The Media Online’s weekly column delivering news of award wins, entries, competitions, dates to note and winners in the media industry.
2022 FM AdFocus Award winners
TBWA South Africa has been awarded the Overall Agency of the Year at the 2022 Financial Mail AdFocus Awards.
Since their inception in 1990, the Financial Mail AdFocus Awards have established themselves as the leading platform for individuals and agencies to be recognised – not only for their creative marketing skills – but also for their overall business acumen.
This year’s Financial Mail AdFocus Awards winners are:
- Small Advertising Agency of the Year – Rapt Creative
- Medium Advertising Agency of the Year – Grid Worldwide
- Large Advertising Agency of the Year – TBWA Hunt Lascaris
- Group Agency of the Year – TBWA Group
- Public Relations Agency of the Year – Razor PR – an M&C Saatchi Company
- Specialist Agency of the Year – Levergy – M&C Saatchi Sports & Entertainment
- Network Media Agency of the Year – PHD Media SA
- Partnership of the Year (sponsored by IAS and Scopen) – TBWA South Africa & MTN
- African Impact Award – TBWA South Africa
- Transformation Award – Nahana Communications Group
- Adaptability Award – Happy Friday
- Student of the Year
- Winner – Angelina Faria
- Finalist – Robyn Burger
- Finalist – Lisa Black
- Lifetime Achievement Award – James Barty and Alistair King
- Industry Leader of the Year – Fran Luckin, Grey South Africa
- Shapeshifter – Mukondi Kgomo and Nkgabiseng Motau, Think Creative
- Overall Agency of the Year – TBWA South Africa
The winner of the FM Creative Challenge is OnlyKInd for their seismic blasting ad for Marine Dynamics. The Creative Challenge was developed to encourage young creatives in agencies to connect brand messaging with current news events and headlines, showcasing the power of print of effective advertising. Entries are judged according to three criteria: concept, design and business relevance.
Speaking at the awards, 2022 AdFocus Awards jury chairperson, Faheem Chaudhry commented that the agencies that won AdFocus this year did not just survive, but recorded one of their most successful years in history, growing their businesses way beyond the constraints thrown at them.
Levergy Closes Out 2022 as double Agency of the Year
The 2022 agency awards season closed off in style for Levergy, as they walked away with two major company awards. After being named Agency of the Year at the 2022 Hollard Sports Industry Awards, they followed it up by being awarded Specialist Agency of the Year at the 2022 Financial Mail AdFocus Awards.
The Hollard Sport Industry Awards is an opportunity to celebrate and honour sport industry innovators. Levergy entered the awards ceremony with eight nominations across five categories for its clients, which included Nedbank, Telkom, SuperSport and Heineken. For the fourth time in the last six years, Levergy was honoured as Agency of the Year after another year of outstanding work.
The 2022 AdFocus Awards celebrated the champions of the bounce back and those who have shown resilience and agility in the face of adversity. At the height of the global pandemic, Levergy took the opportunity to show innovation and creativity for its clients through numerous campaigns, which was the kick-start to one of the agency’s most successful years to date with award-winning outcomes at the likes of the PRISM; Creative Circle; New Generation; Marketing Achievement and The Assegai Awards, as well as four finalists at this year’s Loeries.
“As a passion marketing agency, winning both Agency of the Year and Specialist Agency of the Year is testament to the relentless pursuit of excellence that has characterised the agency over the last decade,” sayid Struan Campbell, founder and CEO.
M&C Saatchi Group takes top honours at 2022 AdFocus awards
The M&C Saatchi Group South Africa was shortlisted as finalists in four categories, with specialist agencies within the Group being named winners in two award categories at the 2022 AdFocus Awards.
The M&C Saatchi Group was shortlisted as finalists in Large Agency of the Year (M&C Saatchi Abel) and Group of the Year (M&C Saatchi Group South Africa). Razor PR was named AdFocus PR Agency of the Year ranking for its second consecutive year. Celebrating its third birthday in January 2023, Razor has been nominated every year since launching – winning the category twice.
In 2022 Razor was also named African Agency of the Year by global PR magazine Provoke and was shortlisted as the best corporate agency in the world. Razor is the most awarded agency in Africa and from Africa – having also collected the Grand Prix for Best Overall African Campaign in the last 12 months (for Tiger Brands) as well as being the only local agency recognised in the Top 20 Global Campaigns at the Global SABRE Awards.
Levergy, the sport and entertainment arm of the M&C Saatchi Group, was named Specialist Agency of the Year, following on from its Sport Industry Awards Agency of the Year win in November.
