The Media Online’s weekly column delivering news of award wins, entries, competitions, dates to note and winners in the media industry.
BCW named PRovoke 2020 Global Agency of the Year
BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe), was named Global Agency of the Year at PRovoke Media’s 2020 Global SABRE Awards ceremony, held virtually on 21 October. The global communications agency was praised for its innovative new client offerings, attracting exceptional new talent and delivering consistently strong performances across all regions.
“It is thrilling for BCW to be named Global Agency of the Year just two years after the launch of our brand,” said Donna Imperato, Global CEO, BCW. “Our leaders and teams have worked so hard to exceed all expectations for our successes so far. I’m really honoured and proud of everyone for their fierce dedication, incredible talent and their palpable passion for making BCW the next generation of communications agencies. This award is for them.”
Robyn de Villiers, CEO of BCW Africa added: “This Global Agency of the Year recognition is an amazing achievement and testament to the effort of BCW staff from around the world. It also honours the global effort that has been put into creating a winning culture at BCW, one that moves people internally to deliver their best client work.”
Acer achieves Icon Brand status at the 2020/2021 Ask Afrika Icon Brands Awards
Multinational hardware and electronics corporation, Acer, came out on top as the highest scorer in the Laptop/Desktop category in the Ask Afrika Icon Brands survey – a premier brand benchmarking survey.
As the largest annual survey of its kind, Ask Afrika Icon Brands allows South Africans to vote for the brands they continue to buy, use and stick to – those that truly stand the test of time despite a challenging and ever-changing consumer landscape.
Ask Afrika measures brand loyalty across hundreds of categories, thousands of brands and all segments of the South African demographic, awarding Icon Brand status to deserving brands that are used by locals loyally across the spectrum.
In the 2020/2021 Icon Brands survey, 30 000 consumers were surveyed – a sample that’s representative of over 24.7 million adult South African consumers. The survey also measures consumer behaviour and current usage – a key differentiator from other brand surveys.
“Acer South Africa is honoured to win such a prestigious award, and we appreciate the vote of confidence the award represents,” said Belinda Marias, Acer’s local marketing manager.
“We see the Ask Afrika Icon Brand award as a symbol of our immense customer loyalty – something we couldn’t have achieved without the hard work and dedication of the Acer team.”
Magnetic Creative rakes in 12 wins at the 2020 MUSE Awards
South Africa-based international branding agency Magnetic Creative, recently celebrated another round of awards recognising exceptional creative work, raking in 12 industry awards at the internationally recognised MUSE Creative Awards . Awards include five Platinum, five Gold and two Silver Awards in four categories – Video; Strategic Program; Content Marketing and Corporate Identity.
The 2020 MUSE Creative and MUSE Design Awards received 4 618 entries from 57 countries, with work representing brands such as IKEA, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Rolls-Royce, BMW, The Coca-Cola Company, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Tommy Hilfiger and Maybelline New York ranking among the winners.
“The MUSE Creative and MUSE Design Awards are international competitions catered to professionals from the creative and design industries, who help foster new horizons for their industries. It is our privilege, as always, to honour these remarkable individuals, ” said MUSE Awards CEO, Kenjo Ong. “They have more than earned their achievements.”
The judges for this year’s MUSE Awards totalled 56, hailing from 22 countries.
“Winning awards is not what drives us to create outstanding work for our clients,” said Magnetic Creative CEO, Etienne Bruwer. “However, this kind of international recognition from industry peers does reassure us about the standard of our work. We are proud of our talented team of creatives and remain passionate about producing work that not only stands out but achieves tangible results for our clients.”
