Jericho Wins Western Union Account

Western Union signage at the Causeway Building in Central Harare. The international money transfer company has appointed Jericho Advertising as its advertising agency in Zimbabwe after a competitive pitch process, with presentation being made to the Southern African Head Office based in Johannesburg.

We are thrilled at Jericho to announce that the agency has been appointed the Advertising agency for Western Union for the Zimbabwe market after a competitive pitch against other Zimbabwean agencies.

Following a pitch presentation to Western Union Southern Africa via conference call, the Johannesburg-based Western Union regional office announced last this week the result of the pitch, appointing Jericho their agency for the Zimbabwe market.

Western Union, with its head office in the United States, is by far the largest money-transfer company in the world. It was Western Union, in fact, that sent the very first Telegraph ever sent in the world, back in the late 1800s.

Since then, the company has spread all over the world and now concentrates on money transfers. Western Union, also an innovator through the years, recently announced that they had linked up with m-pesa, the wildly successful mobile money transfer company based in Kenya. The partnership will see m-pesa clients in Kenya receiving cash transferred from overseas on their phones, or "mobile wallets" within moments of the money having been sent, whether from London, New York or any other country from which Western Union operates.

In announcing the appointment of Jericho Advertising Zimbabwe as their advertising agency, Neo Lepitse, the Western Union marketing executive in charge of Southern Africa said the Jericho strategy and creative had been "comprehensive", adding that the agency was able to offer "unique insights into the rapidly evolving Zimbabwe market."

Work will roll out soon on a fairly large scale.

With this win, Jericho cements its reputation as the fastest growing advertising agency in the history of Zimbabwean advertising.

We look forward to more.

Jericho Wins CIMAS

Jericho Advertising has been appointed to the CIMAS account, which it will handle with DDH&M acting as the lead agency on the account.

In a three-way pitch that included DDH&M and Barkers Ogilvy, Jericho impressed the CIMAS panel with its insights and understanding of the CIMAS brand, which led to the appointment of the Harare shop as the secondary agency on the account.

Details of how CIMAS work will be split will become clearer in the short term.

Jericho Advertising is delighted to have made an impact on this national institution, the largest Medical Aid Society in Zimbabwe, enjoying the patronage of the vast majority listed blue-chip corporates and an unrivaled based of more 180 000 members.

This becomes the third account the agency has won is less than two months, reinforcing the Harare agency's reputation as the shop to watch in Zimbabwe.

This month, Jericho also announced it had won Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited and Old Mutual, adding the largest financial institution in Zimbabwe and the oldest cordials manufacturer to its roster.

The first campaign for Old Mutual (for Unit Trusts) has already broken in the media to an extremely good response from investors across Zimbabwe.

Jericho Advertising Wins Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited Account

The current Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited logo, which has been revamped in a winning pitch by Jericho Advertising

Jericho Advertising has once again shown why it is the most admired advertising agency in Zimbabwe today by scooping the Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited account, which has been at rival agency Barkers Ogilvy for around several decades.

In a four way pitch that included Barkers Ogilvy, CM&A Advertising, Adrenalin Advertising and Design as well as Jericho, the Avondale-based Jericho Advertising emerged triumphant in one of the most sensational coups in recent Zimbabwean advertising memory.

Announcing the win by Jericho, Ms Unaiswi Nleya, Group Marketing Executive for Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited said:

"Congratulations on winning the Schweppes Account! Well done! I look forward to a very long and mutually beneficial relationship with Jericho Advertising."

The agency will start work immediately on the main corporate brand as well as campaigns for some of Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited well-known brands. Considering it is the 55th Anniversary of the Zimbabwean company, Jericho will also be working on a 55th Anniversary campaign and promotion.

Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited's products include the world-famous Mazoe Orange Juice, made with 50% real orange juice, Schweppes Water, Ripe 'n Ready and Minute Maid amongst others.

The announcement of Jericho's win was made on Friday, 17 June 2011.

Jericho Advertising is fast-becoming a force to reckon with in Zimbabwean advertising. On this particular pitch, the agency worked closely with The Jupiter Drawing Room South Africa's innovation Center in Cape Town.

Jupiter, who are looking at the possibility of the Zimbabwe agency representing them in the country, happen to be one of the leading agencies in the world. Headed by the world-famous Graham Warsop, (recent recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Festival, a top awards festival for the global advertising industry), The Jupiter Drawing Room is also the only agency from its region to be listed amongst the Top 5 Agencies in The World by Advertising Age, an American Advertising Industry magazine. Graham Warsop himself gave very good guidance and critique of the pitch work done by Jericho and helped to make the presentation to Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited a winning one.

