In this episode of South Africa Tech Marketers, we sit down with Tracey-Lee Zürcher-Campbell, Head of Marketing at Payflex, to unpack her remarkable pivot from storytelling in journalism to leading brand, performance, and Martech strategy in one of South Africa’s most recognisable fintechs.

With a tiny team, a powerful agency model, and a relentless focus on efficiency, Tracey-Lee shares how she’s built scalable systems, championed customer experience, and embraced AI — all while maintaining joy and emotional resonance in the brand voice. If you're an ambitious South African marketer wondering how to lead, adapt, and stay relevant in a tech-forward world, this conversation is packed with lessons you can apply right now.

Topics Discussed

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  The power of storytelling in performance marketing

  
  


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  Lessons from working across B2B, B2C, and B2G sectors

  
  


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  Building brand trust with just five in-house marketers

  
  


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  Why consistency beats complexity in fintech

  
  


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  Martech stacks and making tech “talk to each other”

  
  


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  Scaling with small teams: systems, agency partners & smart prioritisation

  
  


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  Practical use cases for AI in CX, content, and automation

  
  


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  Career advice: pivoting with purpose, not panic

  
  


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  The Peter Principle and how to avoid being promoted into failure

  
  


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  The underrated value of joy in marketing

  
  

Key Takeaways

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  You don’t need a huge team to build a powerful brand. At Payflex, just five in-house marketers — backed by great agency partners — deliver one of SA’s most trusted fintech brands.

  
  


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  Build with emotional clarity. Whether it’s B2C, B2B, or even B2G, people make decisions based on emotional drivers. Rational benefits are table stakes.

  
  


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  Adopt fast, integrate faster. Martech only works if your tools talk to each other. Tracey-Lee shares how Payflex built a connected stack using Asana, Zoho, Zendesk, and Netcore Cloud.

  
  


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  AI should reduce cost and increase joy. From cutting call volumes 40% with a chatbot, to using AI image gen for hyper-personalised campaigns — smart AI use starts small and solves real problems.

  
  


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  South African marketers must stay curious. Tracey-Lee regularly meets with unknown vendors just to explore what’s out there. Staying still is not an option.

  
  


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  Careers are non-linear. If you’re not where you want to be yet, you’re still learning. Tracey-Lee’s early “detours” made her a deeper, more versatile marketer.

  
  

🔗 Guest Bio

Tracey-Lee Zürcher-Campbell is the Head of Marketing at Payflex, South Africa’s leading “buy now, pay later” platform. With a background in journalism and over 15 years of experience across performance, brand, and Martech, she’s helped legacy businesses and fast-growing scale-ups build trust with customers and stakeholders alike. She’s a relentless systems-thinker, an advocate for upskilling, and proof that South African marketers can thrive globally — without needing to relocate.

🔗 Connect with Tracey-Lee on LinkedIn