Lani Carstens is returning from Shanghai, China to take up the position of group MD of John Brown Publishing in South Africa, considered one of the leading custom publishers, whose clients include Pick 'n Pay locally as well as RBS, Orange, John Lewis and Virgin globally.
It has offices in London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Cape Town where it publishes the Fresh Living magazine for Pick 'n Pay. This magazine has been one of the top performers in the media field since its launch, growing month on month, despite the economic tough times, to become one of South Africa's top selling monthly food magazine.
Carstens spent two years as publisher at New Media where she led and grew a significant part of the business, before taking up the position of group business director at Titan Media in Shanghai, working on developing Women's Health China and other lifestyle titles. She has 15 years experience in publishing, initially as marketing manager for the women's magazine division at Media24, then launch publisher of Shape and FitPregnancy magazines.
In her new role at John Brown, she will oversee all SA operations with a further remit to lead John Brown's ambitions in China. She will report to Andrew Hirsch, the group CEO.
Carstens said, "My aim is to help drive growth in SA by developing innovative and engaging content solutions for clients across multiple platforms, utilising the passion and creativity of a committed team with the international resources of this dynamic organisation."
Andrew Hirsch CEO, John Brown says her publishing experience in SA and China and her wider communications expertise make her a good addition to the senior management team at group level. "She will lead our growth and champion our mission to bring global best practise and creativity to the market here."
Following the success of its first 300-page autumn fashion and beauty issue, published in May this year, woman&home has produced its second fashion and beauty magazine of the year - a guide to summer's hottest trends. Reportedly the top-selling women's English glossy in SA, selling 95 982 magazines a month, it expects this issue, out now, to do equally well.
A decade after launching in South Africa, leading health and wellness magazine, Shape is still encouraging women to ditch the fad diets and opt for healthier lifestyle changes instead. The October issue, out now, marks its 10th birthday and one of its top features include a Success Story special where the magazine catches up with reader's Success Stories featured over the last 10 years to find out whether these women have stuck to their goals and what they're up to now.
