SmallAgencyoftheYear

SMALL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Ro g e r w i l co

Staying on top thanks to foresight and nimble planning

mall agencies were arguably the

Shardest hit by the pandemic. The entries in this category demonstrated the greatest resilience and grit in difficult times, particularly given how tight their margins are and the high-risk nature of this industry sector. The judges were awed by their audacity to show up and tell their business stories in a climate where many of their peers would have been shutting their doors.

Hats off therefore to this year’s winner of the AdFocus Small Agency of the Year Award, Rogerwilco Digital (RWD), an agency that had seven campaigns suspended from March as a result of Covid-19 cutbacks, not to mention the loss of two accounts, but still managed to record a 39% increase in revenue —a testament to its commitment to getting back to work as soon as humanly possible and delivering quantifiable return on investment for its clients.

The bulk of this growth resulted from upselling existing clients such as the V&A Waterfront, The Crazy Store and Nestlé. Ask anyone at the agency what they attribute this growth to in one of the most challenging business climates the world has ever seen, and they will point to its agility and client-centric approach.

This growth ensured that the agency did not have to retrench staff or cut salaries during lockdown, despite the fact that new business opportunities were significantly diminished for the greater part of 2020.

RWD demonstrated its agile approach when it came to its early preparations for lockdown. After reviewing data from China, the company was already working remotely on a rotational basis from early March, testing systems and connectivity and putting processes in place that would allow for a seamless transition.

Of course there were challenges, but with regular check-ins to keep the teams motivated, the agency has taken with it new lessons such as the fact that staff do not need to work from a central office, and that communication and transparency around all aspects of the business are key to pulling together through

Rogerwilco founders Charlie Stewart and Jakes Redelinghuys

the tough times.

The agency’s commitment to diversity has become a strategic cornerstone of the business. An internal diversity forum ensures that historically disadvantaged individuals h av e a fair chance within the business, which is guided by its diversity policies. One of these is to consciously hire more p r ev io u s ly disadvantaged employees. The agency is 51% black owned, with 31.5% black women o w ne r s h ip .

An internship programme ensures young talent is given the opportunity to experience all areas of the business. In addition, e mp lo y e e s are encouraged to further their own vocational studies and upskill themselves to keep abreast of the rapid changes in the digital landscape, which better equips them to advise clients on staying relevant.

Industry development is another passion at RW D and to this end, the agency launched the “SA Digital Customer Experience Report”, one of its highlights of 2020.

Finalists in this category included Hoorah Digital, which was founded in 2018 and since then has worked for clients such as Sanofi, Ne s t lé and MultiC ho ice .

Hoorah has experienced 53% revenue growth over the past year, picking up a number of projects and three retainer clients: Nestlé, MultiChoice (Showmax) and Phumelela Gaming, though it lost the latter account in April 2020. It also lost Futurelife in November 2 0 1 9.

Ho o r a h’s partnerships and collaborations with young and up-and-coming black-owned agencies such as The Odd Number is testament to its commitment to transformation and diversity, and gives talent at these agencies a chance to showcase their work on a global p l at fo r m .

Think Creative Africa was also a finalist in this category. The agency positions itself as insights-led, solving business problems from a uniquely African perspective. It has experienced growth of 22.3% year to date, which it attributes to its four core pillars: lo v e ideas, respect people, understand self and grow bu s i ne s s .

Living these values, the team believes, is what enables it to deliver impressive work for clients, despite being a small shop.

Its revenue increase was thanks to a number of new projects which came on board, with just one account loss.

As a team of young African creatives, Think Creative Africa produces content based on a thorough understanding of what is required.