The Media Online’s weekly column delivering news of award wins, entries, competitions, dates to note and winners in the media industry.
Nahana Foundation assists Empowervate launch Young Active Citizen Award

The Nahana Foundation, the corporate social investment arm of the Nahana Communications Group, assisted Empowervate launch the Young Active Citizen Award.
Empowervate, endorsed by the Department of Education and many corporate sponsors, historically ran an annual competition encouraging the youth to use a bespoke project management methodology and toolkit to solve problems within their schools or communities, thereby becoming active citizens and change makers in their communities.
The Covid pandemic and South Africa’s lockdown meant the competition could not be run on that basis in 2020, and the competition moved online with Empowervate turning to the Nahana Foundation to assist it communicate the new format and drum up entries.
Tasked with leveraging Nahana’s rich creative experience across its various agencies and marketing industry support companies to maximise non-profit clients’ marketing efforts and influence positive change in South Africa, the Nahana Foundation asked McCann1886, FCB Joburg and Meta Media to step up to the plate.
Working closely with Nahana Communications Group CEO, Brett Morris, and Nahana Foundation managing director, Katie Andrews, the McCann team created a digital poster, which group media account director, Gwen Bezuidenhout, ensured appeared online as well as a print ad in the Citizen, The Daily Sun and City Press. The FCB Joburg team also helped create exposure via live radio reads.
AdFocus Awards 2020 finalists revealed

After three juries with four jury sessions, the AdFocus Awards 2020 shortlist has been decided. This year the main jury sessions were a hybrid with both a physical sitting simultaneously to a virtual one for those who could not physically attend.
“It felt like we did not miss a beat. On the jurors’ part that required hours of commitment preparing and being present. As jury chair it was exciting to facilitate,” said Tumi Rabanye, AdFocus Awards Chairperson 2020/21.
This year included a new Award, the Agency Adaptability Award. “This was a pride piece for 2020, that gave us the opportunity to see and highlight those agencies that had made the best of a very difficult climate,” said Rabanye.
Overall, she said, the key outtake was definitely what resilience it takes to make it in the marketing communications industry. “Against all odds the industry continues to show up; that is a commendable feat against the exceptional backdrop of 2020!”
Small agency award
- Hoorah Digital
- Rogerwilco
- Think Creative Africa
Medium agency award
- Duke
- The Odd Number (Pty) Ltd
Large agency award
- Joe Public (Pty) Ltd
- King James
- M&C Saatchi Abel
- TBWA Hunt Lascaris JHB
PR agency award
- Avatar PR
- Eclipse Communications
- Edelman
- Razar Public Relations – a member of the M&C Saatchi Group
Specialised agency award
- Levergy
- Retroactive
- Triple Eight
Partnership award
- Joe Public & Chicken Licken
- M&C Saatchi & Takealot
Transformation award
- DUKE
- Joe Public United
- Triple Eight
African impact award
- BCW
- Dentsu Aegis
- Triple Eight
Adaptability award
- FCB Joburg
- Have You Heard
- Triple Eight
Network media agency award
- Carat
- The Media Shop
- Vizeum
Student award
- Dominic Hobbs – University of Johannesburg (UJ)
- Jenna Cawood – Cape Town Creative Centre
- Jessica Graham – Red&Yellow
Lifetime Achiever, Industry Leader and Shapeshifter as well as the sought after Agency of the Year will be announced at the event. There is no Independent Media Agency Award this year.
Celebrating 10 years of extraordinary creativity within sport – and deadline for entries into Hollard Sports Industry Awards looms
How do you celebrate business resilience and exceptional creativity within the sports industry in a time of global uncertainty? That was the starting point when looking at how to transform the 2020 Hollard Sport Industry Awards on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic which put a stop to all public participation sporting events.
Each year brings new opportunities and despite the curveballs thrown by 2020, this year’s Hollard Sports Industry Awards will celebrate this important milestone virtually on the 12 November.
Submissions for the awards that acknowledge the leaders and trailblazers within the business of sport are now open for work done between the 1 August 2019 and the 31 August 2020.
“We look forward to celebrating the people who make these amazing, impactful campaigns and events come to life, once again. After what can only be described as a turbulent time within both the marketing and sports arenas, we will be recognising the immense effort, creativity and talent behind sports campaigns, events and sponsorships over the last year. We love to support this industry, as it resonates with our purpose of enabling better futures – not only for the Sports Industry itself, but for communities and the country at large,” said Heidi Brauer, chief marketing officer at Hollard.
The 2020 categories include
- Agency of the Year
- Audio Visual Content of the Year
- Campaign of the Year
- Communications Award
- Digital Platform of the Year
- Event or Competition Sponsorship Award
- Fan Engagement Award
- Social and Environmental Impact Award
- Social Media Campaign of the Year
- Young Agency of the Year
Completed submissions with supporting documents can be emailed to admin@creativespacemedia.co.za by the 15 October 2020.
Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards stream live in two days
The Standard Bank Sikuvile Awards 2020 take place this Thursday, 15 October. This year the event is a virtual event, with guests and shortlisted candidates streaming in to view who will walk away with this year’s Awards, especially the coveted Journalist of the Year and South African Story of the year.
The Awards, which recognise and reward journalistic and newspaper excellence in South Africa, have been sponsored by Standard Bank for many years, as a key tenet of the bank is the support of press freedom as an integral part of the country’s democracy.
This year’s Awards theme is The Naked Truth, and in the year that saw the world shut down because of Covid-19 and lockdown, and fake news abound, it was a most fitting theme. It also emphasises the importance of good and ethical journalism which the Awards recognise.
Covid-19 and the national lockdown has also increased the already pressure on newsrooms, media houses and journalists as revenues dropped substantially and many journalists losing their jobs.
It is especially in this light that Standard Bank’s sponsorship of the Awards is so important, says the Publishers Support Services. The live broadcast of the Awards can be followed on the URL link.
Nomad Africa nominated for Africa Tourism Leadership Awards

Africa’s premier tourism magazine, Nomad Africa, has been nominated as one of the top three nominees for the upcoming Africa Tourism Leadership Awards 2020 in the category: Outstanding Africa Tourism Media and Marketing Award.
The news comes on the back of the magazine’s growing acceptance in Africa and internationally, where in the last year, it had been recognised and trusted for diverse, rich, and powerful editorial content.
The winner of the category will be announced during the Africa Tourism Leadership & Awards event ceremony on Wednesday, 21 October 2020 in Kigali, Rwanda.
“We hope to win the award but, just being nominated is uplifting and a source of great pride since competition is tight in the African travel and tourism media space. The news is even sweeter and a relief in this time of the pandemic,” said executive publisher, John Akinribido.
Africa Tourism Leadership Forum (ATLF) has pooled resources together with Rwanda Development Board to organise the awards.
The nomination in the Outstanding Africa Tourism Media and Marketing Award category is expected to elevate the Nomad Africa brand into the market, characterised by stiff competition from both new and established publications, in print and online.
Published quarterly, the magazine’s success in recent years include, among others, inking a long-term partnership with the global brand WTM Africa.
Just days to go for entry into SA’s Small Business Awards
The South African Small Business Awards recognises the tireless journey, hard work and outstanding achievements of Small Businesses and Entrepreneurial Success.
It is a celebration of the most outstanding businesses and the exceptional business people behind these successful and growing businesses. It is the ultimate recognition for every business owner and entrepreneur. It is the springboard to enhanced business success.
Click here to enter.