Van Niekerk sports a B. Comm. Honours degree and has been part of the media world for twelve years - since 1995 in the advertising division of Beeld and subsequently as GM. She makes no secret of the fact that she is passionate for and about Afrikaans:
“Gone are the days that Afrikaans is taking the back seat. Afrikaans is experiencing a remarkable growth currently and is blossoming - from music to the media business.
“The Afrikaans speaker has in fact broken through its cocoon and is buying in on its first love – the language. Second-language speakers are starting to take notice of Afrikaans and businessmen are beginning to realise that they have to take the Afrikaans buyer into account. We value and need the support of the business community, because without strategic partnerships, Pendoring won’t be possible,” says Van Niekerk.
In fact, it is for this reason that she feels that Pendoring has an increasingly important role to play its thirteenth year of existence.
“Pendoring’s reason for existence is based on the promotion and acknowledgment of excellence in Afrikaans advertising – from the printed media to radio and television. South Africa has some of the best creative writers and artists in this profession and the international awards that local advertising people annually win, is a testimony to this fact.
“To agencies and companies that realise the value of Afrikaans, Pendoring offers the opportunity to show their mettle and rise to the top. But, Pendoring is also a proud member of the greater South African scene and annually awards the campaign that embodies this pride best,” says Van Niekerk.
According to her, the dream of Pendoring 2007 is that the whole value chain that Afrikaans encircles – from the advertiser to the advertising agency and in the end the consumer – will realise the strength of Afrikaans anew.
Klerck, a director of FMK Marketing, will mainly be focusing on recruiting sponsors and continuing the important partnerships of the founding members of Pendoring, such as the ATKV, De Kat, Caxton, the Copywriters’ Forum, kykNET, Media24, Radiosondergrense and Rapport. Klerck will also co-ordinate the entries, campaign, adjudication and gala occasion of Pendoring.
Brand, former editor of Taalgenoot, magazine of the ATKV, has been running his own media company – Aksent Media - since last year. As part of the Pendoring team he will specifically be focussing on making Pendoring as visible as possible as a leading role player in the media business.
