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by MarkLives (@marklives) We’ve updated our 2014 agency revenue rankings to help assist marketers gain a comprehensive overview of the relative scale of agencies in the South African communications landscape.

South African currency currency notes courtesy of Pixabay
Image courtesy of Pixabay

Revenue bands and staff count are not reliable indicators of the health of a business but they do offer important context in terms of the scale of new business an agency can take on and their relative positioning in the industry (in the categories small, medium and large). Agencies listed in the ranking are included based upon publicly available revenue bands for 2017/2018. The information was sourced directly from agencies and holding companies, through a survey run via MarkLives.com, and from publicly available information, including the business and trade press, such as AdFocus, and our directory service Ramify.biz.

Note: Billings is the amount of client money that flows through an agency — what you can touch but you can’t keep = billings. Revenue is the money agencies get to keep, and this is the number MarkLives is working on.

Left out? Add your information for inclusion.

2018 ranking (largest to smallest)

R450m+

Agency

Network/independent

Staff count

Source

FCB Africa IPG 640 Management
Incubeta Group (Global) Independent 300 + Management
Ogilvy South Africa WPP 850 Management
Publicis Groupe Africa Publicis Groupe 1500+ Publicis Groupe

R350–450m

N/A

R250–350m

Creative Counsel Publicis Groupe 710 Publicis Groupe
Wunderman SA WPP 400 + Management

R200-250m

Joe Public United* Independent 300 Management
JWT WPP 200 Management
King James Group Independent 309 Management

R150–200m

99c Independent 314 Management
FCB Joburg FCB Africa 284 Management
VML South Africa WPP 300 Management

R125–150m

Net#work BBDO Omnicom 85 Management

R100–125m

Hellocomputer FCB Africa 137 Management
Iconic Media Group Independent 160 Management
Liquorice Publicis Groupe 151 Publicis Groupe
M&C Saatchi Abel M&C Saatchi Group 200+ #AgencyFocus
Mortimer Harvey Independent 85 FM AdFocus (2017)
TBWA\Hunt Lascaris Omnicom 135 Management

R80–100m

Demographica Independent 45 #AgencyFocus
McCann Johannesburg IPG 76 Management

R70-80m

Grey Africa WPP 85 Management
HKLM Independent 22 #AgencyFocus
Penquin Independent 39 Management

R60–70m

Clockwork Media Independent 70 Management
FoxP2 Dentsu Aegis Network 65 Management
Leo Burnett Publicis Groupe 102 Publicis Groupe
Riverbed Independent 35 Management
Saatchi & Saatchi Publicis Groupe 62 Publicis Groupe

R50–60m

1886 FCB Africa 44 Management
Arc Publicis Groupe 50 Pubicis Groupe
Avatar Johannesburg M&N Holdings 60 Management
Boomtown Independent 45 Management
Carat Dentsu Aegis Network 66 Dentsu Aegis Network
DDB South Africa Omnicom 50 Management
Grid Worldwide Omnicom 51 Management
John Brown Dentsu Aegis Network 60 Management
Promise Independent 74 Management
Publicis Machine Publicis Groupe 100 Pubicis Groupe
Vizeum Dentsu Aegis Network 43 Dentsu Aegis Network

R40–50m

Colourworks Independent 25 #AgencyFocus
Edelman Independent 40+ FM AdFocus
Havas South Africa Havas 73 Management
HDI Youth Omnicom 40 #AgencyFocus
Levergy M&C Saatchi Group 40 M&C Saatchi Group
Mark1 Independent 50 Management
Tradeway Independent 50 Management

R30–40m

34 Independent 53 Management
andPeople Independent 14 #AgencyFocus
Collective ID Independent 33 #AgencyFocus
Conversation Lab Independent 70 Management
Creative Spark M&C Saatchi Group 46 Management
FCB Cape Town IPG 38 Management
Fort Independent 35 #AgencyFocus
House of Brave Independent 72 Management
Leratadima Independent 20 #AgencyFocus
MSL Johannesburg Publicis Groupe 50 Publicis Groupe
OFYT Independent 50 Management
Switch Group Independent 40 Management
The Odd Number Independent 20 Management

R20-30m

BRANDTRUTH//DGTL Independent 23 #AgencyFocus
Hoorah Independent 16 #AgencyFocus
MADE Agency Independent 22 #AgencyFocus
Minanawe Publicis Groupe 24 Publicis Groupe
MPULL Group Independent 40 Management
MullenLowe South Africa IPG 53 Management
National Positions Independent 17 Management
Retroviral Independent 16 #AgencyFocus
Rogerwilco Independent 45 Management
The Jupiter Drawing Room CT Independent 20 Management

R10–20m

Avatar Cape Town M&N Holdings 25 #AgencyFocus
Bamboo Network Independent 20 Management
BWD Advertising Independent 16 Management
Dalmation M&C Saatchi Group 26 M&C Saatchi Group
M&C Saatchi Africa M&C Saatchi Group 14 M&C Saatchi Group
M&C Saatchi Connect M&C Saatchi Group 6 M&C Saatchi Group
Platinumseed Independent 20 #AgencyFocus
SearchKings Africa Independent 16 #AgencyFocus
SoulProviders Collective Independent 25 Management
Xfacta Independent 20 #AgencyFocus

Under R10

DarkMatter Agency Independent 10 #AgencyFocus

The information provided by agencies is impossible to audit and MarkLives accepts such information in good faith.

Left out? Add your information for inclusion.

See also

Updated on 13 August 2019; 8 August 2019; 22 July 2019; 5 July 2019; 21 June 2019; 21 May 2019; 17 May 2019; 3 May 2019; 2 April 2019; 22 March 2019; 12 March 2019; 1 March 2019; 10 January 2019; 30 November 2018; 12 October 2018; 9 October 2018; 4 October 2018; 3 September 2018; 29 and 30 August 2018.

 

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Published by Herman Manson

MarkLives.com is edited by Herman Manson. Follow us on Twitter - http://twitter.com/marklives

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