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.

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.
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2018 ranking (largest to smallest)
R450m+ |
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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 |
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N/A | |||
R250–350m |
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Creative Counsel | Publicis Groupe | 710 | Publicis Groupe |
Wunderman SA | WPP | 400 + | Management |
R200-250m |
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Joe Public United* | Independent | 300 | Management |
JWT | WPP | 200 | Management |
King James Group | Independent | 309 | Management |
R150–200m |
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99c | Independent | 314 | Management |
FCB Joburg | FCB Africa | 284 | Management |
VML South Africa | WPP | 300 | Management |
R125–150m |
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Net#work BBDO | Omnicom | 85 | Management |
R100–125m |
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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 |
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Demographica | Independent | 45 | #AgencyFocus |
McCann Johannesburg | IPG | 76 | Management |
R70-80m |
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Grey Africa | WPP | 85 | Management |
HKLM | Independent | 22 | #AgencyFocus |
Penquin | Independent | 39 | Management |
R60–70m |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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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