Razor Named Financial Mail AdFocus PR Agency of the Year 2023
Razor Public Relations (a member of the M&C Saatchi Group South Africa) has won the Financial Mail AdFocus PR Agency of the Year ranking for its second consecutive year. Celebrating its third birthday in January 2023, Razor has been nominated every year since launching – winning the category twice.
“As we entered our third year, we did so with some heavy expectations of ourselves. While we had done good work as the ambitious young start-up, we are very aware that we cannot remain a start-up forever. We have embraced scaling up in people and skills with a focus on not losing our culture,” said partner & managing director Dustin Chick.
“It is easy to burn hot and fast however it is much harder to burn longer and sustain the magic. This has meant that we have doubled down on our obsession with delivering quality work that matters – work that is strategically strong and creatively impactful so that it never fades.”
RAPT Creative named as AdFocus’ Small Agency of the Year 2022
RAPT Creative, the agency that had only just opened its doors for business when Covid-19 struck in 2020, has been named as AdFocus’ Small Agency of the Year.
The achievements earning RAPT the title include its tenacity during the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns which saw it grow revenue 100% year-on-year, and its impressive run of new business wins during the year under review in the 2022 edition (July 2021 to June 2022).
Commenting on the agency’s award, CEO Garreth van Vuuren paid homage to the RAPT Creative team, which has burgeoned from three founding employees to 46 in just three years.
“Across all levels of the business – strategy, media planning, media buy, content creation etc – our product is creativity. And at RAPT we are extremely fortunate to have solid, experienced, creative people on our team, people who put the client first and ensured we were able to deliver exceptional work under trying circumstances. Huge respect,” he said.
He added that the bold step of hiring ahead during Covid was a pivoting point for the agency.
SuperSport Schools awarded at global OTT awards (sport streaming)
SuperSport Schools received global recognition when it won the Silver Award for ‘Innovation of the Year’ at the annual SportsPro OTT Awards held in Madrid, Spain. The awards recognise significant achievement in incredible innovations and inspirational strategies across the sports broadcasting and streaming ecosystem.
The award highlighted SuperSport Schools’ status as a leading innovator in the world of streaming, where it uses innovative Pixellot AI technology and low-cost multi-camera operations to stream thousands of school and youth sports matches live and on demand, all at no cost to schools and App users.
The final shortlist for the award included some of the best broadcasters and OTT platforms in the world, including Mediapro and La Liga(who won gold) , Warner Bros Discovery, Sky Sports, Videocities, VersusGame, SportTV and BT Sports.
SuperSport Schools GM, Gerhard Steyn, said: “This is truly a humbling moment for us as SuperSport Schools to be recognised as being at the leading edge of sport streaming globally. We set out to push the boundaries; to innovate and to change the face of school and youth sport in the country by broadcasting the matches people care about most. We have achieved incredible growth and success throughout this year, which is only our first full year in operation. I would like to thank the many passionate people behind who every day make sure we continue to grow school sport around the country and give young athletes a platform to shine.”
Ogilvy South Africa breaks records at 2022 Assegai Awards
At the recent 2022 Assegai Awards, Ogilvy South Africa was announced as overall Agency of the Year, after receiving a record breaking 64 awards. These included 17 Golds, 13 Silvers, 8 Bronzes, 24 Leader awards, the Nkosi award (given to the best performing campaign of the year) and finally the IAS Agency of the Year award.
Pete Case, Ogilvy South Africa CEO and creative chairman, commented, “Following our recent ‘effective marketing’ success at The Effie’s, it’s an absolutely wonderful situation for both our clients and our people, to win these accolades at the Assegai’s. Both of these platforms celebrate effective marketing as the number one metric of success and this underpins our core strategy here at Ogilvy to create ‘work that works’, delivering impact for brands and people. What makes the results even more special for us, is to see the breadth of our clients and work that was recognised at the event including; DSTV, Cadbury, Carling Black Label, Bestmed, PEP, Volkswagen, KFC, Anglo American, Kotex, Colgate and Castle Lite.”
Ogilvy was recognized in the following categories of expertise; Branded content, Health & Wellness, Integrated Communications , Social Good, Data Inspired, Search Advertising, CRM & Loyalty, Data Inspired Technology, Email, Social Media, Mobile, Online Video, Multi Language campaign, Entertainment & Sports, Media Innovation, Experiential Marketing, Emerging Technologies and Shared Value, indicating a broad expanse of capability across these specialist communications areas.
