The Media Online’s weekly column delivering news of award wins, entries, competitions, dates to note and winners in the media industry.
eBucks scoops two awards at the 2021 South African Loyalty Awards for the third year running
FNB’s eBucks Rewards programme has been awarded the Best Programme of the Year 2021 (financial services) and the Most Innovative Use of Technology award, for the third year running at the South African Loyalty Awards ceremony held virtually.
The South African Loyalty Awards, introduced by Truth, a leading loyalty and CRM consultancy in South Africa, recognises leading rewards and loyalty programmes in the country, with the goal of becoming the premier platform for excellence in the loyalty industry.
“We are extremely humbled to receive the Best Programme of the Year (financial services) award and the Most Innovative Use of Technology for Loyalty award for the third year running. We would like to thank our customers and eBucks partners in growing this program for the past 21 years. It also encourages us to continue adding even more value for our members, especially during these tough economic times,” says Johan Moolman, eBucks Rewards CEO.
eBucks Rewards promotes good banking behaviour across FNB’s respective customer segments using the FNB/RMB banking app. According to FNB, the bank has paid out over R15 billion in rewards since inception in 2000, with over R3 billion paid out in the last 2 years alone.
“We are especially excited about prospects for 2022. We have been working closely with a number of South African start-ups as well as international partners to bring some exciting world 1’st offerings to our customers. It is a privilege to work with such incredible talent and innovative partners, and we can’t wait to give our members even more value” said Moolman.
“In the past 12 months, our programme has played a crucial role in helping our members manage their essential household spending and freeing up much-needed cash to supplement earnings for other priorities in their households. We remain committed to finding ways to make it easy for our members to earn or spend their eBucks by providing tips, tools, benefits and relevant partners to the programme. With powerful tools on the FNB App such as ‘Track my rewards’ and ‘Earn more eBucks’, members can easily track their current banking behaviour and easily perform the necessary banking behaviours to move up a reward level and earn more eBucks in the upcoming month, helping them stretch their Rands even further over these trying times,” concludes Moolman.
Mscsports wins big at the 2021 Hollard Sports Industry Awards

Performance-driven sponsorship agency, Mscsports, scooped three major wins at the recent 2021 Hollard Sport Industry Awards: The prestigious Agency of the Year award, the Event/Competition Sponsor of the Year award, and the Campaign of the Year award (in collaboration with Ogilvy, Vizeum, Msport, Draftline JNB, and Orchard on 25) for the #InOurBlood campaign for Castle Lager.
Founded as a sports memorabilia company in 2000, Mscsports has grown and evolved into being one of South Africa’s most reputable sports and entertainment agencies, servicing major brands such as Discovery, Castle Lager, Engen, Prudential and many others. The agency is no stranger to change and evolution, with its adaptability standing it in good stead to adapt to the pandemic conditions of 2020, and fast track its service offerings into the digital realm.
“We pivoted during 2020 to capitalise on our strengths in analysis, strategy, and activation, combining our longstanding industry relationships and partnerships to create value and provide real returns for brands from their sponsorship investments, at a time when traditional sponsorship opportunities were just not possible,” says Neil Jankelowitz, co-founder and CEO of Mscsports.
Mscsports reflects on top honour at Hollard Sport Industry Awards
Mscsports is celebrating walking away with the Agency of the Year gong at this year’s Hollard Sport Industry Awards. Founded as a sports memorabilia company in 2000, Mscsports has grown and evolved into a full-service sports and entertainment agency, with three key verticals, namely:
- Brands – leveraging sponsorships, engaging with fans around passion points, and creating opportunities to drive real business returns for sponsors;
- Rights – partnering with rights-holders to secure strategic sponsors that are the perfect fit for maximum impact; and
- Talent – maximising player opportunities through contract negotiation, personal brand management, succession planning and ad-hoc consulting services.
Mscsports’ latest celebrations come at the end of what has proved to be an excellent year, during which time it defied South Africa’s numerous lockdowns to pick up 18 new clients, including stationery and office supplies brand, Bidvest Waltons, and payment solutions brand, Ozow, while also expanding its Discovery portfolio to include Vitality and Insure and undertaking strategic consulting work for Dimension Data and Super Six Racing.
All of this was achieved against a backdrop of uncertainty and change, with Mscsports having to endure an initial loss of 50% of its retainer revenue streams, due to the suspension of live sport and entertainment. Nonetheless, it managed to pivot its service offerings in response to the changes in consumption patterns, with an accelerated move towards virtual and hybrid events.
From an account point of view, the biggest Mscsports victory during this period was, arguably, winning the pitch to become Castle Lager’s sponsorship agency, which transformed its prospects at this time of upheaval. “It’s been an unprecedented challenge for us as an agency and for the industry in general,” said Grant McEwan, Head of Strategy. “But we’ve faced it head-on and are incredibly privileged to have come through it as a team, working with some of the biggest brands in some of the most important moments in sport over the last year. As we’ve seen in the past, sport provides hope and relief to South Africans and we’re proud to have played a small part in bringing that to life at a time when we needed it the most.”
Zimbabwe’s Tyra Chikocho crowned African social star of 2021 at People’s Choice Awards

