The Jupiter Drawing Room

ABOUT US

COURAGE & CREATIVITY

Our people continuously challenge themselves to think out of the box and find the next big idea, which makes for a lively culture of (sometimes) eccentric traditions!

ORIGIN

The Jupiter Drawing Room was founded in Johannesburg in 1989 by Graham Warsop. The agency name came from a grand room in a bordello in a Guy de Maupassant short story. The Cape Town office opened its doors in 1994.

From those early days as a small, yet creative, boutique agency brand, it has grown into one of South Africa’s largest advertising groups and is recognised, both locally and globally, for its creative abilities.

In 2009, a ‘dream deal’ was completed with communications giant WPP which acquired a 49% stake in The Jupiter Drawing Room. In 2012 The Jupiter Drawing Room opened its first agency outside of South Africa, in Zimbabwe. A new brand-holding company, The Jupiter Drawing Room & Partners (Zimbabwe), was created under which two agencies fall; The Jupiter Drawing Room (Harare) and Jericho, a dynamic young agency enjoying meteoric growth in the Zimbabwean market.

In 2013 further offices were opened in Zambia and Malawi, and in 2014 The Jupiter Drawing Room & Partners (Mauritius) was formed.

The Jupiter Drawing Room (South Africa) is the country’s current joint Agency of the Decade (Source: FinWeek’s AdReview).

THE CHESTERFIELD STORY

We could have placed an order with the local office furniture outfit. We could have gone to a trendy Italian boutique and bought something in day-glo pink or imitation zebra skin (we are, after all, an advertising agency).

We could have. But we didn’t.

When we went out to furnish the drawing room at Jupiter, we expended the entire budget on just one item. An original Chesterfield.

During those first weeks, back in May 1989, we soon realized that the Chesterfield was not just a piece of furniture; it was symbolic of something much grander. Something at the very heart of The Jupiter Drawing Room’s approach to its work. Craftmanship.

Meticulously researched and finely tuned concepts, painstaking attention to even the smallest details; it is easy to believe these qualities do not matter in the great scheme of things. We believe they have never mattered more.

That Chesterfield has become an icon for our business. It represents the qualities of creativity and beautiful craftsmanship that we want our work to be associated with.

Over the years we have developed a series of ‘Chesterfield’ adverts, which bring to life the essence of The Jupiter Drawing Room brand.

HERITAGE

We started life as a small group of entrepreneurs who launched a business from scratch, wanting to create a global creative reputation.

We never really focused on the money but in 2009, 20 years after we started out with no money, but plenty of dreams, our agency was valued at over US$ 56m.

Today, we’re just as entrepreneurial, and just as motivated to produce category-defining innovative thinking.

We’re also still majority privately-owned in Africa, meaning that our destiny not just rests in Africa, but also in our hands.

Our dreams too.

SERVICES

The Jupiter Drawing Room (Johannesburg) was founded by Graham Warsop in 1989 and grew the business from a small boutique advertising agency into one of South Africa’s largest advertising groups.

Proof of the agency’s outstanding creative abilities is reflected in the range of categories for which the agency has won international awards: 27 Cannes Lions, 21 Clios, 17 One Show Pencils, 24 London International Statues and 79 Medals at The New York Festival, including Best of Show for Magazine in 2001. Local awards consist of: 196 Loeries, 26 Midas, 6 APEX, 1 Sports, 19 Eagles, 14 D&AD and 98 Ad of the Month Awards.

It recently celebrated being awarded the Barclays Global Supplier of the Year, which comes on the back of recognition within their internal marketing awards programmes for work done on Absa. These awards include Most Collaborative; Overall Award for Bravery; Best Owned Film; and Best Sponsorship.