Alumni spotlight: Charl Bassil
- Heather Dugmore
After years abroad, including working as the BBC’s first ever chief brand officer, this Wits alumnus shares why he’s returned home.
The last time Wits Alumni Relations featured Charl Bassil (BSc Eng cum laude 1994) in 2019 he was in Stockholm preparing for his appointment as vice-president of global marketing for the Absolut Vodka brand.
In March 2024 he made another major move to the UK, serving as the BBC’s first ever chief brand officer. He has since returned to South Africa to take up his role as group chief brand and marketing officer for Sanlam in Cape Town from 1 April 2026. Clearly, the man is in demand!
“I had an amazing two years at the BBC and I could have continued there for the rest of my working life, but when Sanlam made the offer, my wife and I thought long and hard about the next seven years with our three kids and we decided we really wanted to come home to South Africa and be near family and friends.”
The Bassil family have been away for over seven years, five of them in Sweden and two of them in the UK at the BBC. The BBC position came about through the power of networks, coupled, of course, with his experience and ability.
Charl explains: “The former chair and CEO of the Absolut Company, Anna Malmhake, was the person who enticed me to Sweden. We worked really well together, but she then moved to the UK. She is an influential business leader with extensive experience in brand building. At a media event she attended with the heads of the BBC, she was asked who she would recommend to be the first chief brand officer for the BBC. Her reply was rather flatteringly that they should call me.”
This led to Charl heading to London in the summer of 2023 to give a presentation to the BBC about how he would build the BBC brand. “It was in line with their vision is to be the world’s first global digital public service media organisation, and required a brand strategy that would upscale their local and international digital presence on multiple platforms,” he explains. “At the same time they needed to increase their engagement with local audiences so that that the 25 million households and 60 million people in the UK would experience increased value in return for paying their annual licence fee, which is a key revenue source for the BBC.”
“What do you want your legacy to be?”
Charl was offered the position, but before deciding whether to make the move and relocate his family from Sweden, he had a conversation with Tim Davie, the then director general of the BBC. “I asked Tim how he would square a move from a corporate commercial role to a public service broadcaster. He replied with this question: ‘What do you want your legacy to be? Do you want it to be another flavour of vodka or do you want to come and help us to fight for freedom of speech? He had me and I joined.”
In his role as chief brand officer, Charl says: “Looking 10 years ahead, the goal is to see a brand that is even more relevant than it is today, bringing truth and creativity to bear, and being consumed by all age groups in a way that suits their watching preference.”
To drive the digital first strategy, Charl explains “requires bringing BBC content to where the audiences are, and this includes partnering with platforms such as YouTube and Netflix for the digital generation. We announced the YouTube partnership in the third week of January this year and it goes live in about April, with BBC content on YouTube going forward.
“At the same time, we had to win the hearts of TV audiences, and to have families gathering to watch their favourite content together; content that is universally popular, such as ‘Celebrity Traitors’ and ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. We increased the commissions for homegrown storytelling and creativity from local writers, actors and production companies – it’s called the ‘Made of Here’ campaign, and it is a ‘local is lekker’ strategy, investing back into the UK. It also includes bringing people together around big moments, like festivals, football matches, elections and coronations.”
“Be bold, be free, be yourself"
Charl says he was very well received at the BBC “by creative, kind, warm people”, and was never treated as someone from a different country who had taken a British person’s position. “At first I was a bit cautious about speaking outright about what needed to be done, but then the DG came to me and said: ‘You are one of us. Be bold, be free, be yourself!’.”
A major media organisation such as the BBC inevitably needs to deal with a range of contentious, difficult issues. It led, in part, to DG Davie resigning, despite the unanimous support for him from the BBC board and the people that work for him. In a statement Davie said: “Overall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director general I have to take ultimate responsibility.”
“It makes me sad and even a bit angry that it led to this because the BBC is unequivocally committed to doing the right thing, pursuing the truth and delivering impartial news,” says Charl. “With populism on the rise, it goes with the territory that there are those with an agenda trying to undermine the BBC. One of my colleagues in South Africa taught me a truth that in all companies you have to rise above the noise, do your job and keep a cool head. There is so much positive value the BBC brings to reporting and content.”
To ensure content authenticity, BBC Verify is a specialist unit dedicated to fact-checking, countering disinformation and analysing news content in all its forms – written, photographs and videos – in real-time to determine if it is authentic or altered such as through AI. “I included it as part of the BBC’s ‘trust is earned’ pillar,’ says Charl who feels he left the BBC brand in good hands.
“There is a far more confident brand team, built over the past two years,” he says. “They are more strategically engaged in the future of the brand and audience. Previously they saw themselves as delivering a service to the business, now they see themselves as strategic partners.”
Life in the UK
Charl and his wife Dominque have two boys, Daniel Jordan (13) and Pier Luke (11), both born in South Africa, and a little girl, Ella Gia (3) who was born in Sweden.
