Joe Public United has secured its position as the top-ranked agency in South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Africa Middle East region for 2025, the newly released Loeries Official Rankings show.
The rankings, which provide an independent audit of creative performance across the region, saw Joe Public claim the “Large Agency of the Year” and “Independent Agency of the Year” titles. The agency’s creative leadership also topped the individual tables, with Pepe Marais and Xolisa Dyeshana recognised as among the highest-ranked chief creative officers in the region.
The rankings are calculated based on the cumulative scores of awarded entries and finalists from the 2025 Loerie Awards and serve as an important benchmark for identifying the agencies and brands driving innovation and creative excellence in the brand communication space.
Chicken Licken reclaimed its position as the top-ranked brand in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, a spot it last held in 2023. This move unseats Nedbank, which took the top spot in 2024. Despite the shift, Nedbank remained a top performer, ranking second in the region following a strong showing with its “Hard-Working Professionals” campaign. KFC secured the third-place position, maintaining its consistency as a creative powerhouse. Chicken Licken also topped the leader board in the Africa and Middle East category, followed by Heineken Beverages in second place and Nedbank in third place.
The Loeries promotes and supports creativity by helping marketers, agencies and consumers appreciate the value of ideas and fresh thinking
In the chief marketing officer/marketing director category, Chicken Licken’s Chantal Sombonos-Van Tonder reclaimed her position at the top of the rankings, a testament to the brand’s creative resurgence and its return to the No 1 brand spot. She was followed by Heineken Beverages’ Andrea Quaye in second place and Nedbank’s Khensani Nobanda in third place.
Grid reclaimed the title of the top-ranked design agency after last winning this accolade in 2023, and came second in the medium-sized agency category.
In the educational sector, Red & Yellow Creative School for Business was ranked the top educational institution, followed by The Animation School and Open Window in second and third places respectively.
Giant Films was named the top overall production company and the top film production company.
As the giver of the highest accolade for creativity and innovation across Africa, the Loeries promotes and supports creativity by helping marketers, agencies and consumers appreciate the value of ideas and fresh thinking The Loeries remains the only award programme in Africa and the Middle East that informs the Warc Creative 100, the global successor to the Gunn Report. This ensures that the success of South African agencies and brands on the Loeries stage is reflected in global creative standings. The full Loeries Official Rankings list for 2025 can be viewed on the official Loeries website. Loeries-Official-Rankings_2025-FINAL_V9.pdf
The big take-out: The Loeries rankings map the shifting landscape of African storytelling, proving that in a volatile market, creativity remains one of the most reliable drivers of brand value.
