Awards Wrap: Eight South Africans on Cannes Lions jury, SMARTIES winners bring their A-game, entries open for Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award, Canal+ and Showmax’s  Spinners nominated for best series at CANNESERIES

The Media Online’s weekly column delivering news of award wins, entries, competitions, dates to note and winners in the media industry.

SA creative talent celebrated as Cannes Lions jury revealed – with eight South Africans

The 2023 edition of the annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity takes place in Cannes France from 19 – 23 June. The internationally celebrated festival of creativity has announced its jury for 2023, which includes eight South Africans in the mix.

“As the Cannes Lions festival representative for the South African market, we are delighted that the inclusion of these eight industry heavyweights is a global acknowledgement and celebration of the very high standard of quality local creative talent,” said Lynne Wylie, chief marketing officer of Ster-Kinekor.

“The Lions awards sit at the heart of the festival. It is therefore important to preserve and uphold the standard of judging and the value of the award.”

One of the major factors that contributes to the prestige and integrity of the awards is the quality of the juries, and the quality of the discussions when Lions are awarded. It is essential that the work continues to be judged by a stellar cast of world-class candidates – the very best creative talent that sets Cannes judging apart.

The eight South African jury members are:

As with previous years, Ster-Kinekor and the local Cannes jury members will host a series of post-Cannes events to share highlights of their personal Cannes jury experiences with the audiences, discuss current and future trends emerging from the festival, and to showcase some of the award-winning work in the various categories they judged.

“The post-Cannes talks are always a highlight on the creative industry calendar. As Ster-Kinekor, we are once again looking forward to presenting these at select cinema sites to give the industry an opportunity to experience some of this year’s Cannes Festival of Creativity,” comments Wylie.

SMARTIE Awards winners revealed

Over 200 submissions were reviewed and adjudicated between February and March 2023 to reveal this year’s SMARTIE winners. This year’s event had a twist: seven new categories were added, all relating to the rise of experiential tech and Web 3.0. The purpose of these additions, which include Blockchain, NFTs Intelligent Devices and Data Insights, among others, is to reflect the ever-expanding media and marketing landscape that is being shaped and moulded by innovation, access to data and changing consumer behaviour, especially through technology.

“Each of the winning campaigns brought their A-game to the table and really impressed the judges. Whether they entered into the Purpose Driven category or Impact Media, each showcased the very best in class in their industry and are all worthy winners,” said MMA SA jury chair and SA chair emeritus, Luisa Mazinter. “Furthermore, we are seeing exceptional adoption of new technologies and ways of working.”

Among the winners, over 25 Gold SMARTIES were awarded on the night, while the stand-out campaign of the year, the SMARTIES Best in Show went to the Nando’s Bright Side’s campaign, which cleverly tapped into consumers’ load-shedding pressures with a cross-functional focus on creating an exceptional customer experience at the heart of the campaign. The Shoprite Group of Companies/ ShopriteX received a standing ovation for being named The Brand of the Year.

All entries – Bronze, Silver and Gold – will now be submitted to the international BII (Business Impact Index), which ranks these winning campaigns against their international peers. The results of the BII will be released in Q2 of 2024

All the winners can be found here.

TDMC takes on some of SA’s biggest advertising agencies – and wins Gold at the Smarties Awards

TDMC took Gold at one of South Africa’s most prestigious digital media awards, The Smarties. The Digital Media Collective (TDMC) was awarded the accolade in the E-Commerce Marketing: Integrated E-Commerce Innovation Category for their 2022 performance marketing campaign, on behalf of their client Futurelife.

TDMC’s Futurelife campaign was pitted against campaigns for the likes of ShopriteX, Shoprite Group of Companies for Xtra Savings and Sixty60, VMLY&R for Nando’s, and Futuretech Media for Heineken’s Shoppable Media Solution in the E-Commerce Marketing: Integrated E-Commerce Innovation Category. Each campaign was detailed across a multitude of measurables, including actual business results (40% of the entry mark), social impact, as well as direct ROI and ROAS figures.

