Speaking on the appointment, Lynn Madeley, CEO of Havas Southern Africa, said, “We are delighted to have Mandy on board. Strategy is an integral part of our business especially today where brands and businesses are nervous about the future. We wanted someone who embraces data, digital and creative; someone who would help our clients navigate their way through a challenging and changing world. Mandy has the experience and the smarts that we need to help our clients be successful today, so they can be successful tomorrow.”
Leontakianakis began her career in advertising in 2002 as a copywriter and moved onto strategy in 2008. Over the years has worked with agency brands such as Mortimer Harvey, Joe Public, Aqua Online, Idea Engineers and TBWA to mention a few. Outside of agencies, she has also worked with research giants Millward Brown and Consumer Psychology Lab.
“Havas is a great agency with a vision I am excited by. The industry faces many challenges around defining agency relevance, and I believe there is great openness and dynamism at Havas, an agency who questions themselves rigorously and holds themselves to a contemporary standard for client-centricity. My aim at Havas is to work with all teams to build brands in a way that supports growth for businesses and people,” said Leontakianakis.
She brings with her a wealth of experience across a number of some of South Africa’s biggest brands in FMCG, financial services and the automotive sector.
Leontakianakis is an alumni of University of Cape Town, and has associations with Oxford University in the UK and Deerfield Academy in the USA.
