The 24th edition of the APEX Awards, which took place last night at The Venue at The Houghton, was revealed to be its last.
As of next year, the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA), will introduce the very first African edition of the Effie Awards – Effie South Africa.
The Effie Awards are known by advertisers and agencies globally as the pre-eminent award in the industry, and recognise any and all forms of marketing that contribute to a brand’s success.
The 2019 APEX Awards winners
But this announcement didn’t overshadow the achievements and success of this year’s APEX winners.
Ogilvy South Africa and Kimberly-Clark received top honours with a Gold APEX and the GRAND PRIX for their ‘Making them Move to Huggies’ campaign.
A second Gold APEX on the evening also went to Ogilvy South Africa and KFC South Africa for their ‘KFC Make A Meal of It’ campaign.
Added to this, and to celebrate 24 years of campaigns that have delivered tangible and measured results, the APEX Committee resolved to award the most effective of all GRAND PRIX Awards announced over the last decade. A Lifetime Grand Prix was awarded to 2014 APEX Grand Prix winners DDB South Africa and FNB for their ‘FNB Switch – Beating the Beep out of Beep Bank’ campaign.
Here is the full list of winners:
| Vodacom Launch Category | |||
| APEX Submission Name | Client | Name of Agency | Award |
| Toyota Rush Launch | Toyota SA Motors | FCB Johannesburg | Bronze |
| Newlands Spring – Not That Newlands | ABInBev | King James Group | Bronze |
| A Wedding Party of One Million, SA’s Biggest Online Wedding | Showmax | Showmax Internal Creative Agency | Bronze |
| Hatching Nando’s E-Chicken | Nando’s South Africa | VML South Africa | Bronze |
| Provantage Media Group Change Category | |||
| APEX Submission Name | Client | Name of Agency | Award |
| IndieFin “Responsible, yet Selfish” | IndieFin | FoxP2 | Bronze |
| Audi Q Range Campaign | Audi South Africa | Ogilvy South Africa | Bronze |
| When the Craving for Creativity’s Got You, It’s Got You | Chicken Licken | Joe Public United | Bronze |
| Can One Extra Swipe be Worth a Billion | Absa | FCB Johannesburg | Bronze |
| Wimpy Grill Up Fill Up 2018 | Wimpy | FoxP2 | Bronze |
| Vodacom Summer | Vodacom | Ogilvy South Africa | Bronze |
| Get It Back | Castle Milk Stout | Joe Public United | Silver |
| Mahindra Tough Guys | Mahindra South Africa | Joe Public United | Silver |
| Wimpy Summer 2018 | Wimpy | FoxP2 | Silver |
| Rethink Freedom | Hyundai South Africa | FoxP2 | Silver |
| Taking a Brand Stand | ABInBev | Ogilvy South Africa | Silver |
| KFC Make A Meal of It | KFC South Africa | Ogilvy South Africa | Gold |
| Making them Move to Huggies | Kimberly-Clark | Ogilvy South Africa | Gold |
| The Kantar Sustain Category (NO 2019 AWARD) | |||
| APEX Submission Name | Client | Name of Agency | Award |
| The Kantar Special Award Category | |||
| APEX Submission Name | Client | Name of Agency | Award |
| Newlands Spring – Not That Newlands | King James Group | ABInBev | The entry that demonstrates the most ingenious response to limited advertising or research funds |
| Grand Prix | |||
| APEX Submission Name | Client | Name of Agency | Award |
| Making them Move to Huggies | Kimberly-Clark | Ogilvy South Africa | Grand Prix |
| Lifetime Grand Prix | |||
| APEX Submission Name | Client | Name of Agency | Award |
| FNB Switch – Beating the Beep out of Beep Bank | DDB South Africa | First National Bank | Lifetime Grand Prix |
In bidding farewell to APEX together with a warm Mzansi welcome to Effie South Africa, a special award was handed out to the individuals that have been responsible over the years for building and elevating the APEX programme to the level it has reached today. Seven individuals were thanked for the tireless effort, passion and energy put into the awards programme over the years. A Legend of APEX award was awarded to the following: Andy Rice, Gareth Leck, Ivan Moroke, Michael Gendel, Neil Higgs, Nina De Klerk, and Odette van der Haar.
“Tonight, we celebrated not only the efficacy our profession delivers, but also the future bright minds that are today’s students, and tomorrow’s award winners. It may be a sad farewell to APEX, but we look forward with great excitement to celebrating our local industry alongside our global peers as we introduce the Effie South Africa programme in 2020,” concludes Mathe Okaba, CEO of the ACA.
