About Social Wiiv — Founded October 2013

Built on Gamification.
Woven into Everything.

Social Wiiv was born from a simple idea — that digital engagement should feel like a game, not a chore. What started as a gamified consumer platform in 2009 has grown into a full enterprise SaaS suite, trusted by blue chip brands across Africa and beyond.

Our Story Get in Touch
Social Wiiv at a Glance
2009
Dev Started
2013
Founded
12
Awards Won
15+
Years Building
Co-Founders
BM
Baron Marshall
Co-Founder & CEO
AD
Andre du Preez
Co-Founder & CTO
2009
In Development
Technology building began
Oct '13
Founded
By Baron Marshall & Andre du Preez
12
Awards Won
Local & international recognition
Full
Enterprise SaaS
End-to-end platform suite
ISO
27001 Certified
Enterprise-grade security
Our Story

From Digital Campaigns to Enterprise Platform.

The technology that powers Social Wiiv today has been in active development since 2009 — when our co-founders were building innovative online campaigns for digital agencies, experimenting with gamification mechanics and digital engagement in ways most brands hadn't considered yet.

After years of refining the technology and proving the concept through real campaigns with real audiences, Social Wiiv was formally founded in October 2013 by Baron Marshall and Andre du Preez. The vision was clear: build a platform where gamification was the heartbeat — where every user interaction could be made more engaging, more rewarding, and more measurable.

What followed was over a decade of continuous development, award-winning campaigns, and an expanding platform that grew to serve blue chip corporates, global brands, financial institutions, and digital agencies across Africa and internationally.

12 local and international awards recognise the innovation, design, and technology excellence behind the Social Wiiv platform and the campaigns built on it.

2009
Development
Began
2013
Officially
Founded
12
Awards
Won
15+
Years of
Innovation
The Name

Social Wiiv. Two Words. Two Meanings Each.

The name wasn't chosen randomly — every element of it tells you exactly what the platform does and how it thinks. "Wiiv" (pronounced Weave) carries a deliberate double meaning, and so does the word "Social".

Social
Social — Community
The platform is built around people and communities — consumers, employees, fans, and attendees all interacting together in shared branded digital spaces.
Social
Social — Social Media
Our original vision: integrate your brand's social media content into a digital platform and reward users for engaging and sharing — turning passive followers into active brand advocates.
Wiiv
Wiiv — Gamification
The "Wii" in Wiiv is a direct nod to the Nintendo Wii — the console that made gaming physical, social, and accessible to everyone. Gamification was the philosophy from day one.
Wiiv
Wiiv — Integration
The second meaning of Wiiv is Weave — as in weaving together. Social channels, data sources, business systems, and user experiences, all woven into a single seamless platform.

"We wanted a name that told the whole story — social engagement, gamification, and integration — in just two words. Every project we've built since 2009 has been an expression of exactly that."

Our Journey

15 Years of Building the Future of Engagement.

From agency campaign experiments to an enterprise SaaS platform deployed by global blue chip companies — this is the story of how Social Wiiv was built, one innovation at a time.

2009 — The Beginning
Digital Campaigns & The First Experiments

Our co-founders begin building innovative online campaigns for digital agencies — experimenting with gamification mechanics, consumer engagement, and early social media integrations long before it was mainstream. The technology that would become Social Wiiv starts taking shape.

October 2013 — Foundation
Social Wiiv is Officially Founded

Baron Marshall and Andre du Preez formally found Social Wiiv, bringing together four years of platform development into a structured product company. The mission: make gamification the standard for digital brand engagement — not the exception.

2013 – 2016 — Consumer Platform Era
Gamified Consumer Engagement Launches

The first full platform version launches — a gamified branded digital environment where consumers earn points, collect badges, and unlock levels by engaging with and sharing a brand's social media content. Custom games, challenges, and interactive mechanics drive deep audience participation for major South African and international brands.

2016 – 2018 — Physical + Digital
RFID / NFC for Events & Brand Activations

Social Wiiv expands beyond the screen. The platform integrates RFID and NFC technology, enabling gamified physical experiences at live events and brand activations. Tap-and-earn, access control, cashless payments, and real-time leaderboards bring the digital experience into the real world.

