Joe Public Group launches "the agency of next" in Cape Town

To establish the new agency, Joe Publicⁿ has merged the digital relationship agency Knnktr with international creative director Leon Jacobs. By doing so, Joe Public is poised to deliver truly integrated solutions from its base in Cape Town whilst adding digital solutions for the entire group.

The current communication world is very fragmented with a real need for agencies to think in a truly integrated way. There are often an array of specialists that operate on various platforms, but very few agencies can deliver on this need for integration because of their legacy structures. Joe Publicⁿ has a "blank canvas" opportunity to deliver on integration for its clients from the get go.

The newly formed agency's managing director, Franco Raffa, explains: "There are two conventional approaches to integration, traditional above-the-line agencies that typically bolt on digital offerings by buying digital companies and digital companies who bring in traditional people to enhance their brand thinking. These conventional approaches ignore the way ideas come about and how they best serve clients' needs."

In order to develop best in breed integrated campaigns, Joe Publicⁿ has adapted its approach by tapping into expertise both in and outside of the agency as well as the industry and seamlessly collaborating with experts who will help to deliver the best outcome for their clients.

Joe Publicⁿ's executive creative director, Leon Jacobs adds: "We asked ourselves what the perfect agency would look like if you had the luxury to start again. Then we developed our model, which, is centred around collaboration. This means we seamlessly apply the right brains to the problem where it is needed to make sure a campaign will deliver maximum results."

Raffa and Jacobs are joined by digital director, Shawn Roos to form the core executive team. "We believe in an anti-hierarchical management approach and don't believe that one area is more important that the other," says Roos.

The Joe Public Group is the fastest growing independent communications group in South Africa. It's been named as both Financial Mail and AdReview's Agency of the Year for 2012 and 2013 respectively. Knnktr was started in 2010 by Franco Raffa, Shawn Roos and Wayne Ashley Berry who will serve as chief technology officer for Joe Publicⁿ. Leon Jacobs has almost 20 years experience in some of the world's best agencies and has just returned after six years overseas, serving as a regional creative director in Asia and a global creative director based in Switzerland.

Joe Public CEO, Gareth Leck says: "We are very excited to go back to Joe Public's roots to launch this new addition to the group. Cape Town is the place where we introduced the world to take-away advertising and it's fitting that it is where we are launching Joe Publicⁿ."