Catch advertising mogul, Odette van der Haar, at the 2017 Nation Brand Forum hosted by Brand South Africa.
Odette van der Haar is the CEO of the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) which is the recognised industry body of the advertising and communications profession in South Africa.
She joined the ACA in October 2007 from Sentech Ltd where she headed the company’s advertising, events and sponsorships portfolio.
Her experience and knowledge gained locally and abroad are as a result of having worked for leading companies such as African Technology Holdings Group of Companies, South African Post Office Limited, Siemens, BP Southern Africa, Mutual & Federal and Rentworks holding positions in marketing, business development and strategy.
Odette currently serves on the boards of the ACA, AAA School of Advertising, the Media and Marketing Collection Agency (MAMCA), Centre for Communication Impact (CCI) – formerly Johns Hopkins Health and Education in South Africa and the SACAP CSR (South African Council of Architectural Professionals Communications and Stakeholder Relations) committee. She also served a full term on the Board of the Brand Council of
She also served a full term on the board of the Brand Council of South Africa, she was a custodian of the “Take a girl child to work” initiative and served on the MAPPP SETA board of directors. Odette is involved in various community projects
Odette is involved in various community projects and charities and is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Global Leadership Network African chapter – African Leadership Initiative. She holds a Higher Diploma in Business
She holds a higher diploma in business management and has completed various courses in marketing and insurance
Odette is highly respected in the advertising and communications sector. Her opinion
on industry matters is regularly sought and she is often profiled and quoted in the
media. She has been featured in publications such as the Financial Mail’s Little Black
Book, the Mail and Guardian’s Book of South African Women and The Annual to name a few. She is often called upon to serve as a judge on numerous prestigious industry award programs including but not limited to the APEX awards, AdFocus, AdReview and PICA awards.
Recently, Odette was recognised for awards such as woman of the year, the most
influential women in business and government, and the most powerful women in South Africa in digital marketing.
