Company Announcement - When 33 year old Pulane Isabella Twala joined Corobrik’s Durban office as Marketing Manager on 11 January this year, she was looking forward to bringing a fresh approach to this leading brick manufacturer which has been in operation for 113 years. A few weeks into the job, Twala is focused on making Corobrik the number one brand choice for clay bricks and paving products.Reporting to Corobrik’s commercial director, Musa Shangase, Twala’s key responsibilities are to oversee the company’s public relations functions, above-the-line marketing and brand management.
“The marketing team are doing a great job for the brand and I am looking forward to continuing this legacy, revitalising tried and trusted strategies and introducing new ideas where needed,” she said.
Twala grew up on the East Rand in Gauteng, obtained a bachelor’s degree in business administration from CIDA City Campus in Lyndhurst and has spent most of her 11-year career working in Johannesburg. Her last job before joining Corobrik, was Marketing Manager for the JSE-listed Aveng Group- Manufacturing Operations of construction, infrastructure and engineering companies. Here, she was responsible for managing all marketing activities for the group’s six business units, with a focus on promoting the brand.
Whilst working for Aveng, she was part of the task team that built and marketed a concrete factory at Tete in the north of Mozambique. She also managed the marketing of various newly acquired or newly merged business units.
Prior to that Twala was head of marketing at South African National Blood Service for five years where she managed a division of 22 staff members. Her key role there was stakeholder relationship management, building partnerships and networks with the media, large corporations and institutions.
She has also worked as advertising manager for Marketing Concepts at Vaal Mall Shopping Centre, responsible for events, promotions and exhibitions and was an account executive for Fishwick Printers and Du Toit Majola Advertising Agency in Johannesburg.
Her majors at university were marketing and human resources and marketing has remained her passion.
“I am a marketing all-rounder,” she says with a smile. “I consider myself an expert in brand auditing and overall brand management. I also have wide-ranging experience in media relations and implementing corporate identity programmes as well as change management, specifically geared towards brand identity changes.”
Describing herself as “a people's person, feisty and energetic”, Twala believes that one of her key challenges in her new job will be in the fast-developing digital arena, consolidating Corobrik’s position in the digital space and continuing to establish a strong digital reputation. A self-proclaimed “short-course freak”, she has completed numerous courses at different organisations in subjects ranging from financial planning and budgeting to performance management customer relationship management and media relations.
“I also work hard at keeping abreast of new developments in the industry and being at the forefront of the latest business trends,” she said. Besides Sotho, which is her home language, and English, Twala also speaks Zulu, Tswana, Pedi and Xhosa. When not spending precious quality time with her baby daughter, Zoe, whom she describes as her “light”, Twala is an art and music enthusiast and a keen follower of fashion blogs.