On the digital side, Nicholas Wittenberg from Ogilvy Interactive contended that this new category had the most submissions since its formation in June 2010 and, "for the most part, the quality of the creative was good, far better than in months prior".
| Category | June 2011 |
|---|---|
| 1. 8ink Media/NGKM "Lion/Crocodile/Fish Eagle" - FoxP2 | |
| 2. MWeb/MWeb Business "Prosperum Wealth/Executive Paints/Rainbow Goddess" - FoxP2 | |
| 3. Tracker "Ava/Jasper/Vuyo" - Joe Public | |
| Ambient/outdoor | 1. The Loerie Awards/Call for Entries "Trans-Hater" - Draftfcb Johannesburg |
| 2. Edgars/ Shoe Affair "Albino Girl/Calla Lily/Shoe Personified/Viktoria/My Prince/Women Who Kill for Shoes/That's Not my Monster...Her Shoes are too Shiny" - The Jupiter Drawing Room Joburg | |
| 3. HTH/All in One Algaecide "HT-HBomb - DDB Johannesburg | |
| TV/cinema | 1. Kraft Foods/Stimoral Taste Twist "I Believe I can Fly" - Ogilvy Cape Town |
| 2. KFC/Snacks "On the Run" - Ogilvy Johannesburg | |
| 3. Chicken Licken /Sliders "Anthony" - Net#work BBDO | |
| Radio | 1. Cinema Nouveau/New Releases - Lullaby: Rock-a Die/Hush-Little-Boys/Siembamba-Mamma se Aksieheid" - TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris Cape Town |
| 2. Volkswagen/New Passat "Susie/Jim/Steve - Ogilvy Cape Town | |
| 3. The Salvation Army/Blanket Donations "Blankets For the Living" - Leo Burnett SA | |
| Digital | 1. Galderma/Benzac "What Zit?" - Net#work BBDO |
| 2. Musica/Flo Browser "Musica Flo Browser" - HelloComputer |
| June 2011 judges | April/May/June 2011 digital judges |
|---|---|
| Rui Alves, Lowe Bull (chairperson) | Pete Case, Gloo Design |
| Mike Groenewald, TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris | Nicholas Wittenberg, Ogilvy Interactive |
| Jeff Tyser, Net#work BBDO | Mark Tomlinson, HelloComputer |
| Wihan Meerholz, Grey SA | Emma Carpenter, Quirk |
| Grant Jacobsen, DDB SA | Andrea Mitchell, digiVOX |
| Michelle McKenna, Ogilvy | Alex van Tonder, KingJames +one |
| Nicole Bower, MetropolitanRepublic | Andy Ellis, Native |
| Mohlalifi Lentoane, Draftfcb | Anton Moulder, Urbian |
| Xolisa Radebe, Open Co | Jonathan Deeb, Euro RSCG |
| Kerryn-Lee Maggs, Hello World | John Davenport, Ireland/Davenport |
| Category | June 2011 chair comments |
|---|---|
| General | The advertising industry is clearly not experiencing a boom of any kind right now, which is clearly reflected in the overall standard and quantity of entries. I also suspect (although this is completely unproven) that more than half of the entries were scam. Is it just me or does that seem too high? Guess desperate times call for desperate measures to get your creative on. There is some good news, though, and that is that there's still very imaginative and fresh thinking happening in our creative community. The ambient/outdoor category benefitted most from this fresh thinking in the month of June. Sadly, the rest of the categories failed to shoot the lights out. As usual, the winners stood out very obviously from the rest of the work but the gap between quality work and ropey work was more pronounced than usual. |
| I have to admit I struggled a bit to find a third worthy contender to vote for. Beautifully crafted entries across the board, though. This sentiment was shared by some of the other judges. | |
| Ambient/outdoor | The 2D approach to OOH will continue to lose ground to the integrated multi-faceted approach. Some of the entries would be equally at home in digital or experiential categories. The lines are blurring and the work is getting more interesting as a result. This was my favourite category to judge. |
| TV/cinema | The seemingly effortless executions of very talented directors, coupled with a fresh approach from agencies and adventurous clients, are still the winning equation here. I know, it's an obvious formula to point out but the work that didn't have all of these elements working for it were so soft and fell so far behind the winners that it made me feel sad. So many wasted opportunities. |
| Radio | A distinct executional style which can be linked to the Grand Prix winners at recent Cannes festivals is threading its way through this entire category, which makes the work sound a little samey. All things considered, the radio category had some shiny stars. |
| Digital | I don't quite share Mr Alves' comment re the state of the industry overall - I believe digital had the most entry submissions since the formation of the Creative Circle/DMMA and, for the most part, the quality of the creative was good, far better than in months prior - a noticeable leap forward. Of note is the increasing amount of creative being submitted by 'traditional' agencies that works. Facebook is clearly the sandpit of choice and for good reason. The digital dog and pony show, is like poncing about with your pants wrapped around your ankles - you're clearly exposed, which makes life that much more challenging. Solid digital strategy is key, which remains a much sort after discipline here. The overall real world success result of some of these campaigns remains ambiguous, to say the least. Congrats to the folks at Net#work BBDO and HelloComputer; good stuff. |
For more judges' comments, go to www.adlip.co.za.
The Creative Circle Ad of the Month and Ad of the Year are both sponsored by Primedia Unlimited, supporters of the development of creative talent in South Africa. For more, go to www.creativecircle.co.za.