“We lived in a wonderful little village called East Horsley, near Cobham in Surrey. We chose this village as it is close to a good Catholic boys’ school and the beautiful Surrey Hills. We are practising Catholics and there is also a lovely church here called the Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church.
“The first six months of schooling in the UK were tough for the boys as they came from an international schooling system in Sweden to an all-boys school in the British system, where they wear uniforms and it is far more strict. But once they had adapted, they loved it; they even enjoyed wearing a school uniform. Fortunately they both enjoy their sport and academics and they made good friends. It’s very free for kids there - they meet their friends on their bikes and can ride around and go to the park without parents worrying about them.”
The train station was up the road from their home, and Charl took the 46-minute train ride to Waterloo Station, then the underground to Oxford Circus, followed by a short walk to the BBC in Portland Place. It meant a total commute of one hour and fifteen minutes, and he used the time to catch up on emails and correspondence.
Rich tapestry of cultures
“We were warmly welcomed to the East Horsley and Cobham community, and there are quite a few South Africans there,” he explains. “On one occasion while watching rugby at a pub called The Old Plough in Cobham, a petite English lady told us that her husband is from South Africa, and then added that with so many South Africans in Cobham, they are going to rename it Cobstantia!
“There’s even a South African shop there called Billy Tongs, owned by a guy from Gqeberha/Port Elizabeth, where you can buy SA favourites like biltong, Flings and Wilson’s toffees. Fortunately we could also indulge in SA treats when we came to South Africa every December, first to Klerksdorp to see my mom and then to Cape Town. It’s always been important for us that our children know they are South African. What was good about the UK experience is that although we were effectively immigrants, we didn’t feel like it.”
Charl’s and Dominique’s forebears were immigrants from Lebanon and Italy to South Africa, so their homes were always full of people from other countries who didn’t have a place to go for celebrations like Easter and Christmas. “Sweden gave us as sense of what it was like to feel like an immigrant when we first arrived there as the culture is so different, but we adapted and loved it,” says Charl. “The UK was a far more familiar culture and it was much easier to adapt.
“We had old friends from South Africa there, we made new friends, and we hosted a lot. Dominique is an exceptional chef who can produce feasts from a range of cultures – Italian, Lebanese, South African and Swedish. We even hosted an evening to celebrate the Swedish mid-summer with parents from the boys’ school. Dominique made a number of the traditional Swedish dishes, I brought out the Absolut Vodka and we sang Swedish songs. It reminded me that when you live in different places, you end up with a rich tapestry of cultures. And now that we are returning to South Africa, we do so having had some incredible experiences.”
Their aim is to find a home in the Cape Town suburb of Fresnaye where they lived before heading to Sweden, and settle their children into good schools. In his role at Sanlam, Charl’s goal is to consolidate all their brands. “It’s a meaty role and I understand the culture of the organisation,” he says. “I also want to use my role to help people build confidence in their future.”
South Africa has so much to offer the world
At the Nedbank IMC 2025 — Africa’s biggest marketing conference — Charl was the keynote speaker. “The message I left with the audience is that South Africa has so much to offer the world. There is a magic here that comes from people’s resilience and creativity in dealing with the many challenges the country faces. South Africans don’t get stuck when something goes wrong; they get creative, and this sets us up as experts in managing all kinds of situations. It’s a wonderful gift we are given.
“I also drew on legendary management leader Peter Drucker’s saying, ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’. You can have the best strategy in the world, but unless you focus on the culture of the organisation, even the best strategy will not come to light. Culture is everything, from the language you use to the way people treat one another. And while the term ‘organisational culture’ is used all the time, it is rare to see it positively practised.”
Wits taught me to be open and curious
Charl grew up in Klerksdorp and came to Wits in 1991 to study mechanical engineering. His first job was in production management at Procter & Gamble, but he soon realised he preferred strategy and growing brands and businesses. He subsequently worked across multiple brands, including SABMiller, Pernod Ricard (including Absolut Vodka), and now the BBC.
“I loved Wits and made wonderful friends there. As I mentioned, several are in the UK, and it’s wonderful to be able to meet up. Others are in South Africa, Australia and in fact all over the world. A bunch of us keep in touch via our WhatsApp group called Newtonian Mechanics, named after one of our engineering books.
“Wits in the early to mid-nineties, as we all know, was going through a period of tumultuous change. Being there taught me that you need to be open and curious about other people — who they are, what they think, and where they are coming from. When you do this, the doors of friendship open and the stereotypes you might have about people fall away. That was my most fundamental lesson.
“The other lesson I learnt at Wits was not to walk with the Catholic Society representative past the condom table during orientation week, as I did — it was pretty embarrassing. The guy at the table offered me a packet of condoms, which I quickly turned down, but he was insistent, saying, ‘Take them! You never know!’”