Established by CEO, Prital Patel in 1995, starting out as a design studio, Creative Edge soon evolved into an integrated communications agency, bolstering its offering to include advertising, digital, brand development, media planning and buying, strategy, packaging and custom publishing. "As a network hub, it's essential for Creative Y&R to offer, and be experts on a wide mix of disciplines, to provide brand development for its clients and support its smaller regional agencies," explained Schwartz.
He added, "Our strategy remains clear and focused; to be our clients' most important partner and to drive net sales growth by expanding these partnerships through the best thinking, most effective work, more services and expanded geography."
"We are building a network that shares best practice through guidelines, structure, format, philosophy, management depth and commitment to development and growth, plus the transfer of knowledge, systems and tools. These tools cover strategy and planning, production and asset management, as well as knowledge tools and services. One of the network's proprietary tools include Y&R's BrandAsset Valuator (BAV), which is the world's largest database of consumer perceptions of brands and is a key differentiator for the network. Y&R Advertising is serious about its commitment to knowledge transfer and making this partnership work," commented Schwartz.
Creative Y&R is a strong partner for Y&R Advertising, VML and the East African market, boasting an enviable portfolio of work across brands such as Crown Paints, Oil Libya, EABL, Planet Yogurt, Kapa Oil, Daawat, Broadways, Cadbury GSK and Google amongst others. Under Patel's leadership, Creative Y&R will be responsible for the development of the East African region, and the resources at Creative Y&R, as well as Y&R South Africa, will offer support to those agencies.
Schwartz added, "Much like Nigeria, Kenya is one of the most energetic markets in sub-Saharan Africa, influenced by the growing trend of urbanisation in Africa and the innovation of high-growth markets. What's more, according to the PWC Kenyan entertainment and media outlook: 2013-2017 Report, "the forecast annual growth rate for the entertainment and media market in Kenya in the next five years is 16.3% - one of the highest in the world".
Creative Edge's existing digital arm is called Qube Ltd, which will form part of this partnership too. And through this partnership Qube will have access to VML, a leading digital agency that's part of Y&R Advertising, and serves as the network's digital backbone. Schwartz highlighted, "We understand the importance of synergies between the online and offline world, and will work as a collaborative, integrated team to ensure that we are absolutely single-minded about the creative product." Ahmed Salim, the managing director of Qube added, "This is an exciting milestone for us and with the support of VML, we will be able to make a greater impact in the digital industry in East Africa."
"It is our intention to invest in Kenya and as such, we'll be working to introduce Y&R Labstore to the local market," said Schwartz. He continued, "Labstore is Y&R Advertising's new global retail and shopper marketing network that already operates in 20 markets. Shopper marketing is currently one of the fastest growing disciplines globally, and so in order to create a cohesive offering in the East African hub, it's natural to include this in the agency services."
"Y&R Advertising and VML are not new to the Kenyan market," continued Schwartz. "Y&R Advertising has been in the market for many years, and this partnership comes from our ambition to seriously boost our reach. We are confident that Patel and her team are the right fit, and we are certain they will continue to deliver fantastic work. We are very excited to start this partnership and will soon start to bring our clients into the fold."
Patel added, "We are thrilled to be partnering with Y&R Advertising and VML and to be afforded the opportunity to become their anchor agency for this market. Y&R Advertising is a proud, but humble network that is remarkably creative. At last year's Cannes Festival of Creativity, Y&R was ranked the fourth global network for a second consecutive year. And the agency had more markets winning lions than any other agency.
"Our talented creatives have experience across several different disciplines and bring together a unique blend of creativity, passion and drive. We have a common objective of working with clients to strengthen their brands and share Y&R's vision to be our clients' most important partner, delivering outstanding creative work. We're really looking forward to being a part of a global network with the ability to tap into resources, tools and knowledge and be able to return that value through local insights and market leadership."
Creative Y&R will retain the 70-odd staff employed by Creative Edge.
