According to the Nedbank IMC Conference, van den Driest is the co-founder of the Institute for Real Growth (IRG), an organisation aimed at providing a variety of innovative programmes to connect leaders with peers and experts and foster an environment conducive to more humanised growth strategies.

In recent years, the concept of business growth has changed as organisations look beyond just delivering dividends to shareholders and more towards how they can contribute to addressing escalating social issues, says the conference.

At 2024's conference, van den Driest will provide insight into how those driving marketing agendas can facilitate a more human-centric and multi-stakeholder approach to business — one that focuses on employees, consumers and communities without losing focus on a company's financial growth.

The Nedbank IMC says recent IRG research found that those companies that performed best on revenue growth also cared most about the growth of their people (and their communities). The humanising shift is one that should permeate any organisation, from encouraging employees' passions to creating brands with purpose that can authentically engage with consumers. 

A self-proclaimed pragmatist, van den Driest has facilitated countless practical and purpose-led growth journeys for leading global brands, according to the conference.

Tebogo Motsepe, executive head of marketing strategy at Nedbank (the conference naming sponsor) has experienced the IRG programme firsthand. 

"I greatly benefited from van den Driest's vast knowledge and creative thinking, particularly when it comes to how marketing can play a crucial role in driving business growth in South Africa," Motsepe says.

Van den Driest's skills go well beyond the boardroom, says the IMC conference. He has co-authored a number of respected Harvard Business Review articles and is an accomplished author of several books. His expertise has made him a much sought-after global keynote speaker on the stages of:
  • Cannes Lions
  • BrandWeek
  • ESOMA
  • the MMA
  • the ARF, and
  • PMRG.
The conference will be held at the Focus Rooms, Modderfontein Johannesburg and online on Thursday, 19 September. 

For more information, visit www.imcconference.com. You can also follow the Nedbank IMC Conference on Facebook, LinkedIn, X or on Instagram. 

*Image courtesy of contributor