Ten years of 99c: What's next for Cape Town's 'Most Admired Agency'?

Andrew Brand

“To be recognised and awarded this accolade by our industry peers is an incredible endorsement for the talented team we have assembled, and the remarkable clients who trust us with their brands,” says 99c Cape Town MD and Group CEO Andrew Brand.

Their first client, Checkers, remains a key account, and their relationship was recently recognised by Financial Mail (FM) as “Partnership of the Year” in their 2017 AdFocus Awards.

With almost 300 full-time staff members, 99c is one of the country’s largest independently owned agencies, and recently opened offices in Johannesburg and Zambia. Brand believes that the same formula which made the agency successful in Cape Town, will render their Johannesburg and Lusaka offerings equally attractive.

“Our agency was founded on the ethos of hiring the best available talent to work within a unique culture to create ‘work that sells’, and this results-driven approach, coupled with long-standing client relationships, has created a strong foundation upon which we’ve been able to build.

“We believe that the wellbeing of our people is fundamental to a sustainable business. I’ve always maintained that happy employees produce better work, resulting in happy clients. Our culture is non-negotiable and integral to our success as an agency.”

99c believes that to be a truly integrated agency requires not just competence – but excellence – across multiple fragmented media. For this reason, 99c added PR, “traditional” media planning, implementation and buying, as well as digital media planning and buying services to its offering. “It’s absolutely essential to be able to conceptualise big ideas that are customer-focused and media-agnostic, and then to have the requisite talent on hand to enable them to reach their full potential, be it via traditional media, digital and/or social channels.

“We’ve been able to deliver exciting, fully integrated campaigns and add quicker turnaround times and greater value to our clients through these new services. Our extensive in-house post production facilities offer three edit suites, and a dedicated team of offline editors, VFX artists, animators and colourists who specialise in animation, design and visual effects. They have already completed multiple brand commercials, focused retail offerings, adaptations, versioning, and pax and trax. We also have a photographic studio for on-site content generation,” explains Brand.

Brand believes their clients’ success to be the best indicator of their own success as an agency, and speaking of the FM AdFocus "Partnership of the Year" award, he states: “We take massive pride in this accolade – as we do with our clients’ own awards, such as being recognised three times within a nine-year period as the Shoprite Group’s national ‘Supplier of the Year’, out of their hundreds of service providers and vendors.”

While best known for its retail clients – including Shoprite, Checkers and Ackermans – 99c works across a wide range of sectors and industries, from financial services and alcohol, to restaurants, technology and sports/lifestyle. “Contrary to what many believe, we don’t only do retail (but we do retail very well!), and although our profile is relatively low-key, 99c has won its fair share of creative awards over the years, including Loeries, Pendorings and Assegais,” explains Brand.

“Our integrated model allows for ideas to grow beyond traditional agency and client silos into areas previously unimaginable. We believe this offers immense benefits to existing and future clients, and we anticipate further growth in 2018 across our group.

“We look forward to an exciting year!”

99c is currently recruiting. To become part of a dynamic, passionate team of individuals, please click here to view all available vacancies.