Primedia Unlimited is excited to announce the appointment of Louise Birkner (de Winnaar) to work across Group Sales within the company. Formerly Chief Sales Officer: Agency Sales at the Sunday Times, Louise’s name is synonymous with the 2009 Media Owner Sales Teams (MOST) Awards, initiated by AMF and Wag the Dog publishers. Louise led AVUSA’s national sales team to win the newspaper category, and the overall MOST Award, for the best sales team in the Media Industry across South Africa.

Within AVUSA, Louise climbed the corporate ladder from the post of Account Manager to that of Chief Sales Officer in a mere five years. She has previously held positions at the SABC; TNT Express Worldwide; and Sanlam, to name a few.

“I have been head-hunted for all of my previous positions and had numerous offers from competing companies during my career,” says Louise. “I declined all of these as I needed a growth opportunity that would enable me to operate at a more strategic level.”

“Louise brings a wealth of knowledge and achievement into the Primedia Unlimited stable,” says Ken Varejes, CEO of Primedia Unlimited. “In 2005, she received a Sales Achiever Award for service excellence, and in 2001, was recognised by the Media Industry as one of its top 10 sales people when she was presented with a MOMA Award.

We have eyed out Louise for many a year and are excited to offer her an opportunity where she will be able to grow from strength to strength,” he says. “We welcome her into our family and know that we will have a great working relationship together. We do expect to see Louise in our business for many a year.”