I am Devon Llywellyn Lewis van den Berg, Managing Partner and Fractional Chief Marketing Officer, operating as an embedded executive partner to founders, boards, and leadership teams. My work sits where marketing must be governed: strategy, commercial alignment, organisational rhythm, accountability, and decision-quality.
This is a premium, selective consultancy for organisations that are serious about growth, but unwilling to build it on fragmented execution, disconnected tactics, or agency dependency.
Based in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Serving multi-market organisations across Africa, the UK, Europe, and the United States.
I did not build my career in search of visibility. Instead, I focused on embracing responsibility.
For over fifteen years, I have served in marketing roles during pivotal moments for various organisations. I have witnessed international expansions, leadership transitions, and periods when boards struggled with confidence. I have been in situations where marketing became a mere activity without accountability. These experiences have taught me that when marketing is not led at an executive level, it can quietly erode trust, capital, and momentum.
Throughout this journey, one truth has become clear that most businesses do not fail because of a lack of ideas, resources, or energy. They stumble because no one truly owns marketing as a leadership function. We see spending without clarity, teams lacking direction, and movement without progress.
My work is dedicated to addressing this gap. I view marketing as an integral part of the institution, rather than merely a service function. It should be governed, integrated, and measured with the same seriousness as finance, operations, or risk. When marketing is led effectively, it serves as a stabilising force.
This philosophy extends beyond my professional life. Much of my thinking unfolds in my home library, a space where I read, reflect, and find solace from distractions. I collect and restore antiques, and I am in the process of restoring a Victorian-Edwardian manor, not as a project, but as a matter of preservation. My home is also shared with eight rescued spaniels.
These details reflect my understanding of responsibility, to preserve what holds value, to build for future generations, to respect craftsmanship and time, and to recognise that what endures is rarely created hastily.
I choose my work thoughtfully. I collaborate best with founders, principals, and boards who think in decades, not quarters, those who value discretion over display, structure over slogans, and institutions over fleeting campaigns. I seek leaders who recognise that strong organisations are shaped by stewardship, not by noise.
If you choose to work with me, you will find a leader who is present, takes accountability, and builds with the intention that what we create is deserving of lasting significance.
I believe the most meaningful work begins not with proposals, but with thoughtful conversation.
If you are considering the next chapter of your organisation, I would be glad to explore it with you.
Engagements typically start with a series of structured conversations with founders or board members. The initial emphasis is not on marketing activities but rather on achieving leadership clarity by understanding where accountability lies, identifying areas of misalignment, and determining the organization’s actual needs.
If there is mutual agreement, this is usually followed by a brief diagnostic phase during which I review the current strategy, operating model, agency relationships, and performance frameworks. From this analysis, we can decide whether a fractional leadership engagement is appropriate and what form it should take.
I do not provide one-size-fits-all packages. Each engagement is tailored to fit the organisation’s context, maturity, and leadership requirements.
I hold a small number of fractional leadership seats at any one time. Typically no more than four.
This ensures that every organisation I work with receives senior attention, continuity, and considered leadership rather than fragmented availability.
Engagements are shaped around the level of responsibility required rather than a fixed menu of services.
I am usually brought in during specific scenarios, such as:
In each of these situations, the underlying issue is rarely the marketing activity itself. Instead, it often stems from a lack of clear executive accountability, coherent governance, and defensible decision-making.
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Fractional CMO for a multi-market insurance group operating across twelve regulatory environments, focusing on governance, reporting, and executive alignment.
Executive marketing leadership for a UK professional services firm where marketing accountability had broken down at board level.
Strategic and operating lead for a heritage hospitality institution repositioning its public presence while protecting institutional equity.
Marketing and operational leadership support for founder-led organisations navigating growth, restructuring, or market expansion.
I have over 17 years of senior leadership experience in complex, multi-market environments, with a proven track record of establishing the structures necessary for transforming organizations from fragmented execution to scalable and commercially disciplined growth.
Key Achievements:
Both. I operate at a leadership level, but I am not distant. I take responsibility for strategy, structure, and performance, and I stay close enough to execution to ensure that what is designed actually works in practice.
I hold a small number of fractional leadership seats at any one time. Typically no more than four.
This ensures that every organisation I work with receives senior attention, continuity, and considered leadership rather than fragmented availability.
Engagements are shaped around the level of responsibility required rather than a fixed menu of services.
With conversation. The early phase is about understanding the organisation, leadership expectations, and where accountability currently sits. If there is alignment, this typically moves into a short diagnostic period followed by a defined fractional leadership engagement.
Directly. I lead internal teams, govern agency relationships, set priorities, and establish performance frameworks. My role is to create clarity, structure, and accountability across the entire marketing function.
Organisations looking only for execution support, campaign management, or tactical outsourcing. My work is most effective when marketing is treated as a leadership function
Most meaningful engagements run over months rather than weeks. This work involves stabilising, building, and embedding leadership structures, which cannot be rushed without weakening results.
Clarity at the leadership level. Marketing that is aligned to business priorities. Teams that understand ownership. Reporting that supports decision-making. And performance that can be explained, defended, and improved.
No. I operate as a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer with executive accountability. Engagements are structured around authority, governance, and performance leadership.
I work across founder-led and private organisations where multi-market complexity, scale-readiness, and commercial discipline matter more than industry-specific playbooks.
I lead strategy, governance, operating model, and performance accountability. Implementation is delivered through internal teams and partners, with my oversight to maintain quality, prioritisation, and commercial alignment.
I operate within the leadership team’s cadence, reporting structures, and decision-making processes.
Typically, with an executive diagnostic and mandate definition, then a structured onboarding into the leadership cadence.
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