The Media Online’s weekly column delivering news of award wins, entries, competitions, dates to note and winners in the media.
DStv Content Creator Awards 2024 entries now open
The stage is set, and the spotlight is bright for the DStv Content Creator Awards 2024. This year is about storytelling in all its forms. It’s about the narrative, the stories, and, most importantly, the unique points of view of each content creator. It’s about celebrating the creator’s own perspective – the unfiltered, original POV of content creation that brings stories to life.
This year will focus more on celebrating the content creators themselves rather than individual pieces of content. New categories have been introduced to echo the evolving nature of content and its creators because, in the world of digital storytelling, IYKYK.
This year’s categories are:
1. Thumb-stopping Award
2. *New* Best Event After Movie Award
3. Podcast of the Year Award
6. Best Creator Campaign Award
7. Social Commentary Award
8. DStv Creator of the Year Award (public voting once the nominees are announced)
9. Emerging Creator Award (public voting once the five nominees are announced)
10. Cause Award (public voting once the five nominees are announced)
11. *New* Pan-African Creator Award
12. *New* Trendsetter Award (public voting once the five nominees are announced)
13. Fashion & Style Award
14. Foodie Award
15. Travel & Lifestyle Award
16. *New* Gaming Creator of the Year
17. Beauty Award
This is the year the DStv Content Creator Awards goes continental with the first-event Pan-African Creator Award. This category is for the African continent, celebrating talent in countries outside of South Africa. We’re shining a light on the amazingly talented content creators across Africa who have entertained us for years.
Entries for 2024 Shop! SA Shopper Marketing Awards have opened
Shop! South Africa, the local chapter of the global trade association dedicated to enhancing retail environments and experiences, has opened entries for the 2024.
Shop! SA founder and MD Di Wilson says Shop! exists globally to further excellence in the ‘Marketing at Retail’ industry.
“Our goals, as Shop! SA, are to upskill the entire shopper marketing value-chain, facilitate networking and collaboration, and recognise outstanding achievements. This year’s awards build on learnings from our inaugural awards event held last year, and aim to foster and reward excellence,” she said.
Shop! SA Shopper Marketing Awards gives brand manufacturers, retailers, creative agencies, and production houses the opportunity to showcase their work, motivate their marketing teams, build credibility in their trading community, and establish themselves as leaders in the market.
The driving force behind the awards comprises industry stalwarts Janet Kirkbride, Chris Hewitt, Grant Hillary and Rashree Maharaj, along with Wilson. The 2023 judging panel included Carl Willoughby, Mamapudi Nkgadima, Carla Gontier, John Clark, Andy Sutcliffe, Craig Lodge and Phil Day, and the sponsors were Barrows, H&A, Online, and Point.
Entries are online at https://www.shopassociation.africa/. Entries will close end-July 2024. Judging will be done in August, finalists announced in September, and the awards evening held in November.
Top 16 Youth-Owned Brands Awards soar to record number of entries
The Top 16 Youth-Owned Brands Awards (YOBAs) received a record number of 3 364 entries this year. This is a significant increase from the under 500 nominations received in 2022.
The YOBAs expanded their reach to include participation from across the African continent, leading to submissions from 15 African countries. However, due to the substantial number of entries from different regions in Africa, the advisory committee of the YOBAs deliberated and got to the tough but necessary conclusion to postpone exhibition component (also known as the Festival of Youth-Owned Brands) originally scheduled for 21 and 22 June 2024 to a later date.
This decision underscores the commitment of the YOBAs to uphold the main purpose of the awards, which is to recognise and celebrate the youth that have turned their businesses into brands of excellence in Africa.
To ensure that the awards continue to live up to the high-quality checks and balances, all efforts will be directed towards delivering a world-class awards show, enhancing the experience, and bringing the rest of the continent on a journey of recognising the gold standard of youth excellence.
Helm wins collaboration partner of the year at 2024 ICT Awards
Helm has emerged triumphant at the prestigious Intelligent ICT Awards held in Sandton on 2 May 2024. The awards, which spotlight innovation and growth in the IT industry, recognised Helm as the Collaboration Partner of the Year in the CXO Business category.
The award ceremony showcased excellence in diverse ICT implementation projects across various verticals and technology domains. Helm‘s achievements were further highlighted by its finalist positions in the Intelligent Telecom Project category for work on MTN Omnichannel, and the Intelligent Education Implementation category for its contributions to Smartstart.
Jeané van Greunen, Helm’s chief client officer, expressed her excitement: “Winning Collaboration Partner of the Year is such an honour. We pride ourselves on our ability to deeply engage with our clients and immerse ourselves in operations as far as possible, identifying and addressing customer pain points wherever we can. This accolade is a testament to our commitment to excellence and innovation at Helm.”
