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OwenKessel Leo Burnett appoints new head of digital

OwenKessel Leo Burnett (OKLB) has appointed Steven Bosch to head up their digital team. Bosch was previously a communication lecturer at the North-West University’s Potchefstroom campus where he was the head of organisational media management for seven years. “This is an exciting time for us and we deepen our offering with Steven spear-heading digital integration […]

Publicis Groupe buys OwenKessel

After much speculation in the media Publicis Groupe finally publically announced the acquisition of South African creative agency OwenKessel. Key OwenKessel clients include Amstel Lager and Tanqueray Gin (brandhouse), TOTAL, DStv, Zodiac, Aspen pharmacare and  the Diageo Reserve Brands portfolio across sub-Saharan Africa. The agency will be merged with the Publicis Groupe Africa network. CEO […]

OwenKessel: do the right thing, kill those silos

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Own what you choose to be and be good at it. And do the right thing. With these two simple rules, Felix Kessel and Vaughan Owen set out five years ago to a build small but successful agency that tends to punch well above its weight. The Johannesburg based OwenKessel currently employs 40 people with revenue of R20 million and billings of R50 million. It holds the Business Day account as well as Amstel Lager, LG South Africa Consumer Electronics and Diageo Reserve amongst others.

The business launched after Kessel and Owen both left Ogilvy Johannesburg to go on their own. Kessel had been ECD at Ogilvy Brand Activation and Owen a Creative Director. Both were looking for something more entrepreneurial and wanted to shape a more honest agency environment.

They were tired of the continued perseverance of silos within the agency structure, in spite of most agencies preaching 360 vision, and a lack of media agnosticism that they believed held back effective communication. Kessel believes the people that write the TV ad should be involved in writing the Facebook campaign and insists they do at his agency.

Owenkessel GM Sizwe Salimane – sharp as a Ginsu knife*

by Herman Manson. Owenkessel has appointed Sizwe Salimane as its new GM, just a year after appointing Donovan Bryan as its executive creative director.

Salimane knew Bryan from their time together at Grey where Bryan was Creative Director and Salimane Strategic Planning Manager and lists his presence at Owenkessel. Salimane says Bryan’s presence at Owenkessel was a major contributing factor to his decision to move to the agency from FNB where he was the marketing manager for FNB EasyPlan – an affordable paperless bank offering.

As GM Salimane is responsible for ensuring processes are put in place to facilitate business growth, protecting both shareholders and clients, and ensuring internal efficiencies. Salimane says he aims to improve briefing processes and the traffic system inside the agency.