Managing director Cheryl Ingram said they leveraged an existing customer acquisition strategy that had been implemented six months prior to launch, alongside a robust digital marketing strategy that included paid media, tactical influencer collaborations and a clearly defined email and SMS marketing strategy that all worked collectively to fine tune every aspect of the customer journey. “This is what we do best when we have a blank canvas to work with and when a client trusts our knowledge and expertise enough to give us the space to do our best work.”

Canal+ and Showmax’s  Spinners nominated for best series at CANNESERIES

The team behind Spinners, French production company, Empreinte Digitale and South African production company, Natives at Large, recently received exciting news: their highly anticipated eight-episode action-drama series filmed in Cape Town, received a nomination at the sixth edition of CANNESERIES.

This marks the first African series selected in CANNESERIES’ history. Spinners shows us the rather unworthy daily life of gangs in the Cape Town projects. In this true Malthusian urban jungle, where you better not have any feelings, the main character will find redemption in Spinning, a new automobile sport that entails making artistic figures with damaged cars.

Albin Lewi, Artistic Director for CANNESERIES says, “We have a dedicated international jury that judge the first two episodes of the 10 series in order to decide the awards for: Best Series, Best Screenplay, Best Performance, Special Performance and Best Music.”

The show’s nomination also highlights the increasing prominence of African-produced content on the global stage. Shows like Queen Sono, Blood & Water, and now “Spinners” have gained critical acclaim and helped to raise the profile of African storytelling in the international media landscape.

The Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award opens for entries in South Africa

The first and longest-running international award of its kind, the inaugural Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award was held in 1972. This year marks its 51^st year of celebrating trailblazing women in business. For the second year, inspiring South African women who have made their mark as business leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs are invited to put themselves, or their peers, forward for Veuve Clicquot’s globally renowned Bold Woman Award.

This year sees the culmination of this progress with the introduction of Veuve Clicquot’s Bold Open Database, a revolutionary endeavour utilising technology as the catalyst for social and economic development. A global first, the database identifies and promotes female entrepreneurs, free of cultural, geographical and technological barriers. Its goal is characteristically audacious for the Maison: not only to gather -all within one database – the details of female entrepreneurs from all over the world, but to make them visible, amplify their influence, and promote interest in and support of their work.

Three finalists in each category will be selected by an esteemed jury and will be invited to attend The Bold Woman Award ceremony on 19 July where one laureate in each of the categories will be lauded by a grand jury. The Bold Woman Award winner will travel to Reims, France for an immersion in the history, tradition, and luxury of Maison Veuve Clicquot.

Entries now open and close on 14 May. Business leaders and role models who are ready to be recognised for their remarkable success are invited to enter the Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award by completing a simple form via www.veuveclicquot.com.

Canon seeks the best in photojournalism at Visa pour l’Image 2023 – submissions close on 17 May 2023

For the 23^rd consecutive year, Canon Europe is partnering with Visa pour l’Image to award a grant close to R157 000* (€8,000) to an outstanding photographer in recognition of their contribution to photojournalism. The Canon Female Photojournalism Grant will support the completion of a photographic reportage, covering a social, economic, political or cultural subject matter. Applicants are encouraged to submit between 10 to 20 images demonstrating the intent of the project.

The grant is run in conjunction with Canon’s long-standing partner Visa pour l’Image, one of the world’s leading photojournalism festivals. The winner will be officially awarded at this year’s festival, which takes place during September in Perpignan, France and their finalised project will be exhibited at the following year’s festival. Entries will be judged by a jury of renowned industry experts.

Grant recipients from previous years include Natalya Saprunova (2022), Acacia Johnson (2021), Sabiha Çimen (2020), Anush Babajanyan (2019) and Laura Morton (2018).

The grant will be given to an individual, without any consideration of their nationality. Entry is free and open to professional photojournalists, with submissions closing on 17 May 2023.

For more information on the Canon Female Photojournalist Grant please click here.