The MediaShop’s Dashni Vilakazi to serve as a Shortlisting Juror for the Media Lions at Cannes Lions 2024
The MediaShop has announced that Dashni Vilakazi, managing director for its Johannesburg office, has been selected to serve as a Shortlisting Juror for the Media Lions at the prestigious Cannes Lions 2024.
This appointment recognises Vilakazi’s visionary leadership and impactful contribution to the media and advertising industry.
With over two decades of experience, Vilakazi has been instrumental in steering The MediaShop towards significant growth and innovation. Her expertise in blending digital and traditional media strategies has been crucial in developing dynamic campaigns that achieve global resonance. Her visionary perspective has earned her opportunities to work on global projects in Lagos, Hong Kong, London, New York, and India.
Vilakazi said, “I am excited to be selected as a shortlisting juror for the Media Lions. This opportunity is not just a personal milestone, but also a testament to the hard work and creativity of our entire team. I look forward to contributing to the jury and bringing back fresh insights that will continue to drive our success and open unchartered territories of innovation and creative leadership.”
Blu Flamingo Africa founder scoops major award as female entrepreneurship takes centre stage
At the recently held Woman of Stature Awards, Seanice Lojede was awarded the 2024 Entrepreneur of The Year.
Lojede is a tech-savvy marketing leader and founder of Pan African Tech-enabled IMC BLU Flamingo Africa, headquartered in South Africa and has branches in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.
Boasting a Masters’s Degree in Digital Marketing, Lojede is an alumni of Stanford Seed. She is also no stranger to being recognised at international award ceremonies, having won CEO Global’s Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business (Service Category) in 2019.
Lojede’s accomplishments extend far beyond her entrepreneurial endeavours. She is a notable contributor to the tech space, having trained over 20 000 young men and women across East Africa in collaboration with Google. She is also a published author in the prestigious London Journal of Digital and Social Media Marketing, further solidifying her position as a thought leader.
Columbia Global Freedom of Expression awards biennial prize for most ‘Significant Legal Ruling’ to AmaBhungane
AmaBhungane’s advocacy coordinator Caroline James has just returned from an awards ceremony in New York.
Columbia Global Freedom of Expression awarded its biennial prize for most ‘Significant Legal Ruling’ to the judgment in our case to resist efforts by the Moti Group to attack our journalism and our sourcing (Mazetti Management Services v AmaBhungane).
The award recognised the judgment’s outstanding commitment to press freedom, noting that it ‘underscores the vital role of investigative journalism in combatting corruption’ and reiterates the importance of source confidentiality and the necessity of journalists being able to possess leaked digital information and use it in the public interest.
“The award was a welcome recognition for the work we and our fantastic legal team had put in to ensure that the threats to media freedom that the Moti Group’s original order posed were addressed,” AmaBhungane said in a statement.
Ipsos research shows 61% of South African Effie winners break the mould
Creative effectiveness is no longer a contradiction in terms when it comes to modern marketing and the 2024 South African Effie Awards are gearing up to be a vital barometer of return on investment in the South African advertising and marketing sector.
The Association for Communication and Advertising in collaboration with Ipsos will host a webinar on 8 May 2024 to share key insights from the 2023 Effie South Africa Trends Report, and the Global Best of the Best Effie Awards.
This will provide an excellent opportunity for brand teams, marketers, and agencies to draw inspiration from major learnings and gain valuable insights into the evidence-based framework, ‘Misfits’, developed and used by Ipsos to harness the power of creativity in delivering effective advertising.
Looking at the broader methodology behind the awards, Ipsos creative excellence manager Quantin Montello commented, “Getting to effectiveness requires brands to rise above the culture of conformity and differentiate from category codes that are too similar. Breaking free from the sea of sameness requires meaningful creativity in advertising.”
The Effie webinar aims to inspire creative and brand teams to unleash their creativity to drive effective advertising and demonstrate how adopting a ‘Misfits’ mindset can lead to impactful and effective advertising.
To register for the Effie webinar taking place on 8 May 2024, or delve into the world of ad research, contact: Quantin.montello@ipsos.com or call 072 6906 179.
African Bank’s Audacious Rewards Wins big at International Loyalty Awards
African Bank’s rewards programme, Audacious Rewards, has emerged as the winner at the International Loyalty Awards held in Dubai on April 24th. The Audacious Rewards was honoured in the Best Short Term Loyalty Initiative, underscoring African Bank’s dedication to innovative customer experiences and financial empowerment.
Audacious Rewards represents a paradigm shift in loyalty programmes, going beyond traditional points-based systems to provide tangible benefits and provide positive financial habits among its members. The programme’s success demonstrates African Bank’s commitment to modify financial services and empowering individuals from all walks of life.
