27 November 2009
	PROFILE UNIVERSAL MCCANN

Type of agency Media Telephone (011) 235-4600 Website www.umww.com Key person Nazeer Sulliman, MD Ownership IPG (Int) 51%; Zwelakhe Sisulu 49% Black equity 49% Accounts gained 2 Accounts lost 0 Clients 13 Staff 17 Biggest clients - L'Oréal, General Motors SA, Telkom, MasterCard, UIP If transformation were the name of the game, Universal would be a permanent contender. From a single black employee in 2007, this agency is now more than two-thirds black. But it's business that counts. No clients left last year. Billings increased a modest 7%, but revenue growth was an impressive 30%. The agency was behind a concerted campaign by waste management company Pikitup to encourage Jo'burg residents to clean up their city. With future development in mind, Universal launched a digital operation, UM Connect, to offer a fully integrated, inhouse digital capability. It also invested in the biggest global social media tracker, Wave 4, which allowed it to uncover "astounding parallels, insights and idiosyncrasies of SA's advanced Internet universe". New accounts won last year were Pikitup and Telkom's interim media buying.