Awards Wrap: Sampson honoured at MAAs, Moleele a judge for 2025 Effie Awards South Africa, Isu Elihle entry deadline tomorrow

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

‘Brand father’ receives LIfetime Achievement Award at MAAs

Jeremy Sampson, South Africa’s renowned ‘Brand Father’, received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the Marketing Achievement Awards (MAA) held in Sandton on Thursday night.

Sampson was honoured at the gala for his profound and enduring contributions to South African branding and marketing. This accolade is not bestowed annually but reserved for individuals of exceptional calibre who embody excellence.

The MAAs, recognised as the pinnacle of marketing excellence in South Africa, celebrate the entire marketing value chain, from insight and innovation to execution and impact. Endorsed by the Marketing Association of South Africa (MASA), these awards uniquely acknowledge marketing’s pivotal role in driving business growth, powering the economy, and shaping culture.

“All my life I have tried to keep it simple, just getting on with it, problem solving,  looking for some magic dust, and treating everyone as equal colleagues – from client to staff members and other colleagues,” said Sampson.

“When you pick up accolades along the way that you were not seeking, it is very humbling and rewarding, especially this recognition. Every industry needs to nurture the youngsters and celebrate the heroes. And those whose shoulders we stand on. Marketing is a community that plays a crucial, if often not recognised, role in the national economy.”

Penquin’s Veronica Moleele a judge for 2025 Effie Awards South Africa

Penquin CEO Veronica Moleele has been appointed to the judging panel for the prestigious 2025 Effie Awards South Africa.

The Effie Awards are globally recognised as the benchmark for marketing effectiveness, celebrating campaigns that deliver tangible business results. Moleele’s appointment to this year’s panel is a testament to her strategic insight, creative leadership, and unwavering commitment to marketing that works.

“I’m incredibly honoured to be part of the Effie Awards judging panel this year,” said Moleele. “The Effies stand for accountability, effectiveness, and excellence – principles I hold close in every campaign we deliver. I’m excited to join my industry peers in recognising the work that truly makes a difference, and to celebrate ideas that drive real impact for brands and consumers alike.”

Moleele’s appointment to the Effie Awards judging panel is a clear reflection of her leadership and the agency’s reputation for creating marketing that makes a real difference.

Isu Elihle entry deadline tomorrow

Isu Elihle is an isiZulu phrase meaning beautiful, great, or simply a neat solution. The Isu Elihle Awards were launched by MMA in 2016 to encourage innovative reporting on children’s issues and seek to influence the way children are portrayed in media by empowering journalists to uncover the stories that matter most. Since 2016, the Isu Elihle Awards have been at the forefront of journalism promoting children’s rights

The awards include mentorship from media and child rights experts to provide guidance and support for the finalists as they navigate around the hard challenges of taking their brilliant story idea and turning it into an outstanding piece that is worthy of being published in any mainstream media of their choice in their respective country.

The awards are committed to honour the legacy of Mandy Rossouw through the Isu Elihle Mandy Rossouw Accountability Category, which is awarded to the journalist who made the best attempt at holding the powerful to account on issues specifically related to children.

Join MMA in supporting journalism that builds a better future for Africa’s children. Apply today to stand a chance to win amazing prices and gain mentorship from experts in the media and children.

Apply here.

Changes to 2025 Galliova Awards inspire SA’s food and health content creators

The Galliova Food and Health Writers’ Awards, sponsored by the Egg and Broiler Producers of the South African Poultry Association (SAPA), has announced changes to this year’s awards to include a broader scope of South Africa’s evolving media landscape, and to streamline entry into the awards.

The biggest change is that some existing award categories have been revised, and others now allow for the social media influencers to enter alongside the print and online media. This move aims to support and encourage young content creators to participate in the awards as well as recognise social media influencers’ important contribution to the country’s media landscape.

Another change is the inclusion of discretionary spot prizes. This is where judges can select entrants that stand out from the other entries, simply because their content was unusual or highly creative, and honour them accordingly.

