Joe Public United's unwavering commitment to changing the game recognised by Financial Mail's AdFocus Awards

To celebrate the industry’s triumph over circumstance, the theme for this year’s Financial Mail (FM) AdFocus Awards shone the spotlight on how advertising’s game-changers take on change.

Recognising the purpose-led leadership of the agency as well as its ability to capture and transcend the mood of the country, to build brands that can inspire and move people, the FM AdFocus Awards has named Joe Public United as the Overall Agency of the Year 2021.

Joe Public United earned five awards, including Overall Agency of the Year 2021, Large Agency of the Year 2021 (for the second year in a row), the Transformation Award and Partnership of the Year for its work with Chicken Licken. Tshepo Tumahole, integrated creative group head at Joe Public United Johannesburg, was honoured with the Shapeshifter Award.

We are also very proud of our valued client Khensani Nobanda, group executive for marketing and corporate affairs at Nedbank, who received the Industry Leader of the Year Award.

In its 32-year history, the FM AdFocus Awards has earned a strong reputation for showcasing and celebrating agencies that transform, disrupt, and change the game, those which nurture and build the industry’s human capital and deliver highly effective business results for their clients.

“Being recognised as Overall Agency of the Year is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff and the support from our clients. All five awards showcase the performance of the group, but they also highlight our consistent drive towards achieving our purpose of serving the growth of our clients, people and country. Our ongoing efforts to change the game, also saw the group expanding in 2020 and 2021 with the opening of offices in both Cape Town and Durban,” says Gareth Leck, group CEO at Joe Public United.

“The FM AdFocus Awards are an extraordinary fullstop to a challenging year of growth. Our Nedbank client, Khensani Nobanda, was awarded Industry Leader of the Year. One of our rising creative stars, Tshepo Tumahole, was awarded Shapeshifter of the Year. Our partnership with Chantal Sombonos-Van Tonder from Chicken Licken was awarded Partnership of the Year. Our endeavours towards serving the growth of our country are recognised through the Transformation Award, all culminating in JPU being awarded overall Agency of the Year,” says Pepe Marais, group chief creative officer, Joe Public United.

The group also recently earned the titles of Agency of the Year for the fourth year in a row and Regional Agency Group of the Year for the second year in a row at the 2021 Loerie Awards, as well as being ranked number one in the top 12 agencies at the Pendoring Awards.