The Media Online’s weekly column delivering news of award wins, entries, competitions, dates to note and winners in the media.
Jacaranda FM’s Martin Bester named Best Local Radio Personality in both the 2025 Best of Pretoria and Best of Ekurhuleni Awards
Jacaranda FM’s breakfast show host Martin Bester has once again proven why he’s one of South Africa’s most trusted and admired voices, taking home the title of Best Local Radio Personality in both the 2025 Best of Pretoria and Best of Ekurhuleni Awards.
Voted for by the public, these accolades celebrate local excellence across various industries, from entertainment to business, and reflect the deep connection Bester has built with listeners through his warmth, authenticity, and uplifting presence on air.
“Getting these awards means so much to me. It really is special because it comes from the people that matter. These are the people that give me my career and listen to Breakfast With Martin Bester. Honestly, without you, I wouldn’t have this life so thank you very much for taking the time out and voting for me. I hope I make you proud.”
Bester adds “A massive thank you goes out to everyone at the Best of Pretoria and Best of Ekurhuleni organisations, two parts of South Africa that hold a massive place in my heart. Thank you for this honour and keep listening to our morning show on Jacaranda FM. I am truly grateful for this recognition.”
HOT 102.7FM voted Gauteng’s Favourite Radio Station
Johannesburg’s much-loved radio station HOT 102.7FM has once again proven that radio done right wins hearts – claiming a sweep of the major ‘Best of’ awards in 2025.
For the fourth consecutive year, HOT 102.7FM has been voted Best Radio Station in Joburg in the Best of Joburg Readers’ Choice Awards, while also taking home Best Radio Station in Ekurhuleni for the second straight year. These accolades come on the heels of the station’s recent Best of Pretoria win – making it a clean sweep across Gauteng and cementing HOT 102.7FM’s status as the province’s favourite radio station.
“To win across all three regions of Gauteng is an incredible honour and a reflection of the love people have for what we do,” said Lloyd Madurai, Managing Director of HOT 102.7FM. “We set out to be number one in the hearts of our listeners, connecting with them and doing radio that feels good and entertains.”
“Winning four years in a row in Joburg, twice in Ekurhuleni, and now in Pretoria too – that doesn’t happen by chance,” he continued. “It’s the result of an incredible team at HOT 102.7FM who care about our listeners, and a community who’ve made HOT 102.7FM part of their daily lives. It is also about consistency and clear vision”, says Madurai.
SABC’S Sherwin Bryce Pease and Aaron Berbrick scoop Ricardo Ortega Memorial Prize
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has announced that renowned international correspondents, Sherwin Bryce Pease and cameraman Aaron Berbrick have been named the gold winner by the United Nation Correspondents Association and awarded with the Ricardo Ortega Memorial Prize.Netflix SSA’s local storytelling triumphs at 2025 GEMA Awards
Netflix Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has garnered an impressive 25 accolades at the prestigious 2025 GEMA Awards for TV/Streaming Africa, alongside being crowned the 2025 SSA TikTok Titan Publisher of the Year in the Entertainment Category.
The GEMA Awards, which recognise relentless passion and innovative spirit in the global entertainment marketing community, saw Netflix SSA shine brightly with a remarkable 13 Gold and 8 Silver awards. Notably, Netflix SSA won Creative Brand of the Year 2025, cementing its position as a powerhouse in driving creative excellence across Africa – a direct reflection of their profound investment in local storytelling. The team also earned the Gold Award for Marketing Team of the Year 2025, celebrating the strategic and creative brilliance behind some of the region’s most talked-about campaigns.
Adding to this impressive haul, Netflix SSA’s TikTok page was honoured with the 2025 SSA TikTok TITAN Publisher Of The Year Award in the Entertainment Category at the EMEA TikTok Publisher HotSpot Lunch and Learn event held earlier this year. Netflix SSA’s TikTok journey has been nothing short of spectacular, reaching 3 million followers by the end of December 2024.
TBWA shows the power of humour at the Effies and Loeries
South Africans have a talent for laughing through the chaos. It’s part coping mechanism, part national art form – and when brands manage to bottle that irreverence, the results can be magic.
For TBWA\Hunt Lascaris, two tongue-in-cheek campaigns for City Lodge Hotels and Savanna turned humour into hardware at both this year’s Effie Awards and Loeries Creative Week.
At the Effies, which recognise effectiveness in marketing and advertising, City Lodge’s Save Our Stay “SOS” campaign notched the Grand Effie, a Gold and two Silvers. Earlier this month at Africa and the Middle East’s top creative awards, the Loeries, the same campaign picked up a Gold Loerie for Comedic Impact.
Savanna’s trademark wit also delivered wins for Heineken Beverages, proving that humour, when grounded in sharp human insight, continues to drive both creativity and commercial success.
