AWARDS Where egos dare CHAIRPERSON – Festus Masekwameng been open to the rest of <strong>Africa</strong> and the Middle East but the majority of entries still come from South <strong>Africa</strong>. Of the regional entries this year, most were from the Middle East with a smattering from South <strong>Africa</strong>’s neighbouring countries. As Human points out, the Loeries budget currently prohibits big spend on regional marketing. Other factors are small advertising budgets and the restricted <strong>size</strong> of the industry in <strong>Africa</strong>n countries. Internationally, the Loeries have a high profile and are the only South <strong>Africa</strong>n awards event to feature in the ratings of the annual Gunn Report. <strong>Part</strong>y time Since May this year ad agency creatives around South <strong>Africa</strong>, the continent and the Middle East have been encouraged to ‘Feed Your Ego’ by entering the region’s most prestigious brand communication awards, The Loeries. Winners will be announced during Loeries weekend, which takes place for the first time ever in Cape Town, from 24 to 27 September. With the recession affecting absolutely everything and everybody at this time, it’s encouraging to note that Loerie entries are only down overall by 5%. Consider that entries for this year’s Cannes International Film Festival were down a massive 40%. Loeries CEO Andrew Human believes that advertising awards are a good economic measure in a recession. “In the past few years awareness of the Loerie Awards from areas outside traditional advertising has grown. Our Design category has grown by 10% while the main Advertising category went down by 5%. Experiential entries were down 20%, but some of the drop is attributable to the fact that we changed the rules in the TV and Radio Infomercial category – only clips of two minutes were eligible. This cut out the 30-second promos, which subsequently moved to the TV category instead. There was a significant drop in the student category – 15%. Our entry fees stayed the same as last year so maybe there was a drop in enrolment at tertiary institutions. “The main Radio category has 252 entries, TV has 221 entries, Newspaper 195 and Magazine 162. Experiential has 437 entries, of which 160 fall into the Digital category. I’m delighted to say we have 38 websites competing at the Loeries this year, which is a huge increase from 2008.” Four new awards were introduced for this year’s competition: New Voice Radio Award (promotes non-English radio advertising), the Creative Use of Paper (promotes the use of paper in LOERIES CEO – Andrew Human design), the Mobile Advertising Award and the Internet Advertising Award. “Media owners subsist on advertising so they need to attract as much of it as possible,” continues Human. “Each of the new awards was created to encourage advertising in different mediums. The New Voice Radio Award has been very successful and we’ve received 52 entries, mostly in the <strong>Africa</strong>n languages as well as a few Afrikaans ones. Every single entry submitted on paper is eligible for the Creative Use of Paper Award. The Mobile and Internet categories are small as they are hampered by unrealistic costs of access with inferior bandwidth.” Loeries chairperson Festus Masekwameng adds: “The new awards have generated lots of excitement in the industry. As for this year’s entries in general, it’s been great to see that some clients have been consistently brave with their campaigns. It ‘s also wonderful to witness some new clients entering the fray and doing interesting work, so it’s not all about the same old brands. “The Loeries are all about recognising creative excellence and it’s good to take time out to pat each other on the back. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the winners in advance. A Loerie award is very difficult to win. Every single Loerie recognition – from finalist to Bronze, Silver and Gold Loerie to Grand Prix – is a significant achievement.” Judging Over 130 judges, all leading experts in their fields, judged the 2009 entries, presided over by international jury chairmen Jan Jacobs (Johannes Leonardo, New York), Jim Sutherland (Hat-trick Design, London) and Matt Shirtcliffe (Saatchi & Saatchi DGS, New Zealand). Entries were judged on innovative concept, bringing new and fresh thinking, excellent execution, relevance to the brand, relevance to the target audience, and relevance to the chosen medium. In a first, a period of discussion was allowed after the first round of judging. The Loeries committee received very positive feedback from the juries about this new innovation, as while it lengthened the process, it ensured that second round entries were thoroughly scrutinised. All work was judged anonymously. Says Human: “I think we had a very high standard of international judges this year and they will be a hard act to follow. Jan Jacobs, who is an ex-South <strong>Africa</strong>n, was impressed that the work has become local and is no longer imitating London like it used to. Both Jim Sutherland and Matt Shirtcliffe were very happy with the quality of the entries. “Smaller agencies are definitely beginning to make making more impact at the Loeries. Last year two out of four Grand Prix were won by small agencies – Trigger and Am I Collective, which only had a single entry in the whole competition. The standards are very high this year so even winning a Bronze Loerie is nothing to be sneezed at.” For some years the competition has Loeries weekend, with the awards ceremonies taking place on the Friday and Saturday nights, is akin to a fourday long party with a myriad of activities. And this time it’s happening in Cape Town, with the Loeries Village situated in Long Street. Says Masekwameng: “I think people are really looking forward to experiencing the awards in Cape Town. We had a great run in Margate for many years, but now it’s time for a change. The Loeries are beginning to attract more interest from beyond the advertising industry and I think this will be reflected in the attendance at the awards ceremonies.” At the time of going to press, ticket sales were above those of last year, with the Saturday night close to sold out. As per the Good Hope Centre venue, seating has grown to 2 500 per night (as opposed to 2 100 in Margate). Human was not at liberty to comment on the actual awards ceremonies other than to say both nights will be red carpet events with lots of VIPs and celebrities. “I can, however, talk about all the activities surround the two awards ceremonies. All the after parties on both nights will take place in Long Street. Camps Bay will become a mini Loeries Village for the weekend and all agencies are urged to book their parties there. On the Thursday there will be the Battle of the Bands, the Chairman’s <strong>Part</strong>y and the Mayor’s <strong>Part</strong>y.” Sponsorship of the event, in these recessionary times, has been difficult says Human. “Our two main sponsors are Ads 24 and the SABC – everyone is aware of the SABC’s difficulties. Nevertheless the Loeries has kept a very tight budget, especially seeing as we decided to keep entry and ticket prices the same as in 2008. The Loeries are a bigger event this year, in terms of the number of seats. “On the upside, the City of Cape Town and Cape Town Tourism have contributed to infrastructure costs. Gearhouse South <strong>Africa</strong> being a sponsor has assisted in technical costs. Without these partnerships the Loeries event could not happen.” 14 SCREENAFRICA – September 2009
K2 SUMMIT MEDIA CLIENT SPEED IS APPRECIATED WHEN YOU NEED IT MOST. The Grass Valley K2 Summit combines an array of special features that set a new standard for turn-around speed in replay applications. Architected internally for direct file-access from record to play-out, Summit helps you see files faster. And remarkably, all this power comes in an efficient design optimized for space-challenged environments. It’s Gotta Be A Grass! Visit us at IBC 2009 1.D11 For more information on K2 Summit visit www.grassvalley.com/summit
Change language