OH! Awards: Nestle won the coveted overall category accolade, as well as the street furniture category prize for its KIT KAT ‘bench’ advert at the annual OH! Awards held in Johannesburg last night. MediaShop (Johannesburg) walked away with the Best Media Agency, an award introduced this year.
Hosted by Out of Home Media South Africa (OHMSA) and staged at Fairway Hotel and Spa, Randpark Golf Club, the OH! Awards brought together out of home media owners, advertising agencies and corporates, honouring the out-of-home industry’s best creative talent.
Nestle proved that its creative execution for outdoor media space was impactful in its message. The KIT KAT campaign satisfied every criteria set by the judges.
“This campaign was a simple, yet effective creative idea, clearly underlining the message Take a break, have a Kit Kat which is the core positioning of the brand,” said chairman judge Reinher Behrens.
“What makes this campaign an award winner is that the agency made full use of the medium. Instead of simply placing creative on the format given, the agency took it one step further,” added Behrens.
The KIT KAT campaign was also the winner in the street furniture category.
For the first time this year, a media agency award was given, which was won by MediaShop (Johannesburg)The award acknowledges media agencies that support the out of home medium, with the winner chosen using data collected from online questionnaires completed by OHMSA members interacting with media agencies on a regular basis.
MediaShop (Johannesburg) is no stranger to winning awards. The company has been voted, in various awards ceremonies, Best Media Agency. The company’s accolades include AdReview’s Media Agency of the Year in 2006; Financial Mail’s award for sustained excellence; Financial Mail’s Specialist Agency of the Year and the Roger Garlick prize in 2006 and 2007.
“MediaShop (Johannesburg) has consistently impressed us with their professionalism, innovation, negotiating ability, transparency and strategic ability,” said Behrens.
Meanwhile, awards were also given in the billboard and ambient media categories. Margarita Karvouniaris of Morris Jones won the award in the ambient media category for the Natrelax – Graffiti campaign. Judges were impressed with the originality of this campaign, which featured graffiti art on toilet walls. The idea is that Natrelax is truly effective in reducing constipation as one has the time to produce a detailed work of art.
The Allan Gray – Rusting Billboard campaign won the billboard category. This was conceptualised by Paige Nick and Karen Barry-McCormick at King James. Judges felt the advertisement was worthy of winning owing to the innovative use of the medium.
Other OH! Award judges included Brenda Koornneef, Tony Koenderman, Modise Makhene, Nathan Reddy, Xolisa Dyeshana, Chris Marrington, Steve Limbrick and Neil Ross.
