The M&C Saatchi Group in South Africa has appointed du Toit as creative partner (digital) and van der Merwe has been named the new creative director at the digital agency, Creative Spark, part of the M&C Saatchi SA Group companies.

Du Toit's primary task will be to continue to grow a world-class digital capability within the South African Group by partnering with founding partner and executive creative director (CPT) Gordon Ray, as well as Neo Mashigo, creative partner (group).

As the former executive creative director at Ogilvy + Gloo, du Toit was integral to the digital agency’s successes in Southern Africa over the last 10 years. In his career, he has worked on blue chip brands like Puma, Samsung, Castle Lite, Dove, FNB, and Allan Gray. He has accumulated a number of local and international awards and accolades over the years.

In addition to this digital appointment, van der Merwe will work across the Cape Town and Johannesburg offices. Van der Merwe was formerly at Aqua Wunderman and has led integrated, multi-platform campaigns for brands like Coca-cola, MTN, Mercedes-Benz, and Investec.

"The thing that really drives us, is creating beautifully simple solutions for an increasingly complex world. We call this 'brutal simplicity of thought'. Having Dallas and Ernst in the team will allow us to bring the very best of digital innovation and creative leadership to our clients in pursuit of this purpose," says Gordon Ray, founding partner and executive creative director.

"Ultimately, our goal is to become one of the most creative companies on the African Continent. So we are incredibly excited to have such dynamic digital leaders joining our ever growing group of companies," adds Mike Abel, founding partner and chief executive.

M&C Saatchi was established in 1995 when Maurice and Charles Saatchi left the agency they first founded, Saatchi & Saatchi. The M&C Saatchi Group comprises of 26 offices globally, with six separate companies in South Africa – one of which is M&C Saatchi Abel.

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