Nic van den Bergh
Nic van den BerghDirector at MACULA (Pty) LtdCape Town / Dubai / Global

Nic van den Bergh

Creative / media / growth / search

MAKEWORKMOVE

Amplified by AI where it earns its place.

As Director at MACULA (Pty) Ltd, I turn more than 20 years across media, growth, venture, gaming and Web3 into practical work for brands and teams. AI is part of the toolkit, not the strategy.

20+ yearsR2.3bn media spend152 countries
Director, MACULA (Pty) Ltd20+ years across media and growthR2.3bn media spend overseen152-country gaming reachFormer BlockDAG CEO and CMOCreative, media, growth and search

Consistency is your superpower: keep showing up until the impossible becomes inevitable.

The through-line is simple: understand the market, make a clear proposition, ship the work, measure what moves and improve the parts that matter.

First exit

Attention becomes valuable when it is organised.

Thunda.com was the first proof: build the room, create the culture, give brands a reason to show up, then scale what works.

50,000photos per week before sale
Media scale

Big media taught me to respect the numbers.

At Media24, Dentsu, Aegis, Isobar, iProspect, Carat, Vizeum and Posterscope, strategy had to meet trading, creativity and performance at real scale.

R2.3bngroup trading spend overseen
Digital growth

Digital made the work accountable.

From Virgin Money to Clicks2Customers, NMPi and Levi's ecommerce, the job became clearer: connect brand, data, UX, media and commercial outcomes.

20+years across media and growth
Global systems

Gaming and Web3 widened the operating field.

DFY Studios, Gameout and the completed BlockDAG chapter moved the work from local campaigns to international communities, products and ecosystems.

152countries in mobile gaming

How I work

MACULA is the current focus. The career is the proof.

Today the work comes together through MACULA. The ventures, platforms and leadership chapters behind it show how the same discipline has travelled across media, technology, commerce, gaming and Web3.

01

Audience and signal intelligence

MACULA starts with evidence: audience behaviour, cultural context, paid media data and the commercial question in front of the team.

  • Audience intelligence
  • Cultural signal mapping
  • Media decision logic
02

Media and creative operating cadence

Media Director and Moore & Crew turn strategy into a working rhythm: briefs, channel logic, production, optimisation and reporting.

  • Campaign workflow
  • AI production standards
  • Creative iteration
03

Venture and commerce build systems

VaultGrail and Boda Health are applied venture work: positioning, onboarding, education and conversion in live categories.

  • Product packaging
  • Commerce journey design
  • Community mechanics
04

Growth, search and AI acceleration

MACULA connects search intent, content performance and responsible AI-assisted production so each cycle becomes more useful.

  • Search intelligence
  • Growth systems
  • AI-assisted execution

Current work and selected career proof

The portfolio is the proof base: MACULA as the current business, the suite as working products, Moore & Crew as the production partner, and selected ventures that test the ideas in live markets.

IntelligenceExecutionVenture proof

From MACULA strategy to work that moves in-market.

Each platform has its own role. The shared asset is the discipline behind them.

International talks, advisory and strategy sessions.

I speak to boards, agencies, founders, media teams, crypto communities and growth operators about the decisions behind good creative, media, growth and product work.

Advertising and creative strategy

How teams can move from one-off campaigns to a repeatable creative practice.

Media, Growth and Ecommerce

How brand, paid media, content, data and conversion work as one commercial loop.

AI Production Systems

How practical AI tools and human taste can increase output without lowering the bar.

Crypto, Web3 and Ecosystems

How to translate blockchain infrastructure into products, markets and communities people can use.