HOT 102.7FM Wins the Hearts of Listeners at SA Radio Awards
Capping a successful evening at the 2022 SA Radio Awards, HOT 102.7FM walked away with the coveted ‘My Station – Most Votes’ award at the event, which was held in Johannesburg on 26 November.
This, just a little over a year after going live, with HOT 102.7FM coming out on tops in a category that puts the voting in the hands of South Africa’s radio listeners. The My Station section gives listeners the opportunity to vote for their favourite radio station and this year SA Radio Awards organisers received approximately 1.1 million votes in this category.
HOT 102.7FM received the most votes, garnering 138 905 – or 12.6% of the overall number of votes – and proving that it indeed has among the most loyal listeners of the country’s radio stations.
“This award means the most to us, because it comes from our listeners and we’ve always placed our audience front and centre of everything we do as a radio station, whether it’s playing the music they grew up with, presented by DJs that they’ve come to know and love, or supporting the causes close to their hearts and throwing the kinds of ‘Old Skool’ parties they love,” said Lloyd Madurai, Managing Director of HOT 102.7FM. “This award will just spur us on, in the knowledge that we’re giving our listeners what they want, and that will remain the HOT 102.7FM priority going forward.”
There were two more honours for HOT 102.7FM at the SA Radio Awards, with The Mark Pilgrim show winning ‘Best Daytime Show’ and HOT Business picking up the ‘Best Podcast’ award.
Top honours for Stellenbosch Visio
Stellenbosch Visio was awarded the prize for Best External Publication at the 2022 SA Publication Forum Awards.
Stellenbosch Visio magazine is insightful, entertaining, fascinating and always as beautiful as the place that inspires it. The judges recognised this, singling out the quality of the writing (“impeccable”) and the look (“elegant layout, beautiful and aspirational photos”). “The magazine speaks of quality, creativity and originality,” they said.
South Africa’s top retail development goes to Checkers Foods Franschhoek at the SACSC Retail Design and Development Awards
Checkers Foods Franschhoek, in the Western Cape, has been named the winner of the sought-after Spectrum Award for the best retail development and design, becoming an icon of the real estate development landscape at the South African Council of Shopping Centre’s (SACSC) Annual Retail Design and Development Awards (RDDA).
The awards celebrate exceptional designs of retail development projects within the South African property industry, together with their economic success. They include new shopping centres and the redevelopment and refurbishment of existing centres, as well as the design of retail stores and restaurants.
Amanda Stops, CEO of SACSC, said: “The development and design of shopping centres is a multidimensional and sophisticated discipline. It’s a creative, technical and commercial discipline that brings architecture, interior design, retail principles, consumer dynamics, environmental innovation and technology together in the conception and construction of retail space. Our industry is constantly innovating, creating and challenging itself, and raising the bar for development and design, and we are proud to acknowledge to recognise this excellence.”
Retail marketing excellence acknowledged with awards
After an unprecedented period in retail history that has seen this industry require more agile thinking and innovation than ever before, one marketing agency has proven it has the talent and tenacity to empower its clients to shine regardless of the circumstances. Excellerate Brand Management (EBM), that leads the marketing for various commercial property groups, scooped 58 awards at the recent Footprints awards.
The Footprint Awards are run annually by the South African Council of Shopping Centres, with the aim to recognize excellence in retail marketing. EBM’s 58 Footprint Awards this year include 11 Gold, 20 Silver and 26 Bronze Awards. Additionally, the group won the highly coveted Spectrum Award for work done on Gateway Theatre of Shopping’s “Stronger Together” project in the Community Relations category. This initiative saw over 31 tons of food supplies being distributed to affected communities in Kwa Zulu-Natal following the devastating riots in July 2021.
EBM is no stranger to awards. Over the past 2 years, the agency has won 2 Spectrums, 23 Gold, 42 Silver Award and 56 Bronze Awards, totalling a whopping 122 Footprint Awards. Additionally, various centres marketed by the group, such as Sandton City, for instance, have won the Spectrum Award in 2021 and Best of Johannesburg award in 2022.
Gerety Awards name jury for 2023
Zubeida Goolam founder of Valiant Agency joins global brand leaders from Philips, Heineken and PepsiCo on next year’s Gerety awards jury.
“We could not be prouder of the jury of personalities from around the world that will be choosing the 2023 winners” explained co-founder Lucía Ongay. “Next year we celebrate the 5th year of the Gerety Awards and just like in previous editions, our jury includes some of the advertising and marketing industries most respected and awarded leaders.”
