UPDATED: PnP picks King James •

Pick n Pay is moving its advertising account to King James Group
This brings an end to its roughly 48-year-long relationship with Young & Rubicam South Africa
News announced via Twitter
Update: King James statement

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Pick n Pay is moving its advertising account to King James Group, bringing an end to its 48-year-long relationship with Young & Rubicam South Africa. PnP is believed to be the country’s fourth-largest advertiser, spending an estimated R688m in 2014, according to The Annual AdFocus.

Y&R SA had repitched for the account; PnP is one of its largest clients. M&C Saatchi Abel and FCB Cape Town were also in the running for the business.

The 18-year-old King James announced its win on Twitter earlier today, Thursday, 21 January 2016:

It is with no small amount of pride that we can confirm @PicknPay has appointed @KingJamesGroup & @KJTheSecond to handle their great brand.

— King James Group (@KingJamesGroup) January 21, 2016

This is what I’d call a defining moment in our agency’s life. https://t.co/vEkfYjlINV

— alistair king (@ALsparkles) January 21, 2016

Wow,Y&R loses PnP account after 48 yrs!!Congrats to @KingJamesGroup on the win.Interested to see what the change will bring (via @marklives)

— Francesca Tiganis (@FrancescaTig) January 21, 2016

Quite the coup https://t.co/oQuuwwDxmh

— Chris mcgirr (@mcgirr_chris) January 21, 2016

Congratulations @ALsparkles @jbarts101 and team! #goals https://t.co/xHEcvlXqzE

— Kilmer & Cruise (@kilmerandcruise) January 21, 2016

Update: 2016/01/22

Says James Barty, co-founder of King James Group:

“The business will only official transition on 1 June 2016 and we will be working through this period to determine and review how the business will be structured and run, suffice to say though it will be handled across King James in Cape Town and King James II in [Johannesburg].

“It is, of course, a massively significant win for us; however what excites us most is the creative potential that presents itself on the iconic Pick n Pay brand — we, as you know, do some of our best work on our biggest clients and we hope Pick n Pay will be no exception.”

This is a developing story. We will bring you more industry reaction as we receive it.

Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com. He was the inaugural Vodacom Social Media Journalist of the Year in 2011 and has, over his 20-year-plus career, contributed to numerous journals and websites in South Africa and abroad, including AdVantage magazine, Men’s Health, Computer World and African Communications.

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Published by Herman Manson