Zimbabwean comedian, content creator and TikTok sensation, Tyra Chikocho (AKA Madam Boss), has been voted by the public as African Social Star of 2021 at this year’s People’s Choice Awards. Kenya’s Azziad Nasenya and South Africa’s Witney Ramabulana were placed second and third respectively.
Between 27 October and 17 November 2021, E! asked fans worldwide to vote in 40 categories across TV, music, movies and pop culture. For the third time in the history of the ceremony, the People’s Choice Awards opened a category dedicated to Africa’s incredible social media stars and influencers.
The other nominees in the African Social Star of 2021 category were dazzling South African social media personalities Lasizwe Dambuza and Mihlali Ndamase, plus actress, model and businesswoman Boitumelo ‘Boity’ Thulo, as well as Nigerian talents – rapper Falz and digital content creator Sofiyat Ibrahim AKA The Odditty.
South Africans yet again have reason to celebrate, with TikTok trailblazer Witney Ramabulana being named among this year’s most successful African social media stars. It continues a rich run of form for South Africans at the annual People’s Choice Awards: Bonang Matheba won the inaugural African Influencer of the Year award in 2019, Springbok rugby legend Siya Kolisi was honoured as African Trailblazer of the Year in 2020 and former Miss Universe Zozi Tunzi placed third last year in the African Social Star category, which was won by Kenyan comedian Elsa Majimbo.
Harare-born Tyra Chikocho began her entertainment career as a gospel singer before her comedy skits started going viral on social media. She became the first Zimbabwean comedian to pass 1-million followers on Facebook and is well on her way to the same milestone on Instagram.
Loeries Creative Future Scholars set for the ad world
The Loeries Creative Future Scholarship is an invaluable opportunity for aspiring creatives to receive a tertiary education in brand communication. The scholarship covers a student’s fees, study material, equipment and a travel allowance, which would not be possible without the support of both the education institutions and agency partners.
The current recipients who are concluding their studies are:
- Rosemary Mabasa, supported by TBWA\ Hunt Lascaris and the AAA School of Advertising
- Keamohetsoe Tsima, supported by Sunshinegun and Vega School
Both started their studies in 2019 and are currently in their third and final year.
“I have loved my time mentoring Rosemary. I was fairly tough on her early on and threw some challenges and curveballs her way (just like a real client would) and she kicked every one of those challenges butts! She really impressed me with her ability to decipher a brief and put her own unique view of the world and creativity into all of her work. I look forward to watching her career go from strength to strength. #bigfan, ” said Shane Forbes, creative director at TBWA.
“There is nothing that thrills us more at Sunshinegun than seeing our young designers thrive in their careers. In the past three years, Keamohetsoe has grown from a young girl to a talented designer with a great future in our industry. She will be joining Sunshinegun for a formal work-integrated learning experience and we look forward to continuing her journey with us from here,” said Katinka Pretorius, managing director at Sunshinegun.
OFM remains the Best in Bloem

From your car to the office, to the comfort of your home, OFM is the station of choice in Bloemfontein. Winning the Best of Bloemfontein in the Bloemfontein Courant Reader’s Choice Awards 2021 for Best Local Radio Station, Best Local Radio Show and Best Local Radio Personality, OFM has shown once again that it has captured the hearts and minds of the city and its people.
“It is a privilege and honour knowing that OFM’s listening audience value what we do so much so that they vote us the best. We do what we do for everyone that listens. The award is proof that OFM is indeed the sound of your life,” says OFM’s programme manager, Tim Thabethe.
The Good Morning Breakfast, weekdays from 06:00 to 09:00, walked away with the Best Local Radio Show award. The show features host Shandor Potgieter, who won the Best Local Radio Personality award, along with Margaret Whitfield, keeping listeners up to date on traffic news and weather, and SuperSport presenter Sam Ludidi covering sports news.
Bloemfontein Courant launched the Best of Bloemfontein competition in 2013. Readers can vote in more than 70 categories, which cover a range of industries. All the winners can be viewed at www.bestofbloemfontein.co.za.
Win #AHEROESHOLIDAY in Zanzibar or a R50 000.00 trolley run with OneCart, SA’s premier on-demand marketplace

Lockdown had South African consumers shopping up a storm online – especially for groceries. The Online Retail in South Africa 2021 report, which surveyed a thousand consumers, revealed that 68% were shopping more online than prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. And that the category, which experienced the highest growth was groceries, at 54%.
The news didn’t come as a surprise to the founders of the OneCart app, Lynton Peters and Ariel Navarro. OneCart is an online marketplace and grocery retailer that allows shoppers to virtually shop the aisles of multiple retail stores – with a personal concierge shopper to ensure their every requirement is met – and their shopping list delivered within an hour of being shopped, straight to their door.
In an exciting development, OneCart is going to give an amazing opportunity for any of its customers, both existing loyal and new, to win either #AHeroesHoliday in tropical Zanzibar, or a R50 000.00 trolley run at a local shopping destination. If the winner opts for the #AHeroesHoliday in Zanzibar, they will be able to redeem their prize at any time during 2022. Plus, customers have more than one chance to win if they refer the competition to their friends and families!
Why? Well, because Covid-19 has impacted the lives of millions across South Africa. Life’s luxuries faded away over the last two years, limiting people’s ability to experience and indulge in the wonderful diversity of the world we live in. As a superhero of the online grocery shopping world, OneCart is offering one of its lucky customers the opportunity to experience the beauty of travel once again via its #AHeroesHoliday competition or if they prefer, they can choose the option of the R50,000.00 trolley run.
When using the OneCart app or OneCart.co.za, you can enter the competition in three ways:
- They can sign-up to the OneCart mailing list by visiting www.OneCart.co.za/AHeroesHoliday
- Or they can use the code AHEROESHOLIDAY upon checkout when shopping on the OneCart app or website.
- Finally, if they refer a friend on the OneCart app, they will receive another entry.
It’s as simple as their offer of multiple stores, one app and delivery within an hour.