Publicis Buys SA's Creative Counsel Group

Global ad giant Publicis has acquired South African marketing services firm The Creative Counsel Group (TCC), whose brand solutions are 'based on real market insights' and 'an intimate understanding of the African consumer at every level'.

TCC, founded in 2001 by joint CEOs Ran Neu-Ner and Gil Oved and now with more than 1,500 employees, is billed as 'the largest integrated below-the-line group of agencies in South-Africa'. Its services include creative, strategy and activation, events, 'mass-market insights and strategies', and retail shopper marketing.

TCC will join Publicis Africa Group, to whose CEO, Kevin Tromp, Neu-Ner and Oved will now report. Tromp says of the buy: 'The combination of TCC's scale, massively entrepreneurial culture, and intimate understanding of the African consumer at every level, is an excellent complement to Publicis' global communication sophistication, deep digital orientation and multi-national mentality. This union creates the most powerful activation and experiential entity on the continent, focused on bringing brands to life in a culturally relevant fashion, for our clients and their consumers'.

In a statement, Neu-Ner and Oved described Publicis as ' masters of merging digital, creative, strategy and new age thinking', and therefore 'the bigger brother we always wish we had'

Neu-Ner told www.themediaonline.co.za the deal had been in the pipeline for a couple of years, and said TCC was 'planning a massive push into the rest of the continent including Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Kenya and Nigeria', in a manner 'aggressive but slow', building a strong base on the continent over the next four years before targeting other emerging markets. Publicis has a presence in 31 African countries.

Despite also mentioning a planned Indian venture involving the firm's proprietary technology, Neu-Ner added cheerily that he and his partner are 'not cowboys taking over the entire world just yet' - but will will remain group CEOs and have management control of the business at least until the end of 2018.

Web site: www.creativecounsel.co.za .