The 2023 Grand jury includes:
- Antoinette Beatson, VP ECD, BETC, Havas, FRANCE
- Brogan Simpson, Global Communication Manager, Heineken, NETHERLANDS
- Cristina Reina, EVP, Global Executive Creative Director, McCann New York, USA
- Diana Ceausu Caverly, Global Chief Strategy Officer, MRM, USA
- Gabrielle Fenton, Head of LATAM, VaynerMedia, MEXICO
- Jo Wallace, Global Executive Creative Director, Media.Monks, UK
- Joan Colletta, Senior Director, Global Brand Marketing, McDonalds, USA
- Kinga Grzelewska, Managing Director & Creative Director, MullenLowe, POLAND
- Maya Karanouh, CEO/Co-Founder, Tagbrands, LEBANON
- Nicky Bullard, Group Chief Creative Officer, MullenLowe Group UK
- Ghada Wali, Creative and Co-Founder, Wali Studio, EGYPT
- Marcela Morales, Sr Brand & Digital Manager, Whirlpool, MEXICO
- María Luján Donaire, Executive Creative Director, HOY, ARGENTINA
- Masako Okamura, Creative Director; Dentsu Inc, JAPAN
- Nancy Delhalle, Founder & Chief Marketing Officer, Serviceplan BELGIUM
- Sann Sava, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Montreal, CANADA
- Sorada Sonprasit, CEO, Publicis Groupe THAILAND
- Stephanie Nadi Olson, Founder and CEO, We Are Rosie, USA
- Syeda Ayesha Ikram, Executive Creative Director, PAKISTAN
- Vanessa Vankemmel Sebban, Head of Creative Works France Google, FRANCE
- Nathalie Lam, Global Head of Sponsorship, Lead for Inclusion & Diversity Marketing Transformation, Philips Global, NETHERLANDS
- Rana Hamarneh, Group Executive Director & Partner, AdPro, JORDAN
- Tomoko Arikazawa, Managing Director, MSL Japan Publicis Groupe, JAPAN
- Uma Rudd Chia, Executive Creative Director and Co-founder, KVUR, SINGAPORE
- Zubeida Goolam, Founder and Creative Managing Partner, Valiant Agency, SOUTH AFRICA
- Jennifersy Hu, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy, TAIWAN
- Josefina Casellas, Executive Creative Director, RGA, ARGENTINA
- Lone Tvedergaard Bach, Strategy Director and Partner, &Co, DENMARK
- Natalie Wills, Brand VP, Booking.com, NETHERLANDS
- Patricia Moura, Head of Content, GUT, BRAZIL
- Begoña Aristy, VP & General Manager, Pepsico, MEXICO
- Bunmi Oke, CEO/Lead Consultant, Ladybird Ltd, NIGERIA
- Cassandra Zawadowski, Co-Chief Creative Officer, Wunderman Thompson, CANADA
- Dana Koll, Owner and Founder, DIBOOR, ISRAEL
- Jeannine Shao Collins, President, SeeHer, Association of National Advertisers, USA
- Rina Marie Simon, Partner, GroupM INDONESIA
- Stephanie Yung, Executive Creative Director, Zulu Alpha Kilo, CANADA
- Carole Giroud, CEO, Serviceplan FRANCE
- Hà Nguyễn Thị Hải, CEO, VMLY&R, VIETNAM
- Helen Pak, Senior Vice President of Creative – Marketing, Design & Content, Disney, USA
- Helga Sasdi, Co-Leader of Le Pont and Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Groupe HUNGARY
- Mar Frutos, CCO, El Taier DDB, GUATEMALA
- Merve Puhaloğlu Eraslanoğlu, Chief Everything Officer, TVekstra, TURKEY
- Natalie Lam, CCO Asia, Pacific, Middle East & Africa, Publicis Groupe, HONG KONG
- Rosalina Tornel, VP & General Manager Gamesa-Quaker-Sonric’s Mexico and Biscuits Latam, Pepsico, MEXICO
Once again Gerety will be holding in-person jury sessions in 10 different cities; the locations and judges for the executive jury will be announced in the new year. Entries are judged on the originality of the creative ideas and the quality of their executions and all types of advertising campaigns can be entered.
As well as defining the shortlist, the executive jury sessions each select the agency and production company of the year from their country. This is chosen from the entrants of the Portfolio Cut.
The 2023 Gerety Awards will open for entries and announce the full jury in January, in the meantime entrants are invited to learn more about the Grand jury and download the 2023 entry kit at www.geretyawards.com