In addition to these category amendments, the names of some of the categories have been revised to make it easier for entrants to understand the focus of the award category and what the judges aim to recognise through that award.

Standard Bank named Africa’s most admired financial services brand

Standard Bank, Africa’s biggest bank by assets, has been named as Africa’s Most Admired Financial Services Brand for 2025. The accolade was conferred as part of Brand Africa’s 15th annual Africa’s Best Brands report, based on an independent study conducted across 31 countries throughout the continent.

The Africa Best Brands study is described as the most comprehensive, research-based ranking of Africa’s most admired brands. Released annually during Africa Month (May), the survey is independently conducted by GeoPoll and Kantar, with strategic insights and rankings led by Kantar and Brand Leadership, Africa’s leading brand advisory firm, and supported by regional experts across the continent.

“We are delighted to receive an accolade that is distinguished by being authentically African, data-driven and consumer-led. This acknowledgement reflects the trust that we have built and our commitment to providing consistently excellent service to our clients across the continent,” says Sim Tshabalala, Chief Executive, Standard Bank Group.

Six in Middle East & Africa named to judge Next Creative Leaders 2025

The One Club for Creativity announced six in Middle East & Africa who are among the initial 39 creatives from 21 countries named to serve on the jury for Next Creative Leaders 2025, 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 judges from Middle East & Africa are:

• Nnenna Onyewuchi, founder, The Barefoot Strategist, Lagos
• Sands Mathura, ACD, Accenture Song South Africa, Cape Town
• Enas Rashwan. founder, CEO, Cairo Ad School and Saudi Ad School; president, The One Club-Cairo chapter, Cairo/Riyadh
• Nayaab Rais, ECD, FP7 McCann, Dubai
• Ali Rez, CCO, IMPACT BBDO, Dubai
• Rana Sadek, creative director, FP7 McCann, Dubai

The complete list of NCL 2025 jurors can be viewed here.

‘The Baku Connection’ wins Special Prize at the European Press Prize

The collective investigation ‘The Baku Connection’ was led by the international network Forbidden Stories. It featured key contributions from France 24 (Karina Chabour and Roméo Langlois from the Investigations desk; Corentin Bainier and Ershad Alijani from The Observers; and Sébastian Seibt from the web editorial team) and RFI (Daniel Vallot).

The project was awarded the Special Prize at the European Press Prize, taking place on Wednesday, May 28, in Bari, Italy. Published in February and November 2024, the investigation unveiled a range of abuses by the Azerbaijani regime, including environmental destruction, corruption, prison torture, and illicit enrichment.

South African dance-maker and teacher, Sbonakaliso Ndaba, named the 2025 JOMBA! LEGACY ARTIST

The 27^th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, hosted by UKZN’s Centre for Creative Arts, has announced that it will honour South African dance-maker and teacher Sbonakaliso (or Sbo as she likes to be called) Ndaba as the 2025 JOMBA! Legacy Artist.

Born and raised in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, Ndaba received her primary dance training at Jazzart Dance Theatre in Cape Town under the direction of Alfred Hinkel.

Over the course of her long and illustrious career, she has had the privilege of dancing and choreographing for a great many South African companies including Jazzart Dance Theatre, Moving into Dance, Vuyani Dance Theatre and Tshwane Dance Theatre in Johannesburg, Phenduka Dance Theatre, FLATFOOT Dance Company and Fantastic Flying Fish Dance Company in Durban.

International companies she has worked with include Southern Edge Art and Barking Gecko in Australia, Lina’s Dance Production in Denmark, and Introdans in the Netherlands.

Also deeply significant to the JOMBA! Legacy award is her lifelong commitment to initiating many performance training initiatives including Phenduka Dance Theatre, Indoni Dance Arts Academy and recently SboNdaba Dance, a non-profit company dedicated to strengthening the performing arts in Cape Town. JOMBA!’s artistic director Dr Lliane Loots says, “Sbo’s long term impact on training professional contemporary dancers and the legacy of this is felt throughout South Africa and we are deeply humbled that we get to honour her and her work in this way.”

