Announcing all the brand finalists in the 17th annual Sunday Times GenNext Awards

[PRESS OFFICE] Ten brands are in the running for the prestigious title of Overall Coolest Brand at the 17^th Sunday Times GenNext Awards. The top five finalists in each of the 61 categories have also been announced, with the winners to be celebrated at the online Sunday Times GenNext Awards event on 9 September 2021.

The ten finalists for the 2021 Overall Coolest Brand (in alphabetical order) are: adidas, Apple, BMW, Gucci, Louis Vuitton/LV, Nike, Puma, Redbat, Samsung, and Vans. The overall winner will be determined by their scores across categories of the Sunday Times GenNext survey.

The Sunday Times GenNext survey remains the leading barometer of what South Africa’s youth find on-trend and aspirational, and delivers insights that are valued by brand management, advertising, and marketing professionals. The 2021 survey polled more than 6 000 young people aged 8-13 years (Tweens), 14 to 18 years (Teens), 18 to 24 years (Tertiary), and 24 to 30 years (Young Professionals/Adults).

Refilwe Malukeke, MD of Yellowwood, which conducted the survey on behalf of the Sunday Times, says: “The youth are dealing with high levels of anxiety due to the challenges we face as a country, which have been exacerbated by the implications of the pandemic and associated lockdowns such as illness, loss of life, loss of livelihoods, increased gender-based violence and uncertainty about the future.”

Maluleke believes that in this context, true relevance comes those brands looking to serve young people in some way, whether it’s helping them navigate the chaos, find respite from the challenges, or allow them to safely explore their world and themselves with minimal physical, social, professional, reputational, or financial risk.

This year also saw the introduction of some new categories, reflecting rapid innovation and consumer technology adoption: Coolest Online Store, Coolest Technology Brand, Coolest Digital Learning Platform, and Coolest Fitness Device.

“The adoption of technology during the Covid-lockdown has been phenomenal, and this clearly drove the need for more market intelligence in the youth sector.  We’re excited to extend the survey with these new categories, allowing us to feed valuable insights back to our advertisers and customers,” says Eben Gewers, head of sales and marketing at Arena Holdings, which owns Sunday Times GenNext.

This year also saw young people over 18 years of age being polled on their preference for alcohol brands for the first time.

Sunday Times GenNext is presented in association with headline partners Yellowwood and Gautrain, and corporate partners Proudly South African and CliffCentral. The Sunday Times GenNext Awards event and webinar series is managed by Arena Events.

Register to watch the Sunday Times GenNext Awards online, by clicking here.

The Sunday Times GenNext supplement will be published in the Sunday Times on 12 September 2021. For more information about advertising in the supplement, contact Debbie Montanari | MontanariD@arena.africa. For information on sponsorship and activation opportunities at the 2021 Sunday Times GenNext Awards please contact Cortney Hoyland | hoylandc@arena.africa.