LEADERSHIP
AGENCY OF THE YEAR - SMALL (2025)
Accelerate, Online. - Correlate
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Merit Certificate
| Title: | Accelerate, Online. |
|---|---|
| Brand: | Correlate |
| Product: | Correlate |
| Agency Name or Internal: | Correlate |
| Agency: | Correlate |
| Executive Summary: | In the room. On the wall. In the work: A leadership model built for velocity Correlate is a proudly independent, founder-led agency built by Jake and Alex: two leaders who believe great work is done in the trenches, not behind glass doors. Since 2017, their lean team has delivered enterprise-grade performance for some of South Africa’s and the globe’s most recognised brands. The model is sharp: value over volume, ownership over hierarchy, precision over excess. At Correlate’s core is true partnership. We work with a tight portfolio of clients: not accounts, but collaborators. Many have been with us from the start. Brands like Bed Bath Home and Treger Brands haven’t just grown, they’ve scaled with us. At Correlate, we don’t chase easy wins. We run viability campaigns in African markets for $1bn battery brands. We drive township broadband adoption. We build full-funnel API marketplace strategies. We’ve taken brands from zero to South Africa’s top-grossing Shopify stores, and launched vehicle brands into top-5 consideration. We’ve attracted top management consulting firms to help them pip their competition. These results weren’t lucky. They were engineered: through depth, clarity, and discipline; and our guys handled an average of over R3mil of client budget, per person in 2024 (not bad for a small agency team of 8). The agency revolves around four pillars: people, process, technology, and data. Our proprietary martech stack powers high-precision media for 20+ businesses spending millions monthly. Strategy, media, SEO and data squads rally around handwritten KPIs, tracked daily on a 3-metre wall; a ritual that turns performance into shared commitment. Every employee is mentored by a founder. That’s not rhetoric, it’s structural. Our team was AI-ready before it was trendy. Our goal is to train thinkers, not merely executors. Our employee-led R&D cell builds tools and tests ideas; 12% of our revenue is reinvested to stay ahead of the curve. Unorthodox by design: We track results on whiteboards, sprint on mountain trails and support wildlife conservation and fund press freedom. Because performance, wellness and purpose should not be a trade-off. In 2025, our intent is clear: own performance marketing end-to-end: go deep, not wide. We move fast, and treat every brief like equity’s on the line. Jake and Alex lead by doing, with open dashboards, open doors and daily stand-ups. Their mantra, “Sell a cellphone or a forklift… performance is the constant,” defines a culture where output is obsession. Correlate isn’t just an agency. It’s a performance powerhouse built on trust, speed and soul, proof that focused leadership can scale impact, and still move industries forward. |
