Cape Town’s King James agency won the top spot at the annual AdReview Awards last night, while Wag the Dog’s editor at large, John Farquhar, won the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Talking about King James’ win, AdReview’s Tony Koenderman said in a press release that 2010 was a year “when there were few runaway winners, the supreme accolade went to a business that achieved dominance at the 2010 Loeries, and turned a rather mediocre performance of 2009 into an excellent 2010 with revenue growth of 27%, and won close to R100m in new business”.
“It’s this kind of all-round performance that AdReview judges look for,” he wrote. “But extra factors that underscore the winning performance are good too. Behind the new-business figures like some excellent new brands added to the portfolio: McCann and Santam (both won in competitive pitches), and British Airways are accounts every agency would have given its eye-teeth for. The agency was also appointed to handle the pan-African Johnnie Walker whisky business for the next phase of its global “Keep Walking” campaign. That resulted in KingJames work appearing in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Cameroon.”
Marketer of the Year was Cell C’s Lars Reichelt. Judges said before he appeared on the scene, “the local mobile phone industry looked rigid, uncompetitive and over-priced. To many, it seemed nothing more than a cartel”.
They said: “In turn both outrageous and canny, Reichelt has rebranded Cell C, rolled out a new network infrastructure, reduced corporate debt and given real reasons to believe that competition has finally arrived in the cellphone industry.”
List of winners
Ad Agency of the Year, Cape Agency of the Year, Magazine Campaign Award: King James
Marketer of the Year: Lars Reichelt of Cell C.
Ad Achiever of the Year: Damon Stapleton of TBWA Hunt Lascaris.
Lifetime Achievement Awards: John Farquhar, Andy Rice.
Newcomer of the Year: Mesh.
Outstanding Performance Awards: FoxP2, Trigger/Isobar, Volcano, VWV
PR Consultancy of the Year: Atmosphere.
Baobab Award for effective client relationships: TBWA Durban, Draftfcb Johannesburg.
Gauteng Agency of the Year: Draftfcb Johannesburg.
Design and Branding Agency of the Year: Grid.
The Big Idea: Keep the Flag Flying, by Draftfcb.
Media Agency of the Year: Carfat.
Small Media Agency of the Year: Vizeum.
