Penquin celebrates 16 sweet years

Dynamic Johannesburg advertising agency, Penquin, celebrates 16 years of success.

Sixteen years ago, around the time everyone was stressing about Y2K, a small advertising agency with a big vision sprouted in South Africa. Their mission, in co-founder and starting member Darren Leishman’s words, was to “sell more shit, to more people, more often.”

Mission accomplished: Penquin now acts as the advertising agency behind some of South Africa’s most iconic brands including Microsoft South Africa, Barloworld Logistics, Suzuki South Africa and Ster Kinekor.

Veronica Wainstein, Managing Director for Penquin, says: “Our success as a business has been because of the relationships we have formed with our clients. We pride ourselves on taking a keen interest in their businesses and see ourselves as an extension of their marketing team rather than a supplier.  Having said that, any relationship can change if the delivery of work isn’t there.  As an agency, we work hard to put out great work in tight timeframes.  We strive to always do the best work we can and accommodate our clients when they are under pressure to see results.  Most importantly, it’s about the results for us.  We don’t believe in putting out work that can’t be measured and can’t prove to make a difference to the sale of our clients products.”

Darren Leishman continues: "One of the measures of an agency's success is the loyalty of its clients. We still enjoy great relationships with clients who have been with us from the very beginning.

"When we started the company in 2000, one of our founding principles was to sell more of our clients' products, to more people, more often. We have consistently achieved this over the years with the support of our incredibly dedicated and professional team," he says.

A 16th birthday party is a momentous occasion that is celebrated with great fanfare. Penquin’s Sweet Sixteen celebrated many adventures, from celebrating milestones at monthly office get-togethers to reaching annual sales targets. We've been sharing the nostalgia all over your social media feed in celebration. Here's what you've missed:

Happy birthday Penquin

We achieved our annual sales target in 2008 and visited Prague

Who will ever forget our beach themed party in 2003?

Old Penquinite, Guy Orsmond, reaches new heights

And, our amazing memories made with our favourite clients...

What are your memories of Penquin? Share them with us by commenting below. Happy birthday Penquin! May there be many more amazing years to come.

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