A new generation of women leaders is overturning advertising’s legacy of gender inequality. Three WPP leaders share how they’re opening the way for more women to follow in their footsteps.
When Claudelle Naidoo, CEO of GroupM for Sub-Saharan Africa, part of the WPP network, started her agency career in data and analytics, she quickly discovered a disappointing reality: She and other women would do the work, but they were never given the opportunity to present it. Then, one day, her story changed. “There was one person who had an open mind and believed in me,” she recalls. “He took me into a meeting one day and he said, ‘You’re going to go up and you’re going to present this, and if you make a mistake, I’ve got you.’”
In that moment, Naidoo experienced firsthand how empowering it was to be given a voice, be trusted to use it and to feel supported.
Giving Women a Voice
That experience was a pivotal moment in Naidoo’s career and she’s been paying it forward ever since. “I’ve sat in many boardrooms in my life, and I’ve seen exactly how it unfolds,” she says. “Sometimes a woman is put in a powerful position but there isn’t an openness to inclusion and involvement and voices don’t often get heard. DE&I [diversity, equity and inclusion] cannot end at inclusion. It has to continue to involvement. This means it’s ok to get women, people of colour, or people who come from different backgrounds, in a boardroom, but do they actually have a voice?”
Now in a position of senior leadership, she makes a point of empowering other women and people who are different through support networks and actively involving them in discussions and decision-making. “If you’re going to drive real transformation then there has to be a real agenda of driving DE&I in the workplace,” she says.
Moving Up
Tebogo Skwambane, WPP Country Manager for South Africa, believes equality is a multifaceted concept that includes equal opportunity, equal pay, and making sure everyone has a voice.
Relatively new to advertising, having spent most of her career in other industries, such as in strategy consulting, with extensive experience working with clients in mining and other heavy industries, Skwambane has the perspective of being able to compare the industry to others she’s worked in. And she’s found it lacking.
“Overall, women frequently outnumber men in advertising,” she notes. “But my experience of the industry so far is to see a lot of women at mid and junior levels – and our numbers at WPP reflect that fact – but once you leap over into that senior level, it flips over, and there’s a pyramid situation where you get to the top and it’s almost completely male and that seems unique to this industry. You find men in those driving seats and decision-making roles, supported by strong and powerful women. The question in my mind is, why?”
Skwambane set about answering that question and her investigations revealed there was no shortage of women with the ambition and talent to rise to the topmost levels of leadership; what’s been lacking are the opportunities.
As Country Manager for WPP, which counts some of South Africa’s biggest agencies in its stable – including the likes of Ogilvy and VML – Skwambane is looking to address this. One of the ways is through mentorship. Stella is a global WPP initiative that Skwambane is promoting in South Africa. It’s a forum for women across the WPP network to connect and support each other, based on the premise that shared experiences can be empowering and there’s value to be gained in learning from those who have overcome the challenges you’re currently facing. Another WPP initiative, Inclusion as a Skill, is a 12-week programme that teaches people the importance of thinking inclusively and aims to entrench that way of thinking as a culture in the business.
Meanwhile, Skwambane is also working towards achieving 50/50 representation of men and women at senior management level to reflect the country’s population. “If women make up half the population in South Africa – and statistics suggest that is the case – then it doesn’t make sense for them to make up only a small percentage of the boardroom,” she observes.
Power of Representation
It’s difficult to aim for a goal when you haven’t seen evidence that the goal can be achieved. Someone who knows that only too well is Lerato Songelwa, the first black woman Managing Director of Burson in South Africa, a public relations agency in the WPP network. While it’s not unusual to see women in leadership positions in PR, the absence of black women role models during her career made Lerato conscious of the need for better representation. “While I could see women in leadership, I couldn’t see women who I identified with, being a black woman coming from Soweto,” she says.
Songelwa decided early on that she was going to take control of her own career. That meant having a clear idea of what she was after and the temerity to pursue it. It also meant eschewing some of the conventional wisdom that might have held her back as she looked for an environment where she could thrive. She found it at Burson and made a point of seizing opportunities that led to her rising through the ranks quickly.
“In the 8 years I’ve been at Burson, I’ve seen firsthand the power of strong leadership,” Songelwa shares. “I was fortunate enough to have strong women leaders who saw something in me, even when I doubted myself. Their guidance wasn’t just about the technical skills, but about navigating the complexities of the workplace, finding my voice, and advocating for myself.”
This experience ignited a passion within her – a passion to pay it forward. Today, Songelwa is known not only for her strategic brilliance but for her dedication to nurturing the next generation of PR powerhouses. Within Burson, she’s a champion for young staff, providing guidance and opportunities that foster growth. But her impact reaches far beyond the agency walls. Songelwa is also a dedicated mentor to PR students, sharing her insights on building a strong personal brand that aligns with their values and the values of the organizations they aspire to join.
“It’s about empowering them to own their narratives,” she explains. “To understand that their unique perspective is an asset, and that aligning their personal brand with their professional goals is key to a fulfilling career.”
Songelwa’s story is a testament to the power of mentorship and the ripple effect it creates. By lifting others as she climbed, she’s not only shaping individual careers but contributing to a more inclusive and empowered future for women in PR.
However, when the MD role came up, she still felt a nagging doubt. “I did not want to be given this position as a ‘token black girl’,” says Songelwa. “I had to be given this position because I deserved it and because I had room to grow the business to the next level. That for me was important.”
That doubt is an unfortunate consequence of being a pioneer and Songelwa – like Skwambane and Naidoo – is working to ensure that the next generation of women leaders never has to experience it. “Women play a critical role in driving transformation and promoting gender equality,” she says. “We need to be comfortable to advocate for ourselves by actively seeking those opportunities, negotiating for fair compensation and expressing our career goals. We are very hard on ourselves and it’s time that we change the narrative around how we look at things.”
“This is not just an annual or five-year focus,” adds Skwambane. “We’re changing to accommodate the next generation of people coming into the workplace.”