Demand for sportswear is sprinting ahead of the wider apparel market
Consumers are prioritising their wellness despite tighter wallets, meaning sportswear remains one of the most resilient areas of fashion.
AGENCIES
Insurance giant Old Mutual appoints Promise as its TTL lead agency
By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2025
‘Strong chemistry’ between insurer and agency during the multi-agency pitch process proves to be a key point.
Promise, an independently owned and managed full–service agency operating out of Johannesburg and Cape Town, has been appointed by South African-based Old Mutual as its through-the-line lead agency for brand and retail audiences.
Illustration: Promise
Old Mutual is a well-established insurance and financial services group operating in 12 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in China. It employs over 27,000 people.
The appointment of Promise became effective from 1 April 2025 and followed a search and selection process which was managed by Yardstick, a consultancy that specialises in agency search, selection and relationship management.
“We enjoyed excellent chemistry with the Old Mutual marketing team and the pitch itself was a really enjoyable process too. We look forward to assisting the team, led by CMO Mosala Phillips and Head of Brand Thobile Tshabalala, to achieve their strategic objectives,” says Promise CEO, James Moffatt, in a press release.
Strategic and creative capability
Tshabalala comments: “The selection of Promise as our lead creative agency was an easy choice. They demonstrated very strong strategic and creative capability, while creating a very strong chemistry with us.”
Promise has worked with brands such as Castle Lager beer, Carling Black Label beer, AfriSam cement, Redefine Properties, Renault and Rand Merchant Bank.
In 2023, the agency was ranked first in South Africa at the D&AD Awards, the global advertising, design and digital awards, and was a runner-up at Cannes. The agency also won Best Digital Agency at the IAB Bookmark Awards in 2023, the second time in as many years.
Deadline looms for African marketing and supply chain awards
Nominations for the 2026 African Marketing Confederation and African Supply Chain Confederation awards close on 31 July.
Researchers study why negative brand news fails to deter some customers
Consumers may stick with troubled brands because their emotional attachment overrides the perceived risk, study finds.
Marketing’s role in book on how Ghana can deliver public service excelLENCE
Book draws a line between customer experience – the private-sector marketing discipline – and what its authors call ‘Citizen Experience’.
Once close to oblivion, SA retailer Edgars is making a comeback
Six years ago, the historic South African department store chain was in voluntary business rescue. Now it plans to open 50 new stores.
Why influencer marketing success requires all hands on deck
The Accountability Equation is the often neglected, but vital, three-way partnership between creators, brands and their marketing agencies.
Malawi’s marketing body confirms keynote speaker for annual conference
The Institute of Marketing in Malawi announces that accomplished business leader Michel Hebert will be its keynote conference speaker.
When the same online search query produces vastly different results
Forty percent of brand citations in organic search results do not show up in AI overviews for the same query, study finds.
Sports brand Adidas moves its $512m global media account to Omnicon
Adidas has reportedly awarded the business to Omnicom Media Group following a competitive pitch involving Publicis Groupe and incumbent WPP.
PepsiCo loses some fizz as Coca-Cola captures its Marriott business
Another salvo is fired in the long-running ‘Cola Wars’ as Coke steals Pepsi’s thunder across the Marriott group’s 10,000 global properties.
Publicis Groupe Africa appoints Managing Director: Rest of Africa
Gideon Khobane brings more than 20 years of leadership experience across media, entertainment and digital platforms in Africa.
