Thando Dhlamini

Background

About Thando Dhlamini

Currently employed at Unilever as a Customer Strategy Planner/Customer Development - driving sales through pulling the right NRM levers in promotion management, pack architecture, TTS management, landing distribution targets across all core packs and interfacing with supply chain in creating channel assumptions, demand forecast management, and Account Managers in driving sales across various channels, whom l also work closely with in developing channel plans and ensuring we bring these to fruition. I have experience in project management for new product innovations and product re-stage where l have worked in various projects with the R&D, Brand & Shopper Marketing team in developing trade stories, cascading these to account teams, setting up executional plans to ensure they are communicated in ways that drive high penetration. I have good understanding of P&L and interpreting it to understand how to grow category growth by increasing penetration, basket size and frequency of purchase. I have also gained valuable experience in contract negotiations and managing budgets to deliver the highest return on investments. I received recognition awards for my Standards of Leadership in being Agile and High performance. Prior to this, l worked at UDM International as a Sales and Marketing Assistant for 5 years where l did customer profiling, market research, reported on sales in the insurance sector. This function involved monitoring and tracking sales, reporting on company performance and devising strategies to drive sales. I reported directly to the Sales and Marketing manager and was greatly involved in major decisions that drove campaign successes. I was awarded the Outstanding Personal Growth award in 2017, and Committment to Excellence award in 2019 for creating and driving a successful and highly profitable sales campaign. Before my UDM tenure, l worked as a Commercial Risk Analyst (2011 - 2015). My role involved conducting research on companies and assessing risks. This is extensive research on the operational and financial risk of companies and this data was mainly used by Directors and company boards in merger and acquisition decisions. This also allowed me to gain experience and understanding of larger African markets as l conducted risk analysis on companies in Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia. I won numerous awards including Top KPI awards and Employee of the year. I am really driven and pride myself in the quality of my work, and the awards that l have won across various organizations and sectors are testament to the impact that l make.