by Carey Finn (@carey_finn) Johannesburg-based full-service communications agency, Riverbed, has set high targets for 2018, in a bid to take the business to what CEO Monalisa Sibongile Zwambila calls “the next level”. Emerging from what was a challenging year for many in the industry, Riverbed is leveraging new wins and hires to bolster both its creativity and position in the market. Monalisa Zwambila Advertising added on “We started very much as an activation and PR agency, and then we added on our advertising competency,” she says. “What we really want to be in a position to do is make a difference in terms of creativity.” Zwambila is confident...

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Today, we reveal which agency creative leaders were most admired by their peers in Jozi during 2017! This is part of this week’s announcement of the 2017 MarkLives Agency Leaders’ Most Admired Poll results for Johannesburg. Next week will be the national results; last week we revealed the Cape Town results. Monday: Most-admired ad agency bosses in Jozi Tuesday: Most-admired creative leaders in Jozi Wednesday: One to watch in Jozi Thursday: Most-admired agencies in Jozi Friday: Most digitally integrated in Jozi Monday 5 March: Contribution to agency diversity and transformation (Jozi) Every year since 2012, MarkLives has been polling South Africa’s top agency leaders...

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Iconic South African ad agency The Jupiter Drawing Room (Johannesburg) has been closed down, The Lionheart Brand Holding Company, owners of The Jupiter Drawing Room brand, has confirmed. The agency is no longer trading and the shutdown happened over the course of 3–4 months earlier this year. It no longer employs any staff. Two former senior managers at the agency, Gugu Madlala and Sizwe Kumalo, have contracted with Jupiter Joburg’s remaining client roster through their agency, Black Powder (as in gun powder). Madlala explains that he and Kumalo had initially joined Jupiter Joburg to help drive new business opportunities and to explore empowerment...

by Carey Finn (@carey_finn) The Mother City may traditionally have not been seen as welcoming to black-owned and operated agencies, but Avatar Cape Town hasn’t let that hold it back. Though not yet two years old, the agency has secured several significant accounts and seen strong growth. “Business has been great” “Since the day we opened our offices in October 2016, business has been great,” says managing director Mthunzi Plaatjie, who estimates that it’s won advertising accounts worth close to R85m in billings (total client marketing spend) over the past 12 months. He is hoping this figure could soon surpass the R100m mark. The agency...