When new Marketing and Communication director, Dr Garth van Gensen, read the advertisement for the position he felt like it was written for him.
Van Gensen joined the institution on 1 September, coming from the University of the Western Cape where he served as Head of Department: Management Division. He still has unfinished business at UWC where he is supervising three PhD students.
“When I saw the ad I realised that it directly relates to my doctoral studies. I immediately went to the CPUT website and looked at the structure of the department and saw that it was a structure that could be used to implement the model that I propose in my doctoral studies. The third factor that convinced me that this was the job for me was when Dr Chris Nhlapo was announced as the new Vice-Chancellor.”
His doctoral thesis is titled A Design for Branding practices in a New South African Higher Education Landscape. The title for his mini-thesis, an elective for his MBA-degree, is Marketing Strategies and Strategic Decisions in Higher Education.
“To me there is a distinct difference between marketing and branding. I believe that institutions of higher learning should focus more on branding as that is sustainable and yields dividends in the long term. In my sense marketing is a very outward focus approach whereas branding is a more inward approach.”
With this in mind Van Gensen says there will be a heavy internal focus on current practices that will eventually influence the brand, “the so-called touchpoint analysis”.
“Branding is an experience. It’s about how you feel inside about someone or something and then you become vocal about that. There will be a focus on everything that influences the brand, what we refer to as the touchpoints. There are priorities including the in-classroom experience, sport, integrity of the exams etc. But what we don’t want is people to think that we will meddle in their affairs. Rather we will work together to enhance the experience for all stakeholders, especially students.”
Van Gensen is no stranger to the CPUT community having served as the Director of Advancement between 2009 and 2011.
“Being back has been like a homecoming. I’ve enjoyed seeing all the familiar faces and all the colleagues that I treasure.”
His previous experience includes a stint of eight years as the Regional Manager of Prestasi Brokers (now Indwe Risk Services), covering the Free State, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape.
He describes himself as a sports crazy person who can be found at Newlands Rugby Stadium on a Saturday afternoon following a morning park run.
Van Gensen is an independent director for the Western Province Cricket Association and chairperson of its social and ethics committee as well as a member of the WP Rugby President’s Trust Fund. He is also the deputy chairperson of the Central University of Technology Council and chairman of their HR committee of Council.
Van Gensen is married to Dr Dawn van Gensen, a lecturer at UWC, and has two adult children, Gareth, a chartered accountant, and Megan, a medical doctor.
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