Other members of the Jupiter Drawing Room Innovation Center who proved to be worth their weight in gold on this pitch included Gillian Rightford and John Warsop (MD of the Jupiter Group).

Ashley Mhonda, creative Director at Jericho Advertising, commented on the win,

"This is an incredible honour. To be working with Schweppes Zimbabwe, who make the iconic Mazoe Orange juice, is a dream come true. The Team at Jericho worked extremely hard on this pitch, sometimes late into the night and on weekends and it has paid off. We would like to thank Schweppes for this vote of confidence in Zimbabwe's undisputed hottest agency at the moment - Jericho."

Comfort Mbofana, MD of Jericho, added,

" This is a singular honour, a coup in the industry and we are delighted to be working with Team Schweppes in Zimbabwe. We are over the moon that Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited has chosen to work with the foremost creative force in Zimbabwe - Jericho Advertising and we look forward to an excellent working relationship with the team at SZL. It was a hard-fought pitch against some very stiff competition from industry doyens and we are delighted to have triumphed in the end."

Work starts immediately on the account, says Mbofana, with the first campaigns for SZL being for Minute Maid and for the rolling out of SZL's new corporate identity, crafted by Jericho Advertising.

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Jericho Wins Old Mutual Zimbabwe Corporate Account

Old Mutual Zimbabwe's ads at the Harare International Airport, done by Alliance Media in South Africa. These already carry the Do Great Things positioning statement that Jericho Advertising will be launching for Old Mutual in Zimbabwe in July 2011, after having won a three-way pitch for the business. Jericho Advertising will also be launching Unit Trusts, Easy Benefit Plan, Emerald, Hybrid and Diamond Funds for Old Mutual in all the major media in Zimbabwe

Jericho Advertising is delighted to announce that the agency has been picked by Old Mutual Zimbabwe as the winner of their upcoming Corporate campaign.

Jericho pitched against three other agencies, Gary Thompson and Associates and Barkers Ogilvy. Barkers Ogilvy and Jericho were then shortlisted for the next stage, a presentation to the executive committee of Old Mutual Zimbabwe, which includes the Group Chief Executive Officer of Old Mutual Zimbabwe, the Group Marketing Executive and several other executives.

It was after that second stage that Jericho Advertising was announced as the winner of the business.

The corporate campaign will see Jericho help Old Mutual launch the global pay-off line (Do Great Things) in Zimbabwe, across all media, press, radio, television, billboards, below- and above-the-line work and also an internal marketing campaign to re-orient Old Mutual Zimbabwe staff towards the new positioning of the company.

In addition to the positioning campaign, Jericho will, during the last half of June 2011, also launch a campaign for Old Mutual Unit Trusts across all media in Zimbabwe.

This will be running concurrently with other Old Mutual products that Jericho is now handling, including the Easy Benefit Plan, a retirement plan offered by Old Mutual to SMEs and also the Emerald, Diamond and Hybrid Funds, all running across major media.

Commenting on Jericho winning the account, the Group Marketing Executive at Old Mutual said, "The Agency impressed everybody on the Executive Committee of Old Mutual Zimbabwe with its deep understanding of the brand and its motivations. The solutions and quality of ideas from Jericho were exactly what we were looking for and we are delighted to be working with the Agency to Do Great Things together."

Mr Comfort Mbofana, MD of Jericho Advertising, also commented: " This is vindication of our approach, which is the relentless focus on becoming Zimbabwe's first World-class advertising agency. We are delighted that Old Mutual Zimbabwe has chosen us from a pool of very experienced agencies, showing yet again that the quality of our ideas is unrivaled in Zimbabwe. We are humbled by this trust shown by such an established brand in Jericho and will work tireless to ensure that we meet all Old Mutual's expectations and then exceed them, daily."

Old Mutual Zimbabwe is the country's largest Financial Services Group, and owns vast properties in all the major cities of the country, including the world-famous Westgate Shopping Center in Harare, Old Mutual House, Three Anchor House, Eastgate Shopping Centre and Office Block and many others.

Old Mutual also owns CABS, the country's biggest Building Society and MBCA bank, a local bank in which Nedbank South Africa, owns a controlling stake.

The company is by far the most dominant investor on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, owning stakes in 90% of all companies listed on the ZSE, one of the world's best-performing stock exchanges.