About

I have over 15 years of experience in academia, starting at the North-West University in South Africa, where I lectured on Marketing Communication and Advertising. In 2008, I moved to the Department of Communication Science at the University of South Africa (Unisa) to lecture in Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations. I ended my tenure there as an Associate Professor in February 2021, when I was employed to lecture in Marketing at the University of Derby’s Business School.

Throughout my academic career, I’ve held positions in marketing consultancies. First as a marketing and layout specialist for three years and thereafter as a marketing account manager and consultant, principally dealing with market and consumer research for clients.

I have been granted prestigious awards in student success and retention, best research, and outstanding contributions to South African communication assessment from different industry bodies. In 2022, I was instated as a Senior Fellow of the HEA (SFHEA).

Apart from my industry and general academic experience, I am also excited to form part of the University of Derby’s EEED/Commercial work. I bring versatile experience to the field of training, facilitation and academic partnership. In this, I am currently acting as a facilitator on the Help to Grow Programme, a workshop creator and facilitator on the Enscite Programme and an academic partner on funded Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). I work closely with businesses in understanding and mapping areas for business improvement - especially as it relates to Branding and Marketing - to achieve their growth targets. I am passionate about helping businesses collaborate with the University on innovative projects that drive growth and development.

Teaching responsibilities

I teach mainly digital marketing modules, consumer insights, marketing metrics and applied research modules, all at different levels of academic study. I am particularly involved in the Business School’s DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration) programme, where I teach the first foundational module and also act as Deputy Programme Leader.

Research interests

My research interests hinge principally on inclusive marketing and employer and employee brands - how strategic communication can bolster these. I’ve also worked extensively on pedagogical research – academically and for industry clients. My research employs a range of epistemologies – from the more interpretive and critical to the more positive. Most of my work makes use of mixed methodological approaches.

Membership of professional bodies

• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Senior member of the Academy of World Business, Marketing and Management Development
• Vice President of the South African Communication Association (SACOMM) in 2017 and President in 2019
• Rated researcher by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF), in 2017, who subsequently awarded me with a Y-researcher grant, which is still currently active

Qualifications

• Baccalaureus Artium in Communication - North-West University, South Africa
• Baccalaureus Artium Honours with Double Major: Corporate Communication and Corporate Media - North-West University, South Africa
• Master of Arts in Communication - North-West University, South Africa
• Postgraduate Diploma (RQF5) in Outcomes-based assessment in Higher Education and Open Distance Learning - University of South Africa (Unisa)
• Doctorate in Communication (DLitt et Phil) - University of South Africa (Unisa)
• Certificate of Advanced Study (RQF7) in Technology Enhanced Learning - Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany

Recent publications

• Greeff, WJ. (2022). Engaging employees through employee and employer brand. In Strategic communication: South African perspectives. Oxford
• Greeff, WJ & Verwey, S. (2022). Image repair and Brand apology: South African brand reality. In Strategic communication: South African perspectives. Oxford
• Greeff, WJ. (2022). The tail wagging the dog: Tomaselli’s Contemporary Campus Life and why we are overdue for introspection as academics. S Afr J Sci. 2022;118(1/2) https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2022/12529
• Swart, C, Du Plessis, TC & Greeff, WJ. (2021). An integrated social media communication view on content marketing by South African non-profit sectors. SA Journal of Information Management, 23(1):1-9, DOI: 10.4102/sajim.v23i1.1366
• Greeff, WJ. (2021). Afrokology and organisational culture: Why employees are not behaving as predicted. In Routledge Handbook of African Media and Communication Studies (pp. 68-80). Routledge
• Greeff, WJ. (2020). Managing Contestation in Organizational Culture: Lessons Learned from the South African Mining Pidgin Fanagalo. International Journal of Knowledge, Culture & Change in Organizations: Annual Review, 20(1). DOI: 10.18848/1447-9524/CGP/v20i01/1-16
• Matlakala, M., Mgutshini, T., Greeff, WJ. & Chetty, D. (2019). Use of the semester system in undergraduate programmes for open distance education. Africa Journal of Nursing and Midwifery, 21(2):1-13. DOI: 10.25159/2520-5293/4802
• Greeff, WJ. (2017). The role of communication in managing the safety climate of construction site environments. Communicatio, 43(1):103-121, DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2017.1306575
• Greeff, WJ. (2016). National culture and organizational behavior: Why Fanakalo in the South African mining industry is a bone of contention, in Proceedings Academy of World Business, Marketing and Management Development, edited by G Ogunmokun & R Gabbay, Vol. 7, No. 1, July. (ISBN 978-0-9943178-4-1)
• Greeff, WJ, Mgutshini, T, Chetty, D, Matlakala, M & Moeketsi, RHM. (2016). Fostering institutional existentialism in the search for legitimacy, in Proceedings Academy of World Business, Marketing and Management Development, edited by G Ogunmokun & R Gabbay, Vol. 7, No. 1, July. (ISBN 978-0-9943178-4-1)