Gorilla was named Agency of the year, and thanked its clients for allowing them to push them and be brave and produce brave work. The agency went home with four gold, seven silvers, four bronze and 10 Leader Awards. Agencies Conversation Lab and Lesoba Difference were the other big winners on the night.
Walking away with the Nkosi Award, an Award for an entry that has excelled about all others, as well as the only (two) Black Spears awarded on the evening to TBWA\HUNT\LASCARIS\DURBAN in the Most Effective Use of Content and Art Direction categories for their campaign, TOPS Novel Novel.
Alan Edgar, executive creative director, TBWA/HUNT/LASCARIS, Durban, was at the Awards and was thrilled with their raft of awards. “I’m especially happy tonight for all the people, back in Durbs, who were involved in this work; SPAR and TBWA have been partners now for 35 years, and supported by Hirt & Carter (who we regard as extended family) we are showing what tight families can produce – 'magic!'”
He believes their success is due to two reasons the first being that the Assegai Awards have a meaningful significance as they are judged on creative effectiveness, that is, work that was both creatively fresh and strategically innovative which together resulted in measurable results for our client’s brands.
“Wow – that was a mouthful! It sounds like the clichéd marketing gobbledygook everybody says... but it’s satisfying that we’ve simply delivered exactly what our clients pay us for – helping elevate their brands and moving product. Simple.”
He also says he wishes more agencies had clients like SPAR – “Because of their bravery and trust in us we're producing some of the best creative we’ve ever done. And in turn it’s delivering some of the best sales results they’ve ever seen too. I’ve just got to say thanks to them.”
The Durban-based agency also won three golds, two silvers and a bronze and two leaser Awards.
Brand of the year went to Old Mutual. Head of marketing for Old Mutual, Gugu-Lisa Zwane says they are very honoured by the Award. “Direct marketing is very important from a business-to-business perspective for us and we will continue to grow this part of our marketing.”
The Award is also a reflection of their relationship with Demographica. “This partnership is what has pushed the boundaries, forcing us out of our comfort zone to try something new.”
Davy Ivins was the Lifetime Achievement Award winner and induced into the hall of Fame. He sent a message to the Awards, saying that this Award is for everyone in the direct marketing industry. “What we do is different and we do it for people and in the process, we move mountains.”
The emphasis in the judging process was on Return on Investment (ROI) and the judges were brutal in this respect. Long-time judge, Mortimer Harvey Group chief innovation officer, Luisa Mazinter says the judges pay great attention to detail, while another seasoned judge, Elizabeth Lee Ming, head of digital marketing and communications (or CMO: Creating Meaning Online) at Momentum, reiterated the emphasis on ROI, but adds that the judging process and scoring was very fair.
As for the quality of work, while the overall feeling appeared to be that this year’s work was of a high quality, with Mazinter saying that “the standards of entries this year were as exceptional as they were last year”.
However, Lee Ming felt that the quality of the work last year was better than this year’s. “As integrated and direct marketing becomes more established, it is expected the agencies to push the boundaries more and be innovative, driving consumer behaviour.”
The consensus was that the industry is growing from strength to strength and that the Awards reflect this. “The power of direct marketing is better understood, especially in terms of measurement,” says Mazinter.
“The Awards, which recognise effectiveness and then creativity, play a valuable role in the industry especially because of the strong focus on measurable results. This is only a reflection that for agencies and clients, results are the most important,” says Lee Ming.
The Assegai Awards celebrates the best in direct marketing and the outstanding work these agencies and partners have produced over the past 12 months. The Awards took place in Rivonia in Room 5.
