Dr Johan Bolt

B.Com (Hons), MBA, D.Com

After a distinguished academic career (Old Mutual gold medal for best student in Business Administration and Abe Bailey bursary for leadership and academic accomplishments), studying and lecturing in Marketing and Strategy at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Business Economics, Johan joined Fedfood in 1981, where he held the position of Group Marketing Director of Table Top Foods, responsible for both consumer and trade marketing.

In 1987 Johan joined J Walter Thompson as Strategic Planning Director. He left JWT in 1989 to help form the SBBW Partnership as Director of its highly regarded Strategy Unit. He was appointed as Managing Director of the Acuity Group’s Compstrat Business Unit in 1999.

In April 2002, Johan left the Acuity Group to start his own brand strategy consultancy, Johan Bolt and Associates, ( now known as Johan Bolt Strategy) which has flourished thanks to the support of blue chip clients such as SABMILLER ( South Africa, Russia, Poland, Hungary, Vietnam and Latin America), First Rand Group, National Brands, The Coca Cola Company, Appletiser, Shoprite Checkers Group, Premier Foods, Tiger Brands, PepsiCo, Simba, SASOL, Sanlam, KWV, Clover, Famous Brands, Cell C, Parmalat, Standard Bank, Foodcorp, Ferrero Rocher, Nampak, Plascon, Liberty, Libstar, Pharma Natura, Aspen, Pick n Pay and the like.

Johan often acts as a keynote speaker at business school programs, business seminars and client conferences on strategy, branding, neuromarketing and leadership.

He co-authored “Business Strategy & Product Policy” with Prof. S. Marx in 1983. He has never stopped learning.