A total of 21 agencies were shortlisted across six categories at the 27th rendition of the event. Agencies were adjudicated against four measures: New business and growth; business retention and relationships; training and industry recognition; and empowerment/social responsibility.
The awards were hosted by Zipho Sikhakhane and convened by Jeremy Maggs and David Furlonger, the co-editors of the annual Financial Mail AdFocus Magazine – with a panel comprising jury chairman Craig Page-Lee and other industry experts who adjudicated each entry and applied their scores in secret. Finalist agencies in all categories made themselves available for a Q&A with the jurors, arising from their entries. The judging and scoring is audited by Deloitte. Jurors themselves did not know the identity of winners until the awards evening.
“The importance of digital, and specifically mobile, has been a key thread throughout this year’s entries, with all agency categories demonstrating evidence of delivery in this regard, irrespective how successful the campaigns and submissions were. That said, there is still a way to go before we see agencies being able to deliver seamlessly through the coupling of these concepts and trends,” said Page-Lee of the 2017 entries.
Furthermore, he said, “the biggest highlight has been the introduction of the transformation award, which obviously solicited incredible conversation and signalled an important milestone for not only the Financial Mail AdFocus Awards programme, but for the industry as a whole.”
The Financial Mail AdFocus Magazine is SA’s largest brand communication review, and will be distributed with Financial Mail today, 23 November 2017. The title’s co-editor, David Furlonger, will be retiring from his responsibilities after many years of hands-on involvement with the AdFocus Awards.
Phumi Mashigo will take the reins as the new jury chair in 2018. She is the founding managing director of Ignitive, a pre-eminent stakeholder management and communications company.
Follow #FMAdFocus2017 for the latest updates and click here for our gallery of all the winners.
