Murishca Martheze is an accomplished Marketing Manager with over 15 years of experience in brand, digital, and loyalty marketing across leading South African and international consumer brands. She currently leads marketing for B well at Southern Oil, where she drives brand growth, strengthens market presence, and enhances consumer understanding of the health and lifestyle benefits of canola oil and B well products.
In her role, she oversees brand strategy, customer acquisition, and key partnership initiatives, and has been instrumental in launching B Well’s gamification and CRM programmes, positioning the brand as a preferred partner within the food industry.
Murishca’s career includes work with prominent brands such as Woolworths, Clicks, Timbercity, Pick’n Pay, Carrefour, Burger King, and Yoco. Her expertise spans digital strategy, loyalty ecosystems, strategic partnerships, and brand development, underpinned by a passion for storytelling and impactful communication.
1. What inspired you to pursue a career in marketing?
All the great South African ads produced in the 90s truly touched and inspired me to MOVE people with words and imagery, and influence buying decisions through great storytelling that is reflective of the country we operate in and the people we serve.
2. How do you balance commercial growth with promoting healthier consumer choices at B Well?
By delivering world-class products without compromise on quality or ingredients formulation, and always seeking to adapt to customers’ lifestyles, budgets, and needs. We exist to satisfy customers and provide them with the best ingredients for living. We want people to eat well and feel well with B-well.
3. What has been the most defining moment in your career so far?
Applying my locally honed marketing knowledge and skills to a retailer in the UAE by developing a Fresh Produce strategy that only the SA application could support, this work experience was the culmination of my talents and proof of my capabilities. When I was able to supersede my project deliverables and make a long-lasting positive impression, not just as an individual but as a South African marketer.
4. How have brands like Woolworths, Clicks, and Pick’n Pay shaped your leadership style?
Building these brands and working in these fast-paced environments with huge staff complements and millions of customers, demonstrated leadership that is adaptable, customer-centric, communicative, strategic, yet agile and always excellence-based.
5. How do you approach innovation in competitive markets?
We approach innovation by listening to customer demand, following trends, and surveying customers/ the market for input before we develop. Also, by testing and learning fast and pivoting. Innovation is a risk worth taking to set your business apart and give customers unique reasons for buying your product or choosing your brand.
6. What challenges have you faced as a woman in marketing leadership?
Balancing motherhood with professional ambition often comes with the added challenge of not being perceived as less committed because I have children. While women are capable of excelling in both family life and business, there’s an ongoing need to prove that capability. It’s a reality I’ve learned to accept.
As a female business leader, I’ve grown comfortable challenging assumptions, demonstrating results, and showing that professional success can coexist with a fulfilling personal life – and that one does not succeed at the detriment of the other. I also do not claim to be a superwoman, because superhumans don’t exist; we are all simply trying to live happy and fulfilling lives that build and do not destroy.
7. How did Survivor South Africa shape your resilience and decision-making?
Playing Survivor changed my life; it made me bolder in my personal life, whereas career-wise, I was always brave and willing to take risks. Personally, I never challenged myself to do things I might suck at or lose at, because I was so fearful of failure, so I wouldn’t try. Since Survivor, I try a lot more and have so many fears that held me back.
I would encourage anyone who wants to shake up their life and mindset or break a habit to apply to play the game that truly is the greatest game on earth. Players are changed forever; it’s not possible to go back to who you were before. Survivor also further proved how adaptable and resilient I am; nothing can shake or break me.
8. What advice would you give women wanting to build bold, impactful brands?
YOBO – you only brand once – so take the risk, be the first, try new things, and become known for something, playing it safe or staying under the radar, much like how some people play Survivor, does not equate to winning. Winners are bold, daring, and memorable, so place your brand in the market just as such. Know what your intent and purpose are, and work hard to fulfil them.
9. How can women stay relevant in the evolving digital marketing space?
Stay aligned to what’s trending on social media, do your research on reputable platforms too to validate and differentiate between real news and fake news, listen to customers (in the field and online), and always be teachable and trainable. Women should never utter the words “that’s too technical.”
Don’t allow equipment, hardware, or software to limit your growth; women can direct and manage digital spaces like paid media, strategy, and execution, too, often dominated by males. Let’s take our power back across all industries and areas.
10. What strategic impact do you hope to make as you progress toward a Marketing Director role?
Gain 30% market share within 1 year. Build a brand that every South African is aware of and understands. Generate organic talkability and shareability, and don’t depend on external media to tell our brand story.
11. How has furthering your studies, including your MBA, strengthened your leadership journey?
An MBA will help me to expand my business network, which opens the brand I am building to lucrative strategic partnerships.
12. What message would you share with women aspiring to lead in corporate South Africa?
Women don’t have to lead with steel; we can lead with kindness and softness and tact. Let’s lean into our feminine energy, instead of revoking or dousing it to “fit in”. Women have natural motherly instincts, which we can apply in the workplace too by nurturing talent, inspiring excellence, and cultivating a positive, creative space that people can thrive in.
We are not men, let’s own who we are and why we are, and be loyal to other women too, instead of competing with one another. Together, we can do greater things than our predecessors.
