The Media Online’s weekly column delivering news of award wins, entries, competitions, dates to note and winners in the media industry.
AMASA Awards 2020 postponed indefinitely
With the uncertainty that 2020 has bought and the ongoing threat of Covid-19, this year has been a trying one. While the awards are one of the main highlights on the AMASA calendar, our key mandate remains upliftment, skills development, and education in the industry.
As a result, the AMASA committee feels that a renewed focus ono these key areas will be the best use of limited resources in these times and has therefore decided to postpone the 2020 AMASA Awards until further notice.
“It was a tremendous shame that we had to make this difficult decision. However, to do the awards virtually is not ideal and in the interest of upholding the standard everyone is accustomed to, the decision was made that it’s too much of a risk to hold the virtual awards in February,” said Parmeshan Moodliar, chairman of the AMASA committee.
“Once there is a clearer view of the way forward in 2021, the AMASA Committee will revert on dates and deadlines. However, the AMASA monthly forum will be back up and running with the first one being held at the end of January 2021.”
FCB named Adweek’s 2020 Global Agency of the Year
FCB has been selected by Adweek as its Global Agency of the Year. Citing the Agency’s continued growth, innovation and ability to quickly adapt in the face of the many challenges impacting the world this year, the publication recognised FCB’s unwavering focus on its people, clients and the creative work they accomplish together as the factors that made the 147-year-old network stand out.
FCB’s presence in the South Africa is through FCB Joburg and HelloFCB+.
“This honour wouldn’t be possible without our incredible people across the globe and our partners – our clients – who, together, are the foundation of the FCB story,” said FCB Worldwide CEO, Carter Murray. “In the face of these tough times, we are humbled by the accomplishments that we continue to achieve by being brave together. While we are very proud of this honor from Adweek, we feel like we’ve just gotten started.”
From campaigns created in record time under lockdown conditions to help brands like Walmart, Cottonelle, Clorox and Burger King navigate the pandemic, to the Network’s social-good work like the City of Chicago’s Boards of Change that helped inspire record voter registration, FCB’s creative impact has continued to capture the marketing world by storm.
This latest recognition comes on the heels of an already momentous year for the FCB Network. Earlier in the year, FCB was recognised as Design Agency of the Year by D&AD, Top Global Creative Network by The One Club for Creativity and a Top 3 Global Network promoting good causes by The Good Report for the fourth consecutive year. In 2019, the Network was also named to Ad Age’s A-List and was honoured by both Ad Age and PR Week as 2020 Best Places to Work.
Please read the full story here.
The DUKE Group wins Medium Agency of the Year and appoints new MD
In its sixth year of business, undoubtedly the toughest they have had to face, the DUKE Group has won the hotly contested FM AdFocus Medium Agency of the Year 2020 Award. It is a significant acknowledgement of the grit, ingenuity and agility that has enabled the DUKE Group to not just survive the ravages of Covid-19 but grow its business in the face of adversity.
As four fully integrated unique owner-managed, multi-awarding winning entities – creative agency, DUKE; full service production division, Duchess, digital media specialist, Mark1 and PR and Influencer firm, Positive Dialogue – the DUKE Group is a model of resilient and successful SA entrepreneurship.
“We’ve bootstrapped,” said CEO Wayne Naidoo. “That’s made us fearless and original. We don’t follow the industry norms; we follow green lights. We’re not afraid to fail; we learn quickly and move forward. But probably our greatest asset is that we are deeply invested in meaningful relationships with real people. We stand by our clients as strategic and creative partners, and our teams stand together collaboratively. We believe that what the advertising industry needs is entrepreneurial, not managerial leaders. We’re delighted at this fantastic recognition from #FM ADFocus 2020.”
The prestigious award follows the announcement that Aileen Sauerman has risen through the ranks at DUKE Advertising to become their first female managing director. Sauerman, who has enjoyed a successful 15-year career in the South African advertising industry has been an integral member of the Duke’s leadership team over the past two years.
hoola Modern Agency and Tekkie Town walk their way at the 2020 Assegai Awards
hoola Modern Agency and footwear retail giant, Tekkie Town, have a new spring in their step after their #WalkYourWay campaign won a Bronze award in the Social Media (Social Media Platforms) category and was recognised as a Leader in the Most Effective Use of Content category at the prestigious Assegai Integrated Marketing Awards, held in Melrose, Johannesburg, on Thursday evening last week.
