The nomination process for the Marketer of the Year award at the inaugural Marketing Achievement Awards is still open, having been extended until mid May.
In a statement, the organisers said this decision was taken because, “We did not receive a broad enough range of candidates to be reflective of the diversity and calibre of talent in our marketing industry as a whole.
“With this being the first year we are holding the awards, it is imperative that we set the bar as high as possible and we wanted to ensure that the shortlist of candidates reflected the best-of-the-best in the local marketing fraternity,” they explained.
Decisions were also taken not to award the Rising Star category this year, “as we believe the awards need to first gain some traction in the industry for this category to be reflective of our young talent”, as well as the non-inclusion of the previously talked about Marketing Organisation of the Year category.
For the Marketer of the Year award, a nomination form will be sent out to partner networks of the awards and nominations close around mid-May.
Delayed to a new date
A big talking point around the awards and its associated Summit has been its postponement to its current dates (26 – 27 June). Originally scheduled to take place from 2 – 4 April, sources told The Media Online that an insistence by some that the Marketing Association of South Africa endorse the event led to a four month delay.
Sponsors and judges
Sponsors of the inaugural awards include Sun International, Nando’s, and Absa Group. While they are not precluded from entering the awards, if the sponsors are also judges, the organisers assured participants that “they do not judge categories into which their brands have been entered and they do not judge competitor brands”.
The judging panel includes: Anna-Marie Marks (Econet Media), Bogosi Motshegwa (Thinkerneur), Colleen Larsen (Business Engage), Clive Grinaker (GSM Sponsorship), David Sidenberg (BMI Sport Info), David Wingfield (ABSA Group), Heidi Brauer (Hollard Insurance), Ivan Moroke (Kantar TNS South Africa), James Monteith (independent sponsorship specialist), Jeremy Sampson (Brand Finance), Justin Sampson (S-Factor Sponsorship), Kheepe Moremi (VC Capital), Leigh-Anne Acquisto (Liquorish Ink Communications), Mike Middleton (marketing consultant and futurist), Mpho Maseko (ABSA), Nyimpini Mabunda (Saseka Digitech), Risuna Mayimele (Rurban Concepts), Rob Collins (Sun International), Rob Fleming (Blue Label Telecoms), Sithembile Ntombela (Brand South Africa), and Themba Nobanda (Brand Spear).
The founding council for the awards comprises Aisha Mohamed (Sony Music Entertainment South Africa), Alistair Mokoena (Ogilvy South Africa), Doug Place (Nando’s), Geoff Whyte (Nando’s), Justin Spratt (Uber), Nicola Kleyn (Gordon Institute of Business Science), Simon Camerer (Multichoice), and is chaired by Yvonne Johnston (Marketing Achievement Awards Council).
Several of the judges are also part of the council, including Colleen Larsen, David Wingfield, Heidi Brauer, Ivan Moroke, Jeremy Sampson, Kheepe Moremi, Leigh-Anne Acquisto, Mpho Maseko, Rob Collins, Rob Fleming, and Sithembile Ntombela.
Aside from getting sponsorship money, funding for the awards is also coming from entry fees for self-nominated marketers and category entrants, as well as ticket sales for the Marketing Achievement Summit and the Marketing Achievement Awards.
