Ogilvy South Africa has been named overall Agency of the Year at the Financial Mail AdFocus Awards 2025, a prestigious accolade earned through a year of exceptional creativity, strategic excellence and consistent effectiveness.
The agency was also named Agency Group of the Year for the second consecutive year and received multiple awards across its specialist operating companies, including Partnership of the Year, PR Agency of the Year, and Specialist Digital Agency of the Year, reflecting the breadth and influence of its work.
Agency Group of the Year
The Adfocus awards recognise and celebrate agencies and individuals for both their effective creativity as well as their business acumen. In a constantly evolving and complex marketing landscape, these awards have set the benchmark to assess how agencies are building creative capital and agency value in a complex and tech-advanced world. This year’s recognition by Adfocus, is a testament of the Ogilvy South Africa groups focussed mission to deliver impact for their clients and innovate across their different specialist companies.
Client Partnership of the Year
The Partnership of the Year award marks the third consecutive year that Ogilvy has been recognised for its exceptional client collaborations. Prior years saw KFC and AB InBev picking up the accolades together with Ogilvy. The award celebrates not only the outstanding work delivered but also the trust, strategic alignment, and long-term impact that define a client relationship. This year, the award honours the Ogilvy’s enduring partnership with Volkswagen Group Africa and their commitment to delivering measurable results while building a lasting, meaningful partnership.
Commenting on the partnership, Vicki Buys, managing director of Ogilvy Advertising, comments: "What an honour it is to be named AdFocus Partnership of the Year for our work with Volkswagen Group Africa! This award celebrates the incredible collaboration, trust, and shared ambition between our teams. It’s a proud moment that highlights how bold ideas, integrated creativity, and true partnership can deliver outstanding results across the continent. Huge thanks to Volkswagen Group Africa for believing in our vision. This is an exciting win we share together."
Bridget Harpur, head of marketing: Volkswagen Group Africa, comments:
“We’re honoured to receive this award. Winning Partnership of the Year highlights the impact we achieve with Ogilvy through shared thinking, collaboration, and creativity that keep our brand relevant. A special thank you to the Volkswagen team and our agency partners. This achievement is the result of your hard work and collaboration. This is a shared victory, and we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished together.”
Further cementing its leadership in the industry, Ogilvy PR & Influence was named PR Agency of the Year. This award celebrates the growth and modernisation of Ogilvy’s PR & Influence business through landing game-changing, impactful practices in the agile newsroom, future proofing with AI, as well as growing their specialist Influence services. During the entry period, the business demonstrated consistent delivery of campaigns that combined measurable results, cultural relevance, and meaningful audience connections. Demonstrating the agency’s creativity, strategic insight, and ability to shape both global and local conversations.
As a modern, earned-first client partner – with influence at the heart of its culture and capabilities – Ogilvy PR & Influence achieved exponential growth and showcased itself as an industry leader.
Sam Presbury, managing director of Ogilvy PR & Influence, adds, "This award is a significant endorsement of our journey to redefine PR. Thank you to the judges for recognising our Influence-led, earned-first approach and the meaningful impact we’ve achieved for our clients. We’re so proud of this recognition.”
Digital Specialist Agency of the Year
Ogilvy One was named Specialist Agency of the Year, a testament to the bold investment the business initiated just three years ago. Acknowledging that the digital landscape was dramatically shifting, instead of merely adapting, it chose to redefine its positioning. Launching itself not just as a new brand, but with a deep commitment to forging meaningful, digital, human relationships between brands and their customers.
Creating solutions that are crafted to not just reach audiences, but truly resonate, building lasting emotional connections. This approach not only propelled Ogilvy One to the forefront of the industry but also earned the appointment of iconic brands such as Google, Mastercard, OM Bank, Vodacom and Brand South Africa - who rely on Ogilvy One to navigate their most complex customer challenges. Also noteworthy is Ogilvy One’s digital graduate program, that is intentionally engineering the growth of tomorrow’s digital leaders for the industry.
Managing director of Ogilvy One, Melissa Carney comments on the win: “We’re proud to be named Specialist Agency of the Year, especially given the incredible talent and competition in the category this year. We're passionate about constantly redefining what's possible for brands online, and this award validates our team's vision and constant pursuit of impact. A massive thanks to our team and our clients for their continued trust in us to drive real impact for their brands.”
Pete Case, CEO of Ogilvy concludes: “What an extraordinary year for our teams across the Ogilvy group! Congratulations to everyone that made these awards possible. Our success reflects the talent, collaboration, and pioneering spirit across the entire Ogilvy group and the trust our clients place in us. We also recognise that in today's increasingly complex and rapidly evolving industry, performance increasingly hinges on specialist expertise and the enduring power of creative capital. A special thank you to Volkswagen Group Africa for partnering with us to win Partnership of the Year, your ongoing belief and open collaboration made this possible. These awards aren’t just trophies; they reaffirm our commitment to helping shape the future of our industry. We’re more energised than ever to continue this incredible journey forward.”
