by Herman Manson (@marklives) Old Mutual has appointed Publicis Communications as its new lead agency across the African continent, including South Africa. The account will be serviced out of both Johannesburg and Cape Town by a team pulled together from various Publicis agencies.

Creative hub

Publicis Communications is the creative communications hub of Publicis Groupe, bringing together the Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, Publicis Worldwide, BBH, Marcel, Fallon, MSLGROUP and Prodigious networks. It will manage brand strategy, above-the-line, below-the-line, digital creative and production for all integrated campaigns.

Old Mutual moved its business from FCB Africa after the agency won the Barclays Africa account  from The Jupiter Drawing Room (Johannesburg) in late 2016. Old Mutual is a 54% shareholder in Nedbank Group.

“We’re excited about Publicis being handed the baton and responsibility to steward the Old Mutual brand as our company enters a new era,” says Andisa Ntsubane, acting chief marketing officer for Old Mutual. “We look forward to working with Publicis and connecting with our customers through creative campaigns that inspire them to do great things. At the same time, we’d like to thank FCB Africa for the great role they played in building our brand over the past few years.”

‘Iconic African brand’

Loris Nold, global chief operating officer of Publicis Communications, says: “Old Mutual is one of the truly iconic African brands and we are delighted to be their partner across the continent. We are inspired by the transformative possibilities that financial services offer customers in Africa, as well as Old Mutual’s commitment to this purpose.”

Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com.

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