Sbusiso Kumalo, group chief marketing officer, expressed his excitement about the win, stating, “Being recognised at the International Loyalty Awards is a tremendous achievement for us. Audacious Rewards epitomises our mission to make a meaningful impact in the lives of our customers, offering them rewards they can truly count on.”
INMA unveils 40 first-place winners at the Global Media Awards
INMA has announced 40 first-place recipients during its 2024 Global Media Awards competition, with Helsingin Sanomat’s Counterstrike of the Free Press taking the global Best in Show.
During the awards ceremony at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the winners were unveiled across 20 categories aimed at surfacing innovation and best practices in news brands, optimising the use of media features, subscriptions, product, advertising and commerce, Artificial Intelligence, and newsroom innovation.
South African publishers who won awards were:
- Best New Video Product or Feature category: Daily Maverick won second place for Tribe One Dinokeng: Sony’s Disastrous ‘Fyre Festival’ in the
- Best Initiative to Grow Subscriptions: Honourable Mention: Daily Maverick, South Africa, Maverick Insider Marketing
- Best Commerce Product or Service: Honourable Mention: Media24, South Africa, Paygates
- Best Product Iteration; Honourable Mention: IOL, South Africa, IOL Newsletters
The INMA competition, which has been rewarding media excellence since 1937, evaluates news media companies across two segments: national brands and regional brands.
This year, two companies garnered two first places: Bergens Tidende from Norway and Stuff from New Zealand.
Judges also selected the best in six world regions from the finalists:
- Best in Africa: Daily Maverick for “Daily Maverick Sports Supporters’ Club”
- Best in Asia/Pacific: News Corp Australia for “National Bush Summit Campaign”
- Best in Europe: Helsingin Sanomat in Finland for “Counterstrike of the Free Press”
- Best in Latin America: Grupo El Comercio for “Todos Somos Santa”
- Best in North America: Bloomberg for “Context Changes Everything”
- Best in South Asia: India Today Group for “AI-Led Newsroom Transformation”
The 20th annual AIBs open for entry
The 20th edition of the AIBs, the prestigious annual international competition that honours the best in journalism and factual productions across video, radio, and digital platforms, has opened for entry. This landmark year marks two decades of celebrating media excellence worldwide, and we are eager to see the innovative and impactful work of this year’s entrants.
The AIBs 2024 offers a broad range of categories to showcase the talent and creativity of you and your teams:
Audio
- Arts, Culture, History
- Emerging Talent
- Health and Social
- Investigative Documentary
- News Coverage
- Presenter of the Year
- Sustainability
Video
- Arts, Culture, History
- Domestic Affairs Documentary
- Emerging Talent
- Health and Social
- International Affairs Documentary
- Investigative Documentary
- News Coverage
- News Explainer
- Politics
- Presenter of the Year
- Short Documentary
- Social Media Journalism
- Sustainability
Whether your work is aimed at local, national, or international audiences, and whether it is produced in English or another language, we encourage you to submit your best pieces. Each entry will be meticulously evaluated by our international jury, comprised of experts from every continent, ensuring a fair and comprehensive assessment.
See the entry information here, and get your work into this year’s AIBs by 5 July.
Fundi wins South Africa Best Employer Brand Award 2023/ 24
Fundi Capital was awarded the prestigious Best Employer Brand Award 2023-24 at the South Africa Leadership Awards in Johannesburg. Hosted by the Employer Branding Institute; the World HRD Congress and Stars of the Industry Group, and endorsed by the Asian Confederation of Businesses, the award celebrates organisations dedicated to nurturing leaders and fostering talent aligned with their organisational vision and mission.
A first-time entrant this year, Fundi Capital received the signature honour of being announced South Africa’s Best Employer Brand. Speaking at the event, Mala Suriah, Fundi CEO, dedicated the award to the collective team of over 200 employees across the country: “This award is testament to the incredible spirit and dedication that powers Fundi and empowers the customers and clients we serve. It speaks to our ‘people-first strategy’ and our purpose as an organisation; how we bring these to life as lived experiences each and every day. We thank the Institute for this recognition and honour.”
PEP earns Top Honours as Brand of the Year at MMA South Africa Smarties Awards
Much loved retailer, PEP, has clinched the esteemed title of Brand of the Year at the MMA South Africa Smarties Awards; recognised for placing great emphasis on tangible business outcomes.
This remarkable achievement highlights PEP’s commitment to innovation, creativity, and impactful marketing strategies that deeply resonate with customers.
PEP’s success at the Smarties Awards extends beyond the Brand of the Year industry accolade, with the retailer securing 8 additional awards for their #PEPFinds, PEP Changing Stations and PEP mini Netball initiatives. Notable among these are gold honours for Community Building, Diversity & Inclusivity, Small Budget, Big Impact, Social Media Marketing, Purpose/Activism, and Creator Economy. Winners were selected amidst a competitive pool of 270 unique entries submitted by 52 agencies and brands.
