The Media Online’s weekly column delivering news of award wins, entries, competitions, dates to note and winners in the media.
Nike SA’s Coolest Brand at the 2023 Sunday Times GenNext Awards
The coolest brands, according to South Africa’s youth, were announced at the 19th annual Sunday Times GenNext Awards, held in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg on 20 September 2023.
Nike was celebrated as the Coolest Brand Overall, claiming top spot in three of the 76 categories awarded, and building on the success achieved in 2022. Apple and Samsung placed second and third overall, respectively.
The Sunday Times GenNext survey is considered the leading barometer of what South Africa’s youth find on-trend and inspirational and delivers insights that are valued by brand management, advertising, and marketing professionals.
“With some 200 million people aged between 15 and 24, Africa has the youngest population in the world. Clearly, understanding the brand decisions of the youth will be critical to future business success,” says Pule Molebeledi, Acting CEO at Arena Holdings, which owns and manages the Sunday Times GenNext brand.
“The 2023 GenNext Survey conducted by our partner Yellowwood clearly identifies what brands are sought after in keeping with youth trends of Now, Next and New – where businesses can actually be proactive rather than simply reactive, when it comes to dealing with the challenge of relevance.”
The Awards also celebrate personal brands, and in the celebrity categories MacG (Coolest Local Online Influencer), Siya Kolisi (Coolest Local Sportsperson), Thando Thabethe (Coolest Local Radio Personality), and Trevor Noah (Coolest Local Celebrity) were awarded.
The complete list of winning brands will be published in the Sunday Times GenNext Supplement on 24 September 2023.
The Sunday Times GenNext Youth Marketing Conference will take place in Johannesburg on 28 September 2023. To book your tickets to attend, please visit www.quicklink.co.za/youthtickets
Read all the winners here.
5FM on a winning streak
5FM won the award for ‘Coolest Radio Station’ in SA at the 2023 Sunday Times GenNext Awards, hosted by 5FM’s very own queen of hosts, Zanele Potelwa. The station also won a Silver Award in Rapport’s Jou Keuse (Your Choice) poll as one of South Africa’s top three favourite radio stations.
5FM station marketing manager, Sewela Sebola, said, “This win has been a long time coming and years in the making, and getting the nod from our core target market, the youth of Mzansi, really does speak volumes about our team’s absolute passion, dedication and unwavering commitment to excellence.”
“With the brand constantly unearthing new insights about our youth and strategically aligning ourselves to their changing needs and wants, 5FM will remain a firm favourite for our youth and we will keep striving to win their hearts and give them the best entertainment in the coming years. This is a testament to the brand’s ever-growing power in understanding what the youth truly want, adapting to it, and communicating to them in ways that matter to them.”
5FM’s acting business manager, Michael Bossenger, said, “Winning this award is a massive honour for us, especially because it’s the youth of South Africa who selected us as their favourite station. They are at the core of everything we do – from our Top 40 music core to the news, events, stunts, influencers, movers, shakers, community projects and A-list celebrities we feature.”
“Thanks to intense and continued market research that keeps our fingers firmly on our audience’s pulse, and a fleet-footed A-team that’s always ahead of the trend, 5FM is making phenomenal strides and continues to show substantial growth. Not only reaching, but actively engaging and moving the youth market to achieve solid ROI for clients that span anything from power-punching SMEs to the biggest multinational brands. This award serves as strong confirmation that the Power of 5 is throwing all the right punches.”
SAB in partnership with ESG Africa events announce the judges of the Beyond Awards
The South African Breweries (SAB), in partnership with ESG Africa Events, has announced the panel of judges who will preside over the inaugural Beyond Awards.
This sustainability platform shines a spotlight on South African organisations and individuals who have made a remarkable impact through their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts.
According to SAB VP of Corporate Affairs Zoleka Lisa, the overall aim of these awards is to advance sustainability within the private and public sectors of South Africa. “We needed a panel of judges who could truly discern what impact means in this field,” says Lisa. “The Beyond Awards features an esteemed list of judges, each with specialised expertise in their respective categories. We are ready to celebrate and be inspired by every nominee and winner.”
Categories for the Beyond Awards include United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Champion, Best Sustainability Report, Best Sustainability Project, and African Trailblazer.
