The Creative Counsel

The Creative Counsel is a South African advertising agency founded in 2001 by school friends Gil Oved and Ran Neu-Ner.[1]

The Creative Counsel

Type	Private
Industry	Advertising Agency
Founded	2001 (2001)
Founder	Gil Oved, Ran Neu-Ner
Headquarters	Johannesburg , South Africa
Number of locations	Africa, Middle East and Europe
Services	advertising, brand activation, digital, design
Website	www.creativecounsel.co.za

The company grew to become one of South Africa's largest advertising agencies (by staff and turnover),[2][3][4] one of South Africa’s largest private first-time employers,[5][6] and South Africa's top marketing, media and advertising company.[7]

In 2015 the company was acquired by the Publicis Group in a deal estimated to be worth over R1.5-billion.[8] The sale was reported as the largest business transaction in Africa[9][10] and the largest agency buyout in South African history.[11]

The primary focus of the agency is the below-the-line advertising though it has investments in a number of other advertising activities operating across a number of fields. Other divisions include events and activations, and creative conceptualisations. [12]

The Creative Counsel was an investor in the Product of the Year Awards where it helped launch the initiative in South Africa along with Product of the Year Management and Preetesh Sewraj.[13][14][15]

In 2016 the agency announced they will incubate, support and mentor five black-owned startups in media, marketing, digital, mobile and activations industries.[16][17]