His promotion coincides with the recent appointment of Ben Evans, who relocated from the London office to head up OgilvyOne SA as National managing director.

Reporting to Evans, Wittenberg will be based in Cape Town and oversee OgilvyOne SA’s strategic creative direction for digital work in both the Johannesburg and Cape Town offices.

“I am thrilled that Nic will be leading our creative operation nationally and partnering with the management team to take OgilvyOne SA to the next level,” said Evans. “Our role is to deliver world class digital and customer engagement thinking for our clients, to give them a true competitive advantage, and Nic will be a huge asset in achieving this.”

Wittenberg is no stranger to the digital community, having previously held positions in the United States and South Africa. In over two decades, he has worked with numerous blue chip clients, including Volkswagen, Audi, Coca-Cola, South African Breweries (SAB), Mondelez and Unilever. Under his leadership, and working alongside Ogilvy & Mather South Africa’s chief creative officer, Chris Gotz, the Cape Town office has enjoyed success in the digital, social and mobile space in recent years, collecting awards at international and local award ceremonies.

“There are numerous reasons why this is such a great challenge for me, personally and for the agency. Though one of the greatest challenges and most rewarding will be working with the amazing talent and brands we have across both offices,” says Wittenberg. “I’m looking forward to further innovate within our field of expertise, instilling deeper intelligence into our work and fostering a brilliant creative ethos in everything we do.”

Wittenberg started his career at Y&R in Cape Town, before taking up an opportunity at Della Femina McNamee in New York. Shortly after 1994, he moved back to Cape Town to join Ogilvy & Mather Rightford Searle-Tripp and Makin (O&M RS-TM). In 1998, Wittenberg founded Electric Ocean, one of the first specialist digital agencies, which FCB later acquired, before becoming joint vice president/creative director at Phoenix-Pop, a San Francisco-based agency. He rejoined O&M Cape Town in 2009 and currently serves on its board of directors.

Wittenberg has been on the judging panels for both The Clio Awards and The Loerie Awards. His recent award-winning work includes #AudiA3Exchange for Audi and SAB’s Be The Coach for Carling Black Label, which, in 2012, received a Silver Cannes Mobile Lion, a first for South Africa. Other work includes VW’s Street Quest and Send Your Facebook Profile to Cape Town for Cape Town Tourism, which were respectively awarded a Grand Prix and a Gold at the 2013 Loerie Awards, and both of which were the only campaigns from the country to be shortlisted for 2013 Cannes Cyber Lions.