UN SDG Champion category:
- Dalit Anstey, ESG Knowledge Lawyer and Expert at Webber Wentzel
- Shameela Soobramoney, Chief Executive Officer of the National Business Initiative
- Sifiso Nkosi, Programme Coordinator at the UN Global Compact South Africa
UN SDG Champion category technical judges:
Estrella Merlos, Global Head of the Road Safety Training Initiative and Associate Director of the CIFAL Global Network
Best Sustainability Report category technical judges:
- Dr. Colin Reddy, Senior Lecturer in CSR, Corporate Sustainability, and Research Design at the University of Johannesburg
- Loshni Naidoo, Chief Sustainability Officer at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)
- Cuma Dube, Senior ESG Specialist at Six Capitals
- Carolynn Chalmers, CEO of Chapter Zero SA
Best Sustainability Project category technical judges:
- Lwazi Ngubuvena, Director of the African Energy Leadership Centre (AELC) at the University of Witwatersrand
- Happy Khambule, Head of Environment and Energy at Business Unity South Africa
African Trailblazer category technical judges:
- Prof. Mervyn King SC, Senior Counsel and former Judge of the Supreme Court of South Africa
- Sifiso Skenjana, Founder and Managing Director of ESG Analytics
- Vincent Obisie-Orlu, Natural Resources Governance and ESG researcher at Good Governance Africa
Growth Agency Joe Public shines at the 2023 Effie Awards
Joe Public celebrates eight wins at this year’s Effie Awards. The Effie Awards, famous for awarding ideas that work is known by advertisers and agencies globally as the pre-eminent effectivity award.
For over 50 years, winning an Effie has become a global symbol of achievement in effectiveness in advertising.
Joe Public is honoured to have been awarded four silver and four bronze awards for campaigns on clients Chicken Licken, Nedbank, Amnesty International, SAB and Woolworths across various categories.
“The recognition at this year’s Effie Awards is incredibly rewarding for the team at Joe Public and is a testament to what is possible with great client partnerships focused on creating work that works,” comments Laurent Marty, Group Chief Strategic Officer at Joe Public.
Chicken Licken’s “Ya Hunga” campaign won three silver awards across the Restaurant, Multicultural Products and Services as well as Current Events categories. Amnesty International’s Real Maternity Issue campaign won silver in the Small Budgets – Non-Profit Products, Services category as well as a bronze in the Disease Awareness & Education: Non-Profit category. Nedbank’s New Bank campaign won a bronze in the Financial category, SAB’s Castle Milk Stout: Don’t Fear Black – Black Conversations won a bronze in the Brand Content & Entertainment category and lastly, Woolworths’ Every Day WList campaign was awarded a bronze in the Multi-Brand Shopper Solution/Commerce & Shopper category.
“Being recognised by the Effie Awards is a massive honour for both our team and our clients and inspires us to continue with our mission to grow our people, our clients and our country, through the power of creativity. We’d like to thank our people and our clients who continue to walk this amazing journey with us. Congratulations to all of this year’s winners,” says Mpume Ngobese, Co-Managing Director at Joe Public.
Joe Public’s Effie awards are summarised as follows:
| CLIENT | CAMPAIGN | AWARD | CAMPAIGN CATEGORY |
| Amnesty | Real Maternity Issue | Silver | Small Budgets – Non-Profit, Products, Services |
| Chicken Licken | Ya Hunga Big John | Silver | Restaurants |
| Chicken Licken | Ya Hunga Big John | Silver | Multicultural – Products, Services |
| Chicken Licken | Ya Hunga Big John | Silver | Current Events |
| Amnesty | Real Maternity Issue | Bronze | Disease Awareness & Education: Non-Profit |
| Nedbank | Nedbank: New Bank | Bronze | Finance |
| SAB | CMS: Don’t Fear Black – Black Conversations | Bronze | Brand Content & Entertainment |
| Woolworths | Woolworths Every day WList | Bronze | Multi-Brand Shopper Solution/Commerce & Shopper Effie |
DDB and Omnicom take top honours at the 2023 Gerety Awards
DDB Worldwide has been awarded Global Network of the Year, DDB Chicago won Global Agency of the Year and Omnicom has won Holding Company of the Year.
Agency of the year: DDB CHICAGO
- 2nd place: BBDO Germany
- 3rd place: Cossette
Network of the year: DDB
- 2nd place: VMLY&R
- 3rd place: McCann Worldgroup
Holding Company of the year: OMNICOM
- 2nd place: WPP
- 3rd place: IPG
Agency, Network and Holding Company of the year are the Gerety top awards and earned for the highest combined score from points given to Shortlist, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Grand Prix, and Agency of the year by country awards.
DDB Chicago is the Gerety 2023 Global Agency of the year with one Grand Prix, three Gold, five Silver, one Bronze, for their work with Bears for Twix, Chillboards for Coors Light and Apologize the Rainbow for Skittles.
The DDB Network is the Global Network of the Year being awarded with 1 Grand Prix, 6 Gold, 9 Silver, 3 Bronze, and 10 Shortlist. The winning agencies included: Alma DDB, DDB Chicago, DDB Group Germany, DDB Italy, DDB Romania, DDB Warszawa, DDB Wien, NORD DDB Copenhagen and NORD DDB Helsinki.
Omnicom received the Holding Company of the Year award, with winning agencies coming from 15 countries across the DDB, BBDO and TBWA Network agencies.
