Jupiter launches MetropolitanRepublic with Warner

Paul Warner

MetropolitanRepublic joins The Jupiter Drawing Room (Jhb), The Jupiter Drawing Room (CT) and Black River FC, as the fourth member of The Jupiter Drawing Room (South Africa) group.

However, the new agency does not position itself as a classical advertising agency, although it does offer clients an advertising service. It puts strategic planning, media channel planning, trend spotting and creative around the same table when tackling a client brief and defines itself as a 'brand engagement agency' that, says Warner, "is a listening and learning organisation that works closely with both clients and the public."

MetropolitanRepublic opens its doors with two founding clients: stock exchange-listed Faritec and the Incredible Connection chain of retail stores.

The Jupiter Drawing Room (South Africa), group chairman, Graham Warsop, comments: "Paul began his advertising career in our group, where he conceived the popular Fiat Palio "Bicycle" TV ad. Paul's rise in the industry has been meteoric and today he is rightly regarded as one of the top creative talents in the country.

"We welcome his creativity, but we prize even more highly his track record of making a tangible difference to brands in the marketplace. We consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have attracted Paul into our orbit and believe he and MetropolitanRepublic have a bright future ahead of them."

MetropolitanRepublic is majority-owned by The Jupiter Drawing Room (South Africa). The MSG (Africa) Rimani component and a black staff share trust ensures the agency is majority black-owned from day one.

MetropilitanRepublic has also launched a website which its describes as unusual for an agency. According to Warner, "it's a communication tool that enables us to figure out what people are talking about. We have a network of trendspotters from all walks of life who are interacting constantly with the public in order to find the next big trend, movement or opinion. There is no better way to hear what people really want than to reach out to them first. Our e-magazine is a collection of articles that are researched out in the field. There are contributions by the public, as well as by our own spotters. Simply put, it's an unbiased forum to discuss issues. This constitutes the greatest and most honest research available". Go to www.metropolitanrepublic.com for more.

Warner is currently finalising the appointment of an MD to partner him in his business. He says: "I'm up and running with two clients and ready to take on more business. I have what I've dreamed of for some time - an agency I have conceived and named, backed by the most successful, 100% locally owned agency of all time."