, March 19 -- In no particular order, the finalists are Dr Melanie Van Rooy, head of marketing at Clicks Retailers; Arne Rust, brand director of Carling Black Label, Hansa and Lion Lager, Africa at SAB (AB InBev); Doug Place, chief marketing officer at Nando's Africa, Middle East, South Asia; and Grant Macpherson, chief marketing officer at KFC Africa.

This year, entrants had to demonstrate outstanding leadership in all areas of business and brand growth; modern marketing; internal culture; and sustainable transformation over the past 24 months.

Themba Nobanda, CEO of Brand Spear and chairperson of Marketer of the Year selection committee, says each entrant was interrogated against these principles to identify SA's stand-out marketers....