The Assegai Awards are an annual ceremony recognising integrated marketing excellence in South Africa.
“We’re very proud of our team as this was our first time entering these awards”, said hoola’s COO and co-founder, Ebert Grobler. “These achievements acknowledge and validate our ability as a modern agency and industry leader to recognise what the online public hope to receive for their precious time when they choose to engage with brands.”
Scout named Western Cape’s PR Agency of the Year at MEA Business Awards 2020
Scout PR & Social Media has been awarded PR Agency of the Year – Western Cape in the MEA Business Awards 2020, hosted by MEA Markets.
Katherine Benton, awards executive at MEA Markets, explained that the MEA Business Awards 2020 process involves an in-house research team that conducts independent research to create case files on behalf of nominees. In this instance, Scout’s “case file was built following investigations into public domain sources which were used to determine the performance, achievements and contributions of each nominee. Once finalised, the file was presented to our judging panel for their consideration”.
To move successfully from nominee to awardee in the MEA Business Awards, there must be “evidence of expertise within a given field, dedication to customer service and client satisfaction with an ongoing commitment to excellence.
Said agency Director Lauren Shantall: “We’re naturally thrilled to have been recognised – who wouldn’t be? But, our mission and vision is to serve our clients and deliver results. If we happen to win awards by doing so, then that is just an unexpected blessing and cause for celebration!”
HR Tech Startup Zindi to represent South Africa in regional stage of the Seedstars World Competition 2020
The 94 local winners of the Seedstars World Competition (SSW) 2020 have been announced and HR Tech startup, Zindi, is set to represent South Africa in the next round of the competition. From the Africa region, 25 startups are set to compete for a spot at the Global Finale, where the grand prize is $500K in funding.
“During this unusual year for everyone, I am proud to say that we managed to identify the most promising startups in 94 emerging markets. The online format of the competition allowed us to dream and go bigger as we reached a larger audience and invited more startups from all the cities of each country to apply.
“Now, we can’t wait for our local winners to represent their countries in the webisodes of the regional stage of the competition. I’d like to invite everyone to follow their journey and root for their favorite startup from the different corners of the world,” said Eugenia Shevchenko, lead of the Seedstars World Competition 2020.
Seedstars, the Swiss-based private company with a mission to impact people’s lives in emerging markets, annually holds the Seedstars World Competition to continuously scout for the most promising startups around the Asia, Africa, CEE, MENA, and LATAM regions.
First female African of the Year honouree awarded
This year marks the third annual instalment of the African of the Year Award, an honorary category of the annual All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA™), which is in its landmark 10th year. While this milestone anniversary could not be celebrated with a live in-person event this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, organisers the ABN Group still honoured the African of the Year, virtually, for the first time. The award accords the distinction to a change-maker who has demonstrated true leadership excellence, has a prominent presence on the world stage, and whose influence has played a significant role in Africa’s development.
The recipient of the 2020 African of the Year Award is Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Just like the two winners before her, she graces the December 2020/January 2021 cover of FORBES AFRICA, unveiled during a special broadcast on CNBC Africa.
The Nigerian-born globally-renowned economist and development expert has served twice as Nigeria’s finance minister, the first woman to hold this position. Dr Okonjo-Iweala also held several key positions with, and rose to prominence as the managing director of the World Bank. Her relentless efforts to make vaccines available to poor countries and enable equal access to the Covid-19 vaccine makes her a formidable role model. She was also on FORBES AFRICA’s list of ‘Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women’ published early this year. Dr Okonjo-Iweala is also a front-runner for the top post of Director-General of the World Trade Organization.
“This pandemic has pushed the world into uncharted territory and has forced many businesses to reassess almost every aspect of how they work. As a media company, we have been in a fortunate position to keep our audiences, both broadcast and digital, informed during these challenging times. Although we reminisce about the days of hosting live in-person events, by adapting and embracing technology, we have kept the African story alive and can continue giving recognition to the men and women who are transforming and developing Africa,” said Roberta Naicker, Managing Director of the ABN Group.
