By Lesley-Anne van Wyk WINDHOEK Wednesday night marked the introduction to the new name of the oldest of the four advertising agencies in Namibia, TBWA/Paragon. Initially South African the company, established 1989, is also part of TBWA/Worldwide that is represented in 74 countries. The brief presentation by Lazarus Jacobs, Executive Director of Marketing at the company, served to give reasons for the name change, introduce the employees and their portfolios as well as to mention the advertising agency’s history and achievements. Previously TBWA/Hunt/Lascaris/Namibia, established in 2003, the company is still 100% Namibian-owned with all its shareholders being from previously disadvantaged backgrounds. The company is an investment company, sourcing and managing various investment opportunities to assist in the growth of the Namibian economy and its people. It also specialises in marketing, advertising, hospitality and property development. TBWA/Paragon’s various subsidiaries are Paragon Investments, TBWA/Paragon (Advertising and Marketing), Premium Franchise (Hospitality), Paragon Outdoor Advertising, and Paragon Properties. It first ventured into the hospitality industry by purchasing the upmarket Brazilian Coffee Shop in the central business district of Windhoek. Recognising the huge potential vested in the financial services sector, it recently invested in an empowerment consortium, Cherish Investments, which is a 25% shareholder in Alexander Forbes Namibia. Local clients include Telecom, I-Way, Sanlam, Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) and insurance brokers Welwitschia Nammic. It boasts international clients such as Sony Playstation, Adidas and Nivea. In closing and on a lighter note, the advertising agency gave all those sharing the occasion with them a collection of small gifts, including Disprin, a condom and a can of Redbull encased in a small yellow cooler bag marked with the phrase, ‘TBWA/Paragon, we are cool’ and accompanied by Jacobs’ comments that when “tempers flare every now and then, this is to help you please calm down”.