2018 – 2021 — Enterprise Expansion
Employee Experience Platform

The platform evolves to serve enterprises directly. A fully gamified Employee Experience platform launches — functioning like a social intranet powered by game mechanics. Performance management, peer recognition, structured onboarding, and Learning & Development modules bring the Social Wiiv philosophy inside the corporate firewall.

2019 – 2022 — Enterprise-Grade Security
Blue Chip & Financial Grade Compliance

Serving global blue chip and financial sector clients demands a different level of infrastructure. The platform undergoes a significant architecture upgrade — ISO 27001 certification, POPIA and GDPR compliance frameworks, enterprise SSO, advanced data encryption, and hardened security protocols are built into the platform's foundation.

2022 – Present — Full SaaS Suite
The Complete Turn-Key Platform

All capabilities converge into a single, fully managed SaaS solution. Event Ticketing with QR redemptions, RSVP & Guest Management, eCommerce, Affiliate Marketing, WhatsApp Competition tools, and a complete CRM and CMS are added to the platform — making Social Wiiv the most complete engagement and experience platform in its category.

The Founders

The People Behind the Platform.

Social Wiiv was built by two people who shared an obsession with digital engagement and a belief that technology should make experiences better — not just more complicated.

BM
Baron Marshall
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Baron brings the commercial vision, client relationships, and product strategy that has guided Social Wiiv from its earliest agency campaign days to the enterprise SaaS platform it is today. With over 15 years in digital engagement, Baron has led the delivery of award-winning campaigns and enterprise platforms for some of South Africa's most recognisable brands.

Product Strategy Client Partnerships 15+ Years Digital
AD
Andre du Preez
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer

Andre is the architect behind the Social Wiiv platform — responsible for the technical vision, software architecture, and engineering culture that has produced a scalable, secure, enterprise-grade SaaS product. His deep expertise spans platform engineering, cloud infrastructure, security compliance, and the API-first design philosophy that makes Social Wiiv so extensible.

Platform Architecture Cloud Infrastructure Security & Compliance
Recognition & Awards

11 Local & International Awards.

Social Wiiv's work has been recognised by leading industry bodies across South Africa and internationally — acknowledging excellence in digital innovation, gamification design, campaign execution, and technology development.

Bookmarks 2011 — Bronze
Assegai Awards 2011 — Silver
Bookmarks 2012 — Bronze
Loerie Awards 2012 — Gold
Loerie Awards 2012 — Bronze
Cannes Lions 2013 — Silver
Clio Awards 2013 — Bronze
Bookmarks 2017 — Bronze
New Generation Awards — Gold
Discovery Sport Industry Awards 2017 — Winner
Inspiring Workplaces Awards 2021 — Silver
The Platform Today

One Platform. Every Engagement Need.

Everything built over 15 years of continuous development is available today as a single, fully managed, white-label SaaS platform — deployable as a web app, PWA, or native app on Android, iOS, Microsoft, and Huawei.

Consumer Experience

Gamified loyalty and engagement platforms for brands — points, badges, leaderboards, challenges, rewards catalogue, and social integrations.

Employee Experience

A gamified social intranet — performance management, peer recognition, onboarding, and learning & development in one platform.

Event Ticketing & RSVP

Full event management suite — combo ticket packages, QR redemptions, guest RSVPs, branded event sites, social feeds, and post-event surveys.

RFID / NFC & Brand Activations

Tap-and-earn, cashless payments, access control, and real-time leaderboards for live events and physical brand activation environments.

Affiliate Marketing

Two-tier affiliate network management — Promoter Managers, Online Promoters, unique referral links, promo codes, and live commission dashboards.

Custom Apps & Development

PWA-ready platform deployable to Android, iOS, Microsoft, and Huawei — plus a dedicated custom development service for bespoke features and integrations.

Enterprise-ready from the ground up. ISO 27001 certified, POPIA and GDPR compliant, hosted on Microsoft Azure with 99.9% uptime SLA — the platform meets the security and compliance requirements of blue chip corporates and financial institutions.

ISO 27001 POPIA Compliant GDPR Compliant Microsoft Azure 99.9% Uptime SLA White Label API-First