Commenting on her new role, Sakupwanya feels the timing is now right to embark on a new radio challenge; “Radio has always been my first love and with the current media landscape being quite ripe with opportunity – and the RAB strategy solid, my sleeves are firmly rolled up.

“I’m particularly excited at the prospect of championing the medium and helping marketers, media and creative agencies better understand and harness the power of radio for their brands”.

Sakupwanya joins the RAB at a time when the South African radio landscape today is immeasurably more exciting than it’s been in years.

The media landscape has exploded into an ever expanding smorgasbord of choice over the last few years, leaving marketers pressed for time, and less able to give each element of their strategy in depth attention;

“Apart from the fact that radio still offers exceptional value from both a numbers and pricing perspective, its strength still lies in the personal relationship it has with people.

As the RAB we are ideally positioned to work with stations, sales houses and agencies in gauging where their challenges lie in effective radio planning and creative execution, and then deliver on these in an impactful manner.

With mainstay RAB projects such as the RadioWorks Conference and RadioGAUGE having gone a long way in establishing positive perceptions of the RAB within the advertising and marketing industries, the next step to maintaining this focus is to continually share these skills and wisdom with our target market, ensuring that radio continues to dominate the SA media landscape well into the future”, she adds.

RAB board chairman Ryan Till says; “We are delighted to have Matona on board and look forward to the energy and insight that she’ll bring as we head into this next chapter in the RAB’s existence. The RAB currently holds a strong and solid position within the industry andcatapulting it to even greater heights will be an exciting challenge for her”.