Doug Place

Doug Place is Global Chief Growth Officer at United Exports, the company behind OZblu® blueberries, where he leads global growth strategy across brand expansion, consumer engagement and market partnerships. He is also Co-founder and Chairman of Neon Octopus, a technology-led data insights company.

A highly accomplished marketing executive with close to two decades of experience across food, beverage and retail, Doug is perhaps best known for his tenure at Nando’s South Africa, where he served as both Chief Marketing Officer for the IMEA (India, Middle East and Africa) region and later as Chief Strategy Officer. Under his leadership, Nando’s was consistently rated one of South Africa’s best marketing organisations, and was voted the most admired brand to work on in the media and advertising industry (ahead of Apple and Nike), a position Nando’s has held since 2017.

Before Nando’s, Doug was Marketing Director at Ster-Kinekor Theatres and held senior marketing positions at Cadbury (now Mondelez) and Snackworks AVI, having started his career as a Business Analyst at Capital One in the UK.

Doug is widely regarded as one of South Africa’s finest marketers, having received over 100 marketing and advertising awards. He was recognised as the 2024 MAA Marketer of the Year, having been a runner-up for the same title in 2021. In 2018, he received the Marketing and Innovation Award at the Loeries, becoming the youngest person to hold that accolade.

A Wits graduate with a B.Com Honours degree (cum laude) in Finance and Marketing, Doug was the top graduate in the Commerce faculty. He is a registered Chartered Marketer (CMSA), sits on the MASA Board and has served as Chairman since 2022. He completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School in 2023.

He is married with three kids, supports Liverpool, and plays rock and roll guitar for one of South Africa’s most promising hard rock bands.