Advertising News South Africa

9November halves client list

The 9November Union and its creative unit, Daddy buy me a Pony, have advised half of the client accounts on their books to find a mainstream agency for their advertising and marketing needs.

Commenting on such a drastic action, Charl Nel, Director of Business, says: "It became clear as we celebrated our third year in business last November that certain business relationships were not making a significant contribution to the overall profitability of either of the two companies, and neither to any creative orgasms or any other sort of orgasms for that matter...

"Further to this we have made the conscious decision to remain a boutique agency. As a result, we will continue to offer specialised branding and creative services. It is therefore imperative that we allocate our resources to those clients that value our input in their brands and the difference that our creative work makes to their bottom lines.

"We have increasingly found opportunities for our special brand of creativity in Europe and with those companies in South Africa that understand and acknowledge the gap for niche brands in the greater African context.

"For the first time last year, our income in Euro exceeded our income in Rand. We believe that by freeing up resources we are better positioned to take on more of those things that work for us and for our clients."

Nel says most of the clients they resigned will find it more convenient to work with a mainstream agency: "However, we will not leave these companies in the lurch. They will stay on and we will provide them with our signature service until they have decided on a new agency."

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