From Demographica to a multi-agency group: Something new is coming

Warren Moss is the founder of Demographica. Source: LinkedIn.

His decision to hand over the managing director (MD) seat to Marloe Wise is less about letting go and more about stepping up — into a broader group role where Halo, Second Rodeo and future ventures begin to connect under a single strategic vision.

Moss reflects on the highs and lows of building Demographica into one of South Africa’s leading B2B specialists, the philosophy shift that changed everything, and what it takes to keep a 20-year-old agency not only alive, but continually evolving.

Why was now the right time to hand over the MD role after nearly 19 years?

Demographica has grown to a point where it deserves a leader whose sole focus is running and growing the agency day to day. At the same time, with our investments in Halo and Second Rodeo - and another exciting agency business coming soon - the group needs someone focused on the bigger picture, connecting the dots across the businesses and making sure clients can access the full depth of what we offer. We'll be announcing the group brand shortly, which is an exciting milestone. It wasn't about stepping away - it was more about stepping into where I can add the most value next.

Many founders struggle to let go operationally. What made this transition easier for you?

It's about the depth of the leadership team we've built. Marloe Wise (new MD) has been with Demographica for over 15 years and has been central to how the agency operates and grows. But she's surrounded by an incredibly settled and mature leadership group. Claire Denham-Dysonis (head of anthropology) is a 12-year veteran of the business. Prianca Pillai (head of operations) is close to seven years across two stints, she left and came back, which tells you something.

Gugu Shabalala (head of strategy) has been with us over three years, Tlou Maupye (financial manager) is a very calm, focused and analytical head, and Matt Barnes (head of creative) brings serious experience and pedigree. When you look at that collective and the stability it represents, you realise the business isn't dependent on any one person, least of all the founder, and we're backing a team that's already proven.

How has Demographica changed from the agency you founded almost two decades ago?

When we started in 2006, we were a small, scrappy, 100% project-based shop. Today we're a full-service B2B specialist with a pioneering business anthropology unit, global partnerships, retainer clients, and recognition as one of the top B2B agencies globally by The Drum.

The biggest shift, though, has been philosophical. We moved from doing B2B marketing in a fairly traditional way to building an entirely different strategic foundation around anthropology - understanding human behaviour in context rather than relying on conventional research.

That changed everything about how we work. And none of it would have been possible without incredibly supportive business partners who've been on this journey with me for 20 years. That kind of long-term alignment is rare and it's been fundamental to the decisions we've been able to make.

B2B marketing is often perceived as cold or overly corporate. How did Demographica's anthropology-led approach emerge, and why is understanding human behaviour so important in B2B?

Around 2014 we came across a case study called "An Anthropologist Walks into a Bar” - about a craft beer company in the US that hired anthropologists to solve a sales problem. It clicked immediately. Agencies lean on research and psychology, which tend to rely on what people say. Anthropology focuses on what people actually do - their context, their culture, their environment.

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In B2B, people forget that every purchasing decision is still made by a human being with biases, habits, and emotions. The "rational buyer" is a myth. Once we started applying anthropological thinking, we stopped just communicating at businesses and started connecting with the people inside them.

Demographica is an interesting name — how did that come about?

The name plays on the idea of demographics - understanding who people are - but gives it a bigger, bolder feel. We wanted something that signalled a deep focus on people and audiences without sounding like a typical research firm. It had to feel like a proper agency name while hinting at what sits at the core of everything we do: understanding humans and how they behave.

What role do Halo and Second Rodeo play in the group's long-term vision? Why was it strategically important to invest in those businesses?

Demographica is a B2B specialist - that's our strength, and we'll never dilute it. But rather than trying to bolt on every capability and becoming another generalist agency, we invested in the best independent specialists we could find. Halo, under Dean Oelschig, brings world-class brand and creative work.

Second Rodeo, led by Mike Stopforth, bridges brand and performance. And we have another exciting agency business launching soon that we're really energised about. Essentially, we're building a group of founder-led specialists, each deeply focused on what they do best, collaborating when clients need broader expertise. It's the opposite of a holding company model. Founder-led businesses bring a level of care, accountability, and skin in the game that clients can feel immediately.

What are you most proud of building at Demographica?

That we're still here, and still growing. That might sound simple, but building a 20-year-old business in South Africa is no small thing. We've navigated Covid, recessions, the country's inherent instability, load shedding - you name it. Every one of those could have been the end, and we came through each of them.

But beyond survival, what we're most proud of is that over those 20 years we've built livelihoods for hundreds of people and their extended families. When you think about the ripple effect of stable employment in a country like ours, that matters more to us than any award.

What was the hardest phase in the agency's journey?

The early years of building credibility in a market that didn't really recognise B2B as a distinct discipline. In South Africa, B2B marketing was - and to some extent still is - an underdeveloped category. Convincing clients that they needed a specialist B2B agency, not just a general agency that could "also do B2B," took persistence.

And then of course there's the reality of running a business in South Africa - load shedding, economic downturns, political instability - we've faced all of it. What got us through every hard phase was the stability of our partnerships. Having business partners who've been committed for 20 years means we never had to face those moments alone. We could make long-term decisions even in short-term crises.

Your website says "evolving B2B" — how has B2B marketing changed over the years, and what exciting trends are coming up?

When we started, B2B was brochures, trade shows, and cold calls. It was treated as the boring cousin of consumer marketing. Today it's one of the most dynamic spaces in the industry. The biggest shifts have been the recognition that B2B buyers are humans first and the rise of experiential-led strategies.

Looking ahead, we're excited about a few things: AI is going to fundamentally change how we personalise B2B experiences at scale. The generational shift is real - millennial and Gen Z buyers are now the decision-makers, and they expect the same quality of experience they get as consumers. And the convergence of brand and performance is going to define the next era. The companies that treat B2B marketing as a genuine growth engine, not a cost centre, are going to win.