedbank Water Billboard
Loeries 2014 – Print Communication: Craft – Bryanston Parallel Medium - 1 Gold
One Show 2017 – Direct Mail – Merit Award – Never Unsanitary Pads
Creative Circle Ad of the Month 2017 – OOH Direct Mail – 1st Place – Never Unsanitary Pads
Loeries 2017 – OOH Direct Mail – Silver – Never Unsanitary Pads
Loeries 2018 – Direct Mail – Greatstock Poetry Book - 2 Golds
Loeries 2018 – Outdoor – Keep it 100 Burning Billboard - 1 Bronze
Loeries 2018 – TV Craft – Keep it 100 - 2 Silver Awards
Loeries 2018 – TV Craft – Chicken Licken Icelandic Boy - 3 Silvers
Loeries 2018 – Online Radio – Voicebank - 1 Bronze
Ad of the Month 2018 – 1st Place – Greatstock Poetry Book
D&AD 2019 – Direct Mail – Finalist – Greatstock Poetry Book
Loeries 2019 – Chicken Licken Soul Sisters – 29 Finalists
Ad of the month 2019 – Nedbank Secrets – 2nd Place
Ad of the month 2019 – Chicken Licken Soul Sisters – 3rd Place
Ad of the year 2019 – Nedbank Secrets – 3rd Place
New York Festival – Nedbank Secrets – 2 x Golds and 1 Silver
Pendoring Awards 2019 – Nedbank Secrets Sizwe – 1 Gold and 3 Silvers
Pendoring Awards 2019 – POWA - Abuse Disguised as Love – 1 Silver
Shots Top 100 2019 - November Chicken Licken Thato Time Traveller
Ciclope Awards Africa 2019 – Chicken Licken Thato Time Traveller – 3 Silvers
Loeries 2020 - Nedbank Secrets - Grand Prix for Film, Gold for Branded Content
Loeries 2020 – Chicken Licken Thato Time Traveller - 3 Craft Gold
Best Ads on TV 2020 – Eagen’s Journey - Top 5 of the week
Pendoring Awards 2020 – Eagen’s Journey - 2 Gold, 1 Silver
Pendoring Awards 2020 – SAB Castle Milk Stout - 1 gold
Bookmarks Digital Awards 2020 – Chicken Licken Soul Sisters – 1 Silver, 1 Bronze
Background
Education
2003 - 2006 BA Information Design degree from The University of Pretoria.
Core Subjects: Information Design, Visual Communication Studies, Art History, Marketing and Illustration.
Work History:
TBWA\ Tequila Jhb 2007-2007: Designer
TBWA\ Hunt Lascaris 2007-2010: Art Director
The Jupiter Drawing Room 2010-2013: Mid-weight Art Director
Joe Public United 2013-2013: Senior Art Director
Ogilvy Johannesburg 2013-2015: Creative Group Head
Joe Public 2015 - 2021: Creative Group Head
McCann Worldgroup 2021 - Current: Associate Creative Director
Judging
South Africa:
The Loerie Awards
Ad of the Month Awards
United Kingdom:
Creative Pool awards, 2023
Creative Circle Awards, 2024
Achievements
Cannes Lions See It Be It Program Finalist 2024:
I was shortlisted as one of 70 finalists out of over 1300 applicants based on a series of essay questions around female perspectives in our industry, previous work targeted at making a difference for women and ideas for how to mentor and make space for future female leaders in advertising. The writing process and panel interview was an invaluable experience.