By Herman Manson. Each year, MarkLives and MarkLives MEDIA celebrate industry excellence through the #AgencyLeaders awards. In 2025, PHD was named Most Admired Media Agency of the Year — marking its third win in the past four years in the annual #AgencyLeaders poll. The joint runners-up for 2025 are dentsu and The MediaShop, with Juno named the contender to watch in the year ahead.
RAPT Creative applauds South Africa’s Media Agency of the Year:
PHD South Africa!
Runners-up: dentsu, The MediaShop
Contender: Juno
Congratulations to the creative luminaries honoured by the MarkLives #AgencyLeaders industry awards. Your exceptional talent elevates our industry and exemplifies the pinnacle of innovation and creativity in South Africa.
PHD’s sustained excellence through reinvention
Not all agencies manage to maintain momentum over multiple years but PHD’s win speaks to its ability to evolve while staying true to its core strengths.
Executives who voted for the agency highlighted its strong leadership and resilience in the face of major shifts:
“Amazing agency. Well run. Anne Dearnaley is simply the best media agency leader in South Africa,” said one.
Another notes how the ability to recover, transform, and thrive has become a defining part of PHD’s culture.
“They have won significant pitches and are digitally transformed,” wrote yet another, reflecting a sense that the agency’s digital and data-led evolution has put it firmly ahead of the curve.
What continues to differentiate PHD, voters also said, is its balance between creativity and rigor — a combination that feels increasingly rare in an era of automation: “It’s great to find a media agency that just gets how people actually think, work and consume media,” one executive observed. “A healthy client roster and a fundamental belief in the power of the idea and the requirement of media to amplify, not just expose.”
In an industry where the craft of media strategy can sometimes feel commodified, PHD’s continued emphasis on insight, ideas, and effectiveness stands out. As another voter summed up: “PHD continues to push the boundaries of media strategy, combining insight-driven planning with creative boldness — earning marquee wins like Cell C’s media account for 2025. Their growth in digital capabilities, proven innovation and willingness to take risks make them a standout choice for Media Agency of the Year.”
dentsu’s focused innovation
dentsu’s recognition as joint runner-up reflects the strength of its specialist approach, particularly through its iProspect team. One voter pointed to “the work iProspect does with SAB delivering for several of their brands in very innovative formats,” describing it as “always impressive”.
The comment reflects the network’s ability to merge innovation with commercial results, a reminder that, in today’s fragmented media environment, the agencies gaining ground are those that can marry technological edge with creative precision.
The MediaShop’s consistency & influence
Joint runner-up The MediaShop continues to earn industry recognition as one of South Africa’s most respected media agencies. Its peers described it as a “consistent and a powerful voice in the industry”, a reputation built over years of delivering excellence and maintaining relevance.
As one exec noted, “The MediaShop remains undefeated. AdFocus Awards 2024: Media Agency of the Year. MarkLives #AgencyLeaders Awards 2025: Media Agency of the Year. RECMA (2019): Rated the top media agency in South Africa. MOST Awards (2018): Media Agency of the Decade.”
The consistency with which the media agency is mentioned in awards conversations signals a broader lesson for the sector: longevity in media excellence isn’t about a single year of great work but the ability to sustain high performance through leadership continuity, adaptability and a clear sense of purpose.
Juno, the rising challenger
Named the 2025 contender, the trajectory of Juno (part of the United Growth Group, which also houses Joe Public) has caught the industry’s attention.
Voters credited its growing creative-media fusion: “Joe are a force. They are starting to really drive media-led creativity through some smart hires; I’m keen to see what they do.”
The comment reflects a broader trend: the blurring of boundaries between creative and media thinking. Juno’s rise hints at a new kind of media agency, one that sees storytelling, strategy and channel as inseparable parts of a single integrated idea.
Previously
In 2024, our winner was The MediaShop (part of Nahana Communications Group). In 2023 and in 2022, it was PHD Media South Africa. In 2021, it was Mediology. In 2020, 2019 and 2018 (our inaugural year for this category), The MediaShop took this title.
In 2024, the runners-up were PHD and Mediology. In 2023, our runner-up was The MediaShop. There was no runner-up in 2022. In 2021 and 2020, it was PHD. In 2019, PHD and were joint runners-up, TMI Collective with PHD being our very first runner-up in 2018.
Contenders in 2024 were Publicis Media and the media brands falling under dentsu. There were none in 2023. In 2022, the contenders were The MediaShop, Mediacom (now EssenceMediacom) and Wavemaker. There were no contenders in 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2018.
Image design: Rendani Nemakhavhani aka Pr$dnt Honey