Mall of Africa sweeps top honours at 2025 industry awards
Mall of Africa has once again proven why it stands at the forefront of South Africa’s retail landscape, claiming multiple wins at two major industry award ceremonies this month. The mall walked away with the coveted Spectrum Award, the highest honour of the ceremony, along with two gold awards and six bronze awards at the 2025 SACSC Footprint Marketing Awards, shortly after being crowned South Africa’s Coolest Mall for the eighth consecutive year at the Sunday Times Next Generation Awards.
The Spectrum Award recognised Mall of Africa for the Tyla x SOOK pop-up activation, an imaginative retail experience developed with Spotify Africa and Sony Music Africa. Earlier this year, the same activation made international headlines when it won an ICSC Global Marketing Award in Las Vegas. The bold collaboration transformed SOOK Mall of Africa’s adaptable space into an immersive, music-inspired world that brought Tyla’s creative vision to life and drew fans and shoppers across the country.
Mall of Africa also earned two gold awards for the Tyla x SOOK Pop-Up Collab (in a separate category) and the Rev Up for the Ultimate LEGO Racing Experience with LEGO Certified Stores. Both campaigns attracted thousands of visitors, demonstrating the mall’s ongoing ability to deliver fresh, memorable experiences through strong partnerships and creative thinking.
African Digital Media Awards: Registration open
The end of the year is around the corner, and we know you’ve developed outstanding projects since January 2025. We’d like to celebrate them at the Digital Media Awards.
This year, we’ve optimized our application process. With just one submission, your project will enter not only the continental African Awards, but also the global competition to be celebrated in Marseille 2026, on a truly international stage.
Our 12 revamped categories reflect today’s fast-moving media landscape. Whether you represent a small publisher or a larger media organization, you can submit the same initiative across several categories or showcase multiple projects.
Take this opportunity to join an inspiring list of awardees who have developed innovative projects that have transformed the African media ecosystem and beyond. You can start your application at any time and save your progress to continue later, but remember, submissions close on 31 December 2025.
Enter here.
Six in Middle East & Africa named winners In Global Next Creative Leaders 2025
The One Club for Creativity today announced six young creatives in the Middle East & Africa who are among the 36 winners from 17 countries in this year’s Next Creative Leaders, a free global competition recognizing women and non-binary creatives on the rise.
Celebrating its 10th year, Next Creative Leaders was created in partnership with The 3% Movement as the industry’s only free portfolio competition that identifies, celebrates, and provides a global platform to talented women, non-binary, and trans creatives who are making their mark on the world with both their work and unique point of view on creative leadership that’s changing the industry for the better.
NCL 2025 winners in the Middle East & Africa region are as follows:
- Raya Abujaber, creative director, VML Amman
- Revati Anilkumar Patil, associate design director, Leo Burnett Dubai
- Divya Buddhdev, associate creative director, Ogilvy Africa, Nairobi
- Archna Singh, freelance creative director, Dubai
- Jasmin Vandersteen, copywriter, and Zainab Mitha, art director (team), Joe Public, Durban
The complete list of NCL 2025 winners can be viewed here.
FNB retains title as South Africa’s Best Digital Bank in Human8’s SITEisfaction 2025 report
Human8, the global marketing insight consultancy (formerly known as Columinate), has released the results of its fourteenth annual SITEisfaction survey. This benchmark study, which has tracked digital banking satisfaction in South Africa since 2012, evaluates internet and mobile banking platforms based on real user feedback. The 2025 edition reveals a shift in user expectations, with trust, personalisation, and hybrid support models emerging as key differentiators.
FNB has once again been named South Africa’s Best Digital Bank, achieving a SITEisfaction® score of 73.34. Nedbank (70.74) and Capitec (70.47) follow closely, continuing to challenge the status quo with strong performances across multiple dimensions.
While FNB leads overall, the rankings shift slightly when looking at platform-specific performance. In mobile banking, FNB takes the top spot, followed by Capitec in second and Nedbank in third. For internet banking, FNB again leads, with Discovery Bank in second place and Nedbank maintaining third. This distinction highlights how user expectations and experiences can vary across digital channels.
Nedbank acknowledges the results of the 12th annual South African SITEisfaction® survey
Nedbank acknowledges the findings of the 13th annual SITEisfaction survey, South Africa’s trusted barometer of digital-banking client satisfaction. As we mark the culmination of our multi-year ‘Managed Evolution’ programme and continue to deploy significant investment into our digital-first platform and client-experience architecture, these results provide meaningful validation of our journey.
The 2025 SITEisfaction results once again demonstrate the strength and consistency of Nedbank’s digital performance. For the third consecutive year, Nedbank retained second place overall as South Africa’s Best Digital Bank, with a slightly higher score than the previous year which is a reflection of growing client confidence and satisfaction with our digital experience.
Our most notable progress, however, comes from our Internet Banking channel, where Nedbank has moved up significantly from sixth to third place.
