Promise wins Edcon's Speciality Division business

Promise, founded in 2005, was a finalist for medium-sized agency of the year in 2015 at the Financial Mail’s AdFocus Awards. The agency was also nominated by its industry peers and MarkLives.com as “The One to Watch” in 2016 in both Johannesburg and South Africa. The Promise team will now grow from around 70 to approximately 100 staff in the coming weeks.

Promise will be responsible for all tenets of the Edcon marketing continuum, including strategy, through-the-line campaigns and digital execution for a number of diverse and exciting brands.

These brands, represented through over 700 stores are as follows:

• CNA stores (books, magazines and electronics);
  
• Boardmans (complete home-living solution);
  
• Red Square (cosmetics);
  
• Edgars Active (sports lifestyle offering);
  
• Edcon Group Cellular (cellular and hi-tech); and
  
• International Brands (iconic international brands with several exclusive licences, including Topshop, River Island, TM Lewin, Calvin Klein, MAC Cosmetics, Bobbi Brown, Kiehls and Victoria’s Secret Beauty and Accessories).

James Moffatt, CEO at Promise, notes: “Team Promise worked really hard on this pitch. It was extensive, as we had to cover multiple brands with strategy, costings, creative ideation and execution in one pitch. At the same time, we were very busy with our existing client base requirements. Many weekends and late nights were involved, requiring the support of spousal partners and in some cases, kids. Marc, Craig and I have nothing but the utmost pride for everybody at Promise – we have a special and highly dedicated team. We can’t wait to get stuck into assisting Edcon with their new strategy, under the leadership of Bernie Brookes and Garth Napier.”

Garth Napier, CEO of Edcon’s Speciality Division, comments: “We have worked with James and the team over the last four years and believe that they have the passion, commitment and talent to help us grow all our businesses in the future."