"I'm excited to be joining the Ultimate Media team at a time when I believe my experience can add value to their journey as new and exciting opportunities within radio get explored and embraced in the evolving landscape of audio solutions and partnerships," says Walker.

"It means that Ultimate Media can now offer a full radio and audio partnership service to our agencies and clients. Our strategy is not to become generalists but to remain as the radio and audio specialists and, to that end, we need the very best radio people on board," says John Walls, managing director at Ultimate Media.

"Walker is one of the most experienced and senior media strategists in the country. We're super excited to have her on board where she will head our planning and insights department," adds Walls.

Ultimate Media says that starting in the media industry at 22, Walker is a well-known figure in the industry, cutting her teeth as a strategist, media account manager and senior strategy lead respectively on some great legacy brands over the years. These have all contributed to an impressive resume of experience on a wide range of product and service categories. 

"In my most recent chapter as senior strategy lead on Shoprite, my respect for the power of radio within our South African media landscape, and particularly within the middle market has grown," says Walker.

Walker has worked on brands such as:

  • Delta Motor Corp. (Opel, Isuzu, Suzuki)
  • Telkom
  • Appletizer
  • 702 Radio
  • Unifoods (division of Unilever)
  • Vodacom
  • Incredible Connection
  • Chicken-Licken
  • Adcock Ingram
  • Guinness UDV (Now Brandhouse)
  • OLX, and
  • Shoprite.

"As an audience, South Africans still have one of the highest trust and engagement factors with the medium in the world," says Walker. 

"Add to that the current relative stability of radio in the context of ever-fragmenting media consumption, and you have a powerful combination to maximise impact and improve a brand's ROI," Walker adds. 

"Overlay that with being able to talk to your consumer in their own language and serving them creative and relevant content, which notably they are actively seeking to consume, and the medium truly can be a catalyst for behaviour change," concludes Walker. 

For more information, visit www.ultimatemedia.co.za. You can also follow Ultimate Media on Facebook, LinkedIn, X or Instagram.

*Image courtesy of contributor