By Remy Raitt

Botha grew up in Bloemfontein and began his journey into the media landscape at the University of the Free State. There he ran the campus radio station and presented a sports show while studying a BA in Communications. Once he graduated he was keen to pursue a position in the press, but his father convinced him otherwise.

“My dad always told me that I was stupid to want to become a journo,” Botha says. “He said that journalists make no money, and that I was going to be poor. He took a bet with me that if we looked through the Sunday Times Career Section – we wouldn’t see a single ad for a journalist. He was 100% right. There was however an ad for an ad-sales person. My dad said ‘advertising is quite similar, so why don’t you try that?’ The rest is history…”

After a degree and post graduate in marketing Botha decided to specialise in media. “I started working as an intern under Chris Eyre at Publicis,” Botha says. “I then moved onto The MediaShop to work as a junior planner. Then moved onto Starcom for an 18-month stint under Gordon Patterson before coming home to work with The MediaShop for the past 10 years.” And, most importantly, he says he is “loving every day”.

Botha says the reason he loves his job is that it allows him to use both sides of his brain. A self-professed “alternative thinker”, Botha says being able to work with numbers and statistics while also conceptualising campaign ideas and creative solutions is very stimulating. “I feel like an artist and a scientist at the same time,” he says.

Another draw of the job, Botha says, is “you get to know a little about a lot.” “Every day I work with cellphone companies, retailers, banks, car manufacturers, and website designers. So you get to see the world from a number of different angles.”

During his time at The MediaShop, which billed roughly R4.5-billion (gross) in 2014, Botha has received a bevy of awards and accolades. In 2011 he was a judge at the Cannes Festival of Creativity and in 2012 was selected to sit on the jury of the International Festival of Media in Montreux.

In 2010 he was chosen as the Media Innovator of the Year. 2013 saw him chosen as one of the 200 Young South Africans to look out for by Mail and Guardian and as one of the Top 40 under 40 in The Media. Also in 2013, he was chosen as the Media Rising Star by the media owners of South Africa at the MOST Awards. Last year he was the recipient of the Cum Laude award for business achievement from his old stomping ground, The University of the Free State.

Botha says about his accolades: “Every award is very special for different reasons. The fact that someone else thinks I am doing a good job means the world to me. Recognition from peers, colleagues, clients and competitors is always very special.”

He says sitting on international juries was eye-opening. “You realise very quickly that South Africa is not that far behind when it comes to global media. There isn’t a heck of a lot that they do differently,” he explains. “I think our campaigns and our market in many cases is more complex, and therefore requires a lot of different thinking. It was great to get global exposure, but we are champs here in Africa. We should be proud of what we do.”

And although he is very proud of the local front, Botha says a few changes need to be made. “The senior management of our industry is too white, and not representative of the broader population. Digital is too small a part of our media scene, and the mobile revolution has happened. Better get on board.”

His advice for the next generation of agency hot-shots? “Have fun. Learn. Be brave. Differentiate yourself from the other 1000 people around you. Work really, really, really hard. PR yourself. Be on time. Check your spelling. Understand maths.”

For more information visit, www.mediashop.co.za or follow Botha on Twitter.