The finalists span categories including AI, integrated marketing, influencer marketing, technical innovation, and low-budget creativity, reflecting Brave’s ability to deliver across the full marketing spectrum.
“Being recognised across such diverse categories is a testament to the power of integration. At Brave, we don’t see creative, digital, media, and data as silos. We see them as interconnected levers that, when pulled together, deliver disproportionate impact for clients. Essentially, our work is all about creating significant business value for our clients,” says Brave Group CEO, Musa Kalenga.
Brave Group finalists in the 2025 New Generation Awards include:
AI-powered marketing firm, FORGE, has also been shortlisted for The New Generation Small Agency of the Year Award, making the eighth finalist nomination. Forge is an AI-driven, all-in-one platform that streamlines every stage of marketing. From brief to production, Forge cuts execution time by up to 80% while enabling seamless collaboration, intuitive workflows, and more innovative, faster campaigns.
“Our differentiation lies in how we fuse creativity with technology and cultural insight. It’s this blend that allows us to create campaigns that are not only award-winning, but that resonate deeply with consumers and move business metrics,” Kalenga adds.
Brave Group marked a significant milestone earlier this year by becoming 100% black-owned and managed, following the acquisition of shares by Kalenga and its chairperson, Andile Khumalo. The transaction, backed by Sanlam Alternative Investments, positions Brave as one of the largest fully Black-owned agencies in South Africa.
“This recognition comes at an important moment for us as a business,” says Kalenga. “As a proudly Black-owned and operated agency group, we’re showing that transformation and excellence go hand-in-hand. We’re building a business that is investment-ready, high-performing, and future-focused, competing at the very top, not because of compliance, but because of capability, technology, creativity and craft.”
The New Generation Awards, now in their 13th year, are South Africa’s leading independent, performance-driven digital media accolades, judged on strategy, innovation, creativity, results and impact. Winners will be announced at the Awards Gala Ceremony to be held on Tuesday, 23 September at the NH Sandton, just around the corner from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
