Thomas Oosthuizen has a doctorate in marketing communications. He is an honorary professor in business management at The University of Johannesburg, a board member of the Independent Institute for Education at Advtech and an advisory board member of the Vega Brand School. He is also a board member of the Luthuli Museum.

Thomas worked in marketing (research and advertising) positions in Colgate-Palmolive and ABSA, and as head of strategic planning for Draft FCB. He ran his own advertising agency, O2 Communications, for seven years. During this time, they strategised and managed the global launch of AngloGold Ashanti and on the NYSE; they launched Outsurance and they launched et.tv. It included all facets of these launches, from developing the strategies, to the brand identities and all aspects of their communications to staff and the marketplace. The company consulted to Anglo American plc on corporate communications for seven years.

Under the leadership of Thomas, O2 developed a number of advertising campaigns for Emirates and developed the brand name and identity for the Sasol Chevron GTL joint venture in the UK.

Thomas initiated – with Investment South Africa, the early development of the (SA) International Marketing Council. He was nominated Advertising Man of the Year by The Star in 2002.

Today, Dr Thomas Oosthuizen runs a brand strategy agency – BrandWealth - with offices in the UAE and Johannesburg. His clients include MTN – for whom he has done assignments in areas like brand strategy, brand architecture, segmentation and sponsorship measurement; Bidvest – for whom he was instrumental in developing a corporate communications strategy and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank – for whom he developed a brand strategy.

Thomas has a passion for accountability in marketing – ensuring that marketing investment is well targeted and measured.

As part of his passion for ensuring  that the brand strategy, stakeholder support and brand sustainability are business-sound and adhere to global best practice, Thomas Oosthuizen specialises in:

• Developing new business and brand initiatives within client industries.
• Writing brand strategies: strong strategic competence in assisting brands to become globally competitive within emerging economies.
• Writing and developing integrated marketing and communications strategies.