An 'all grown up now' quartet of highly experienced and imaginative employees who honed their creative skills over many years at Draftfcb Johannesburg has taken control of the agency's creative product.

Marthinus Duckitt, Grant Jacobsen, Gerhard Myburgh and Adam Wittert- with a collective 21 years at the agency- have grown with it, and been partner to both its and its clients' successes.

Included, for example, are conceptualising and developing 'Mo the Meerkat' for Vodacom, a character that has starred in four 'Top 5 Most Liked Ads' since 2005 (Source: Millward Brown Impact) and was named 'Brand Marketing Campaign of the Year 2006' by Finweek's AdReview, securing the 2008 Gold Apex Award for Effective Advertising in the 'Launch' category for Toyota Yaris, and winning Golds at numerous international and local creative awards such as Cannes, Loeries and Pendorings.

Now, however, the time has come for them to take on new challenges, and the responsibilities of executive creative directors.

Asked to comment on their collective appointment, the quartet quipped: “South Africa's most liked ads? We're behind them. Effective Ads? We helped make them. Great relationships with our clients? We've been the guys on the ground- talk about continuity of relationships. We're now ready to take over. Watch this space”.

Group Executive Creative Director, Ashley Bacon added: “When seeking a replacement for the Executive Creative Director who had just left the agency, the fact that the job is actually bigger than one person hit us- total billings exceed R1-billion, far more than many medium-sized agencies in South Africa- and we asked ourselves why go along with industry tradition of appointing one ECD, why not appoint more than one?

“Indeed, why not appoint four people who not only helped build our agency, who not only believe in creative excellence, who not only have the trust of those who work here, but who already have their names on the stationery?

“To a man, Grant, Gerhard and Adam, have grown with the agency, while Marthinus joined us a far more seasoned adman; all have been a critical part of its success over the years”, he explained.

Managing director of Draftfcb Johannesburg, John Dixon said he was looking forward to reaping the rewards of promoting from within.

“Our four new executive creative directors are already very familiar with the agency and clients. Given that their responsibilities have been aligned according to those clients they've worked closely with in the past, there will be no 'familiarisation' phase. They'll be able to invest more time in their client portfolios; and their staff will be better nurtured and mentored.

“For many outside of the agency, this appointment of four ECDs will be regarded as a bold move. For us who know and respect these men, it's a dead cert. Together, they form a formidable team, and I look forward to seeing to what new heights they can take Draftfcb Johannesburg,” he said.

While Duckitt will look after the creative interpretation of all the marketing communication the agency does in the alternative media field, the other three will each be responsible for all the traditional media communication requirements of a client 'cluster', billing more than most medium-sized agencies.

Duckitt has more than 20 years' experience in the industry and has worked on accounts such as: Spoornet; Eskom; Technikon SA; South African Tourism; Southern Sun; SAN Parks; Sun International; Telkom; South African Breweries; MNET; KTV; Nestlé; Nation Foods; Mazda; Sun Air; Vodacom; Toyota; First National Bank; Samsung; Siemens; Clover; and the SABC. He started his career as an art director at Young & Rubicam, then worked at Meridian and Kuper Hands; Grey Advertising; Lasso Communications; Ogilvy; Mather Procam (where he became managing director in 2000); and The Agency; all before joining Draftfcb's promotional campaign and experiential division as Executive Creative Director.

Jacobsen joined Draftfcb Johannesburg as creative director. While his primary responsibility at the agency has been guiding the Vodacom account, he had previously- at Ogilvy and Grey Worldwide- worked on accounts for: Audi; Nokia; Hansa Pilsener; Heineken; Captain Morgan; National Brands; and the Johannesburg Zoo. He has never worked on a Vodacom ‘Mo the meerkat’ commercial.

Jacobsen's major clients will include Vodacom (corporate and branding), First National Bank and Lexus; Myburgh takes on FirstRand, Toyota, Tiger Brands, Ramrod and Rapport, among others; and Wittert will look after the SABC, SCJ, EA Games, Eskom and City Press.

Myburgh has worked on a wide variety of clients at Draftfcb Johannesburg, developing through the line solutions for clients including: Vodacom; First National Bank and FirstRand; Tiger Brands; EA Games; and Toyota; as well as Edgars; Aardklop Art Festival; Ramrod Products; Sasol; SC Johnson; Telkom; True Love Magazine; Netflorist; Adcock Ingram Pharmaceuticals; SABC; Sunday World; Rapport; Imperial Car Hire; and SA Scouts. He has also travelled to Moscow and New York to work on projects in the worldwide group's offices there. Prior to joining Draftfcb South Africa, he worked at TBWA Hunt Lascaris and Strate Advertising.

Wittert joined Draftfcb South Africa as creative director after stints as a copywriter and senior copywriter at Lowe Bull, TBWA, and Ogilvy. Over the years, noticeable accounts he's worked on have included: Toyota; Tiger Brands; Dulux; Castle Lager; and the Hospice Second Hand Bookstore.