Joe Public won both the Large Agency of the Year category and the Transformation Award at the 2024 FM AdFocus Awards.
In the large agency category, Joe Public was the only agency to score highly across the board this year. The agency has worked hard to find a solution for diminished product and profit as a result of inefficient ways of working. It has reintroduced the concept of “takeaway advertising”, bringing what it calls “haute cuisine advertising” to its clients, by taking away aspects of the current laborious process. Essentially a menu-based system, takeaway advertising pays the agency for its thinking rather than its time, with one revert per concept delivered.
In the past year, the agency has delivered four takeaway campaigns to Chicken Licken, two to Nedbank and one to South African Breweries, resulting in a direct, positive impact on its margins. The judges were also impressed with the agency returning to its takeaway roots as it innovates around the commercial model that continues to vex the industry.
Creatively, Joe Public continues to deliver. It was the second most highly ranked agency at the 2023 Loerie Awards and the highest-ranking agency at the Pendoring Awards, the latter for the third consecutive year.
When it comes to transformation, Joe Public continues to set the benchmark. In 2021, 60% of the business was acquired by a black private equity investment firm and a management buyout, making it the largest independent majority black-owned agency in South Africa. A deep-seated belief that diversity is the cornerstone of creativity means the agency has remained committed to the ongoing journey of transformation through the training and development of its people
The judges noted that Joe Public continues to show the way when it comes to transformation, with its much-praised equity deal remaining an industry best. “Their ability to achieve their transformation goals both through large-scale transactions as well as bottom-up talent development is hugely impressive,” they said.
Finalists in the Large Agency category were M&C Saatchi Abel and TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris\Joburg. Ogilvy South Africa was the only finalist in the transformation category.
The AdFocus Awards reward agencies and how they are run, from their people to their systems and clients.
The big take-out: Joe Public continues to show the way when it comes to transformation, with its much-praised equity deal remaining an industry best.
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