Advertising News South Africa

Jupiter flies SA flag high in World's Best Agency Rankings

The Jupiter Drawing Room (TJDR) (Johannesburg) ended 2005 on a high note after becoming the only South African advertising agency to feature in the Top 20 list of the world's best agencies based on creative performance. At the top of the table are Crispin Porter + Bogusky Miami, in a list released by the prestigious US trade publication, Advertising Age's Creativity.

Ranked 15th, TJDR is no stranger to Advertising Age's Creativity list following its high profile 5th place ranking by the same publication in 2001. The publication serves as an alternative to the controversial Gunn Report which publishes similar rankings based on an undisclosed list of local and international awards events. The agency's ranking is phenomenal in view of the fact that the agency is smaller than the agencies surrounding it on the table and it only entered four of the nine festivals from which the awards results are based.

Graham Warsop, Executive Creative Director and Chairman of TJDR (South Africa), says: "Although we are a 100% SA owned independent agency, it has always been a goal to build a brand reputation beyond the African continent. The Ad Age ranking once again confirms that it is possible for a home grown SA agency to take on the world's biggest and best agencies."

TJDR's much lauded Nugget campaign for Reckitt Benckiser featured prominently in festivals in 2005. So much so that the "Exam Cheat Note - Use the Shine" execution was ranked by Ad Age Creativity as the 3rd most awarded print/outdoor ad in the world.

Other international accolades include Warsop's recent recognition by the London International Advertising Awards (LIAA) as the No. 1 Creative Director in the world. He ranked in the No. 1 spot of Creative Directors ahead of luminaries such as Marcello Serpa (2nd) and John Hunt (4th), both former presidents of the Cannes International Advertising Jury.

In 2005 the LIAA, a global festival that attracts more than 16 500 entries from 79 countries around the world, paid tribute to agencies, production companies, design companies and Creative Directors who have achieved most recognition since the awards inception in 1985.

TJDR CEO Renee Silverstone adds: "We are proud of all our achievements since we started the agency 16 years ago. All credit goes to the exceptional creative minds that are part of the Jupiter family who produce world class creative work."

Advertising Age list of the 20 most creative agencies in the world:

1. Crispin Porter + Bogusky Miami
2. TBWA/Paris
3. Goodby Silverstein & Partners San Francisco
4. Wieden + Kennedy/London
5. TBWA/Chiat/Day/San Francisco (TBWA/180)
6. TAXI Toronto
7. DDB London
8. Fallon/New York
9. AlmapBBDO Sao Paulo
10. Wieden + Kennedy/Portland
11. DDB Brazil
12. Dentsu/Tokyo
13. Springer & Jacoby, Hamburg Werbung
14. Arnold Worldwide
15. The Jupiter Drawing Room, Johannesburg
16. 180 Amsterdam (180/TBWA)
17. BBDO/New York
18. Abbot Mead Vickers BBDO/London
19. DDB/Chicago
20. Nordpol Hamburg

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