Magnetic Creative’s 2020 MUSE Creative Awards winning entries are:
- Testament for Rockwood Conservation (Platinum, Category: Video, Sub-category: Nature/Wildlife)
- World Cup Kick-Off for Megamaster (Platinum, Category: Strategic Program, Sub-category: Digital Marketing Campaign)
- Time Machines That Drive Success for Roff Milling (Platinum, Category: Content Marketing, Sub-category: Case Study)
- Methodical Corporate Identity for Methodical Investment Management (Platinum, Category: Corporate Identity, Sub-category: Corporate Identity/Other)
- Ever Co Logo for Ever Co (Platinum, Category: Corporate Identity, Sub-category: Logos)
- Knysna Yacht Company Corporate Identity for Knysna Yacht Company (Gold, Category: Corporate Identity, Sub-category: Logos)
- From the Frontline for Rockwood Conservation (Gold, Category: Corporate Identity, Sub-category: Nature/Wildlife)
- Bazala Brand Identity for The Featherbed Co (Platinum, Category: Corporate Identity, Sub-category: Brand Identity)
- Knysna Yacht Company Corporate Identity for Knysna Yacht Company (Gold, Category: Corporate Identity, Sub-category: Corporate Identity/Other)
- GovChat Brand Identity for GovChat (Gold, Category: Corporate Identity, Sub-category: Brand Identity)
- From the Frontline for Rockwood Conservation (Silver, Category: Video, Sub-category: Non-profit)
- Testament for Rockwood Conservation (Silver, Category: Video, Sub-category: Branding).
Grey Africa reflects on its award-winning campaigns over the past year
Over the past year, Grey Africa has been committed to creating inspiring and innovative campaigns and has been recognised by the industry through multiple accolades and awards. Here are just three of the campaigns that the agency is proud of.
1. Gillette Gogo Nozizwe
Grey Africa and Gillette created a film that tells the story of Gogo Nozizwe, who raised her grandson, Akhona, on her own. The film was launched on Women’s Day in South Africa and it paid tribute to the many other South African women like Gogo Nozizwe, who are raising a new generation of men. Gillette’s Gogo Nozizwe campaign was acknowledged by President Cyril Ramaphosa during his Women’s Day Speech. It also won accolades at Pendorings (winning Gold and several craft awards), and Cannes and earned first place in the film category at the Creative Circle Ad of the Year Awards. When the film was launched on social media and outdoor on Women’s Day in South Africa, the campaign hashtags trended, and it received 1.8 million engagements within 24 hours.
2. Savanna Decolonise Autocorrect
This campaign was the first ever solution to the problem of not being able to type in your home language on your mobile phone. As we know, autocorrect only recognises one of SA’s 11 official languages, which means South Africans are faced with a daily battle of autocorrect changing many of the words they type in their messages.
Taking on this challenge, Savanna Cider’s solve was simple – because autocorrect doesn’t change words saved in your phone’s contact list, Savanna created contact files for 10 of our 11 official languages (the other being English) and populated the surname and notes fields with the 500 most-used words in each language. Savanna then made the files available for users to download on their website and save on their phones. Doing this effectively “taught” our phones those languages and set people free to text in their mother tongue.
3. #SavannaVirtualComedyBar
Grey Africa launched the #SavannaVirtualComedyBar during the Covid-19 lockdown to support comedians and help cheer up the nation. The campaign consisted of two elements – the weekly Bar Nights and bi-weekly Comedy Specials – which ran from April until July.
“The campaign proved very popular with South Africans, reaching over 25 million views online. It offered aspiring comics a platform to showcase their talent and ensured more established comedians didn’t get rusty during lockdown,” said Van Niekerk. “Importantly, the #SavannaVirtualComedyBar also gave financial support to these comedians to keep them going during a time when they couldn’t otherwise earn a living. We were also recognised by the Creative Circle for this campaign, winning first place in the Digital Interactive Award category.”
Nominations for SA’s Top 5 most exciting startups now open
Nominations are now open for SA’s Top 5 Most Exciting Startups – we’re looking forward to connecting with the community at our first physical event since the pandemic.
Each year, Heavy Chef asks its business community to nominate its Top 5 Most Exciting Startups – startup businesses that are making the most impact in the world and inspiring us to do the same. Nominations are now open – get yours in here.
