The MediaShop is the 2024 AdFocus Media Agency of the Year. The agency remains a juggernaut of the media industry and an indisputable powerhouse.
After winning this category in 2023 as a result of impressive billing and revenue growth, The MediaShop had another excellent year, growing revenue by 15% and winning attractive new business, including the high profile Telkom account and L’Oreal Kenya and Nigeria, a digital account. It also added PG Glass, Henkel, Milady’s and Playtex to its client roster.
The agency says it has made innovation a cornerstone in the past year, setting new benchmarks. It has leveraged cutting-edge technology, advanced analytics and fresh creative thinking to redefine how channels innovate for clients. In addition, it has pioneered new formats of digital, out-of-home television cost per audience efficiencies and programmatic advertising, as well as integrating AI-driven insights into personalised content strategies.
A data-driven approach and creative expertise enables to agency to deliver measurable growth and return on investment with hyperlocal strategies resonating powerfully with audiences.
The AdFocus judges commended the agency for always innovating and doubling down on what is right for clients, pointing out that The MediaShop is a model for all the follow beyond the agency media landscape.
Magna Carta won the Public Relations Agency of the Year Award, a well-deserved win after being a finalist in this category in 2023. It continued its growth trajectory in the AdFocus period under review, growing revenue by 35.9%.
Its work was recognised in several industry awards including the 2023 Prism Awards where it won five gold awards, two silvers and two bronzes; the international Sabre Awards where it won, among others, a Platinum Sabre Best in Show; and the 2023 World PR & Communications Awards where it won the Best Public Service Campaign for the MTN Group.
The judges congratulated the agency for “an incredibly strong year where its work and commercial acumen shone, a testament to strong leadership and client stability. Flying the flag both locally and internationally, the agency should feel proud of its achievements.”
For the third consecutive year, Levergy, part of the M&C Saatchi Abel Group Group, won the Specialised Agency of the Year Award. This is the fourth consecutive year that the agency has been an AdFocus winner after winning the Adaptability Award in 2021.
Levergy shifted its focus from a pure sport sponsorship and entertainment agency to an agency that specialises in creating brand connections with a target audience to attract new business more broadly two years ago. It calls itself a “passion agency”, pushing boundaries to find smarter, more effective solutions for clients’ business challenges.
In many respects, Levergy has redefined its category. The agency commissioned its own qualitative research study, Passion Pulse, in response to what it believes are outdated insights on consumer passions. Passion Pulse uses the world’s largest third-party data platform to extract the nuances around that matter to local consumers.
Levergy’s belief that culture and passion provide the best meeting points for brands and their audiences has proved to be accurate. In the period under review, the agency won 36 of the 72 awards for which it was nominated and grew its revenue by 12%. It competes — and wins — across channels and disciplines. It won 12 awards out of 16 nominations in the Marketing Achievement Awards, Assegai Awards and Effie Awards and this year became the first SA agency to win gold at WARC, in association with Cannes Lions, for its work on Telkom’s Stand Tall.
The annual AdFocus Awards reward agencies and how they are run, from their people to their systems and clients.
The big take-out: The annual AdFocus Awards reward agencies and how they are run.
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