This year’s Roger Garlick Awards (RGA) had a slightly different make up in how the entries were categorised. To bring us in line with global media award festivals, the RGA categories moved away from awards by media type, to awards by category of advertiser.
Although the number of entries decreased slightly year-on-year, the stand out factor was how the quality of entries had improved by the revision of the award categories. The judges were genuinely impressed by how integrated the campaigns were and by how prominently online and mobile media featured throughout the work.
Ultimately, after a healthy debate, KFC’s Journey of Hope was decided as the outright winner, with Gloo’s AIDS Virus Campaign following closely behind. The defining criterion between the two was how well Journey of Hope had contributed to enhancing the lives of starving children in South Africa, a trend that the trade press has picked up in award festivals around the globe. Who will ever forget ‘Dumb ways to die’ or Dove’s new ‘Sketches’ campaign from this year’s Cannes festival?
I think South Africa’s media industry is in a healthy space and it won’t be long before we start seeing our work featured in the pages of the international trade press for creativity in media.
Judges were Howard Fox (GIBS); Wayne Bishop (PHD), Cherylann Smith (Global Mouse), Gareth Grant (FNB), Richard Lord (The MediaShop) and Sheila McGillivray (One Lady & a Tribe). Frank Tilley, of Frank Tilley Consulting, kindly agreed to once again head the judging process.
