Taweni Gondwe Xaba has been appointed as MD of The Hardy Boys. Source: Supplied.
Gondwe-Xaba joined Hardy Boys as the agency’s chief growth officer just one year ago, a role she assumed as part of the agency’s growth and business sustainability strategy. Having started out in advertising as an aspiring copywriter with The Jupiter Drawing Room in Cape Town, Taweni has come full circle.
Leading brands
Her 28 years of broad experience includes leadership roles at Interactive Africa, Associated Media Publishing, Viacom, Nation Publications Ltd, the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Mary’s Meals International. This has enabled her to work across a spectrum with some of the worlds leading brands, yet also with start-ups and powerful media entities.
She counts as highlights of her career to date the work with Oprah Winfrey on the launch of O, the Oprah magazine, together with interviewing inspiring leaders in the creative world such as Sir Terence Conran, Neville Brody, Oliviero Toscani and Ozwald Boateng. She also manages to combine a full family life with three teenage daughters and an entrepreneur husband, as well as leadership coaching and a public speaker. She likes to keep busy is an understatement.
Great privilege
Commenting on her new role, Gondwe-Xaba said she considered it a great privilege to step into a position that will see her play a key role in ensuring that The Hardy Boys continues to produce industry leading work that will drive the growth of much-loved South African brands for their valued client partners.
“I am thrilled by this appointment and motivated by the support I enjoy from the THB team as well as the executive leadership of Wunderman Thompson and WPP. The resonance of The Hardy Boys’ values with my own gives me the confidence to believe that this is really the right move for both. But above all, I am so proud to be working with such a roster of brilliant clients who have entrusted their brand partnership to the Hardy Boys, several of them over many decades. Partnerships that are also founded on shared values, trust, plus strategic and creative alignment to drive mutual growth. I am proud to come on board to help write the next chapter,” she added.
Positive force
Founding CEO of The Hardy Boys, Dale Tomlinson said; “Taweni has proved herself to be a positive force in the agency, driving numerous developmental programmes and optimising our client partnerships and delivery. She has championed the implementation of a comprehensive client service best practice initiative across our entire account management team and the impact is already being felt both internally and externally. It is this passion for The Hardy Boys and her commitment to raising our level of service to our clients through the work we do that has made it very clear to us that she should be leading from the front,” he concluded.
Gondwe-Xaba’s appointment comes at a time when Wunderman Thompson’s efforts to entrench its transformation agenda are gaining significant momentum across the company’s global footprint - a group-wide initiative by holding company WPP.
“We are super excited to have Taweni take on the MD role at The Hardy Boys,” said Miles Murphy, Group CEO of Wunderman Thompson.
“THB is a vital integrated agency in the WT Group in South Africa. And Taweni brings a depth of experience, knowledge, energy and vision which will help us make good on our promise to deliver growth for ambitious brands along with our ambitious people.”