Dentsu Africa crowned media network of the year, Nigeria, Kenya win big at Pitcher Awards 2025

 Dentsu Africa has reaffirmed its position as a creative and impact-driven integrated growth solutions powerhouse in the advertising industry of the African continent with its unprecedented performance at the Pitcher Awards 2025, recognizing its outstanding industry achievements.

In an impressive show of creative excellence, Dentsu Africa was crowned the Advertising Agency Network of the Year and the Media Network of the Year, with its subsidiaries, Dentsu Nigeria and Dentsu Kenya winning big in other African markets.

Gold Awards were presented to outstanding agencies across Africa, celebrating their remarkable contributions. The winning agencies include: dentsu Red Star South Africa; Carat Nigeria; Dentsu-Agyle Nigeria; and Dentsu Creative Kenya.

In Special Awards category, Dentsu Creative Kenya emerged Advertising Agency of the Year, proudly winning three Grand Prix distinctions across multiple categories: Entertainment Category: Stitched With Cheer for Tusker Lager; Effectiveness Category: The Hewa Safi Project for NCBA; and Good Category: Tap to Eat for Food for Education.

PR firm ByDesign brings a 2025 Africa SABRE Award home for Community Research Campaign

ByDesign Communications is the proud winner of a 2025 Africa SABRE Award, for their Understanding the Pulse of Mining Communities campaign that they created alongside Anglo American – the second year running that they have won the SABRE Mining and Extractives Category for this client.

The SABRE Awards recognise superior achievement in branding, reputation and engagement. This year’s awards shortlist included more than 120 campaigns, selected from over 500 entries from across Africa, which were evaluated by a jury of industry leaders located across the continent.

Vanessa Baard, ByDesign co-founder, says that the winning campaign consists of in-depth research undertaken across Anglo American’s host communities. “This valuable research will guide future communications, both internal and external, across the stakeholder spectrum.”

ByDesign was also a finalist in the Business-To-Business Marketing category, for which they conceptualised and implemented a bold campaign spotlighting the future of SA’s workforce for Youth Employment Service (YES) South Africa.

“We only entered these two campaigns and are honoured to have been recognised for both of them – not only for our agency, but also for the important and powerful work that our clients do,” says Baard.

Danone Wins 2025 Impact Award at Africa CEO Forum for Sustainability Leadership in Africa

Danone has been named the winner of the prestigious 2025 Impact Award at the Africa CEO Forum held earlier this week, in recognition of its outstanding commitment to sustainability, inclusive growth, and positive community impact across the African continent.

The accolade celebrates Danone’s continued progress to embed sustainable development into its core business strategy, with a special focus on its transformative work in in Africa. The company has pioneered initiatives that promote environmental stewardship, health and nutrition, and local empowerment through inclusive business practices. (link to website) Danone Southern Africa, a certified B Corp, stands out as a leading example of how businesses can balance profit and purpose.

One of Danone hallmark contributions on the continent is its investment in local supply chains, working closely with local farmers to improve Regenerative Agriculture practices. The company has implemented water-saving technologies in its manufacturing facilities, reduced plastic usage through innovative packaging, and consistently champions healthy food access for underserved communities.

Winners of the INMA Global Media Awards

INMA hasannounced 40 first-place recipients during its 2025 Global Media Awards competition, with the Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine taking the global Best in Show.

During the awards ceremony at the Edison Ballroom in New York, 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.

Winning the coveted Best in Show, the top award of the evening, was the Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine’s “Rescuing Freedom: The Campaign to Save Ukrainian Regional Journalism,” an outstanding and crucial campaign to support independent media in war times, with an impressive impact at the community level, clearly showing what most journalists and media organisations should be doing to rescuing freedom and democracy.

Judges also selected the best in six world regions from the finalists:

• Best in Africa: Business Insider Africa for “For Leading Social-First Business Journalism in Africa”
• Best in Asia/Pacific: The Waikato Times/Stuff for “Democracy.AI”
• Best in Europe: Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine for “Rescuing Freedom: The Campaign to Save Ukrainian Regional Journalism”
• Best in Latin America: La Nación for “S.O.S. Animals of Argentina”
• Best in North America: Atlanta Journal-Constitution for “Reinventing a 155-year legacy: The app is at the heart of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Journey to Becoming a Modern Media Company”
• Best in South Asia: Prothom Alo for “Echoes of Defiance: Inspiring a Generation Through Truth and Resilience”

Bonitas wins at the BHF Titanium Awards for fourth consecutive year

Bonitas Medical Fund has once again proven its industry leadership by securing the Titanium Award for Service to Membership: Operational Performance at the prestigious Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) Titanium Awards. This year marks four consecutive wins for Bonitas.

The awards, held annually, are considered a benchmark for excellence in the healthcare funding industry, honouring medical schemes, administrators and managed care organisations that consistently deliver outstanding value and service to their members.

Bonitas was also shortlisted in two other high-profile categories:

• Best Integrated Report: Health Funders/Medical Schemes (Category 2)
• Service to Membership: Member Service (Category 5A)

Announcing the 2025 Product of the Year Winners

South African consumers have once again cast their votes in the country’s most comprehensive independent product survey. Product of the Year South Africa is proud to unveil the 32 winners of the 2025 Product of the Year Awards, showcasing the most innovative products and services across multiple sectors.

“As South African shoppers continue to tighten their belts and juggle daily expenses, the peace of mind that they are spending wisely on products that are recognised and endorsed by their fellow consumers is priceless,” says Edith Venter, General Manager of Product of the Year South Africa.

“Whether it’s a reimagined heritage product or a brand-new entry to market, these products all share one thing: they connect with consumers in ways that matter. The Product of the Year seal is a mark of trust, backed by solid research and consumer endorsement.”

For brands, earning the Product of the Year title isn’t just a badge of honour, it’s a proven accelerator of trust, visibility, and consumer engagement. For consumers, it’s a shortcut to quality and innovation in a cluttered market. As the 2025 winners celebrate their achievement, the Product of the Year seal continues to signal one thing clearly: this is a product South Africans believe in.

Mettus receives prestigious Top Employer certification in South Africa

Mettus, a leading collective of established businesses that span a range of data and analytics-related services, is proud to announce its official certification as a Top Employer in South Africa by the Top Employers Institute – an internationally recognised authority that honours excellence in people strategies and HR practices.

Each year, the Top Employers Institute rigorously evaluates companies across several key areas, including talent strategy, learning and development, leadership development, performance management, and workforce planning. Mettus joins an elite group of organisations that have met the institute’s high standards for creating a workplace where employees can thrive both professionally and personally.

France 24 receives two awards at the World Media Festivals for the documentary ‘Haiti: The Iron Grip of the Gangs’

The documentary ‘Haiti: The Iron Grip of the Gangs’, directed by Catherine Norris-Trentand Roméo Langlois, received yesterday, on May 20^th, top honours at the World Media Festivals in Berlin. It was awarded Best Documentary in the Human Rights categoryand the Audience Choice Special Award.

This recognition underscores the exceptional quality of the on-the-ground journalism produced by France 24’s reporters, who strive to provide professional, independent information from the field that is accessible to all.

Held annually in Germany, the World Media Festivals honour excellence in international media across journalism, education, and entertainment.

‘Haiti: The Iron Grip of the Gangs’ also received the ‘Grand Reportage’ award last February at the Lauriers de l’audiovisuel, a ceremony co-organised by France’s Ministry of Culture and UNESCO to celebrate outstanding achievements in audiovisual production.