Ulric Charteris, CEO of Roots 255, an advertising agency based in Dar es Salaam, opened the programme. "It's a momentous occasion seeing all these industry people in one room," said Charteris. "I'm very passionate about the Loeries going into Africa."
He went on to say that this is an important time for both the continent and the Loeries in terms of creativity. "I don't think that Africa has found its true voice yet and that's my mission in life. At least, I can hopefully start a trend. We need to find a uniquely African way of advertising that people identify with and when we find it, it's going to be great."
Andrew Human, CEO of the Loeries, took to the stage and presented a collection of highlights from the Loeries Seminar of Creativity, as well as all the 2013 winners from the Africa and Middle East Category. From there he went on to explain the details of the judging process and the various categories, including a new one for 2014 called Service Design, which is focused on the interaction between a brand and its customers. Human also offered tips on entering the awards with six pivotal steps to winning such as having a great idea, keeping it simple, relevant statistics and studying the categories and quality of presentation.
He said that entrants shouldn't be trying to create work with the sole purpose of winning an award. Factors like innovation, quality of execution, relevance to the target audience, the brand and the chosen medium, are all part of the judging process and are critical for great communication. "The detail and caretaking and execution of the idea are what win awards," Human said.
Tanzania's brand communications industry has only been developed in the last decade and is now becoming a thriving sector with a myriad of potential. "We're a very young, naïve country as far as advertising is concerned, which is a challenge, but we're working towards improving it," said Charteris. This said, Tanzania is very advanced in terms of mobile, digital and broadband infrastructure and as such, the digital sector has quickly grown and is now realising its market potential. A number of young creatives, from graphic designers to the owners of digital companies attended the event in order to garner both information and inspiration from the Loeries.
"Africa is becoming a focus point for multi-national companies so there's been a huge growth in the industry," said Russell Stuart, director of Continental Outdoor Media in Tanzania. "Tanzania has a young and growing market, which makes it quite vibrant in a way, and competition is healthy and fierce."
After the programme, guests remained late into the evening, enjoying the magnificent view onto the Indian Ocean, under a starry African sky.
The Loeries Africa Roadshow's next stop is in Lagos, Nigeria tomorrow, 25 March, followed by Nairobi on 28 March and Accra on 16 April. Those interested in attending can email moc.seireol@acirfa.
The Dar es Salaam leg of the Loeries Africa Roadshow was made possible through the support of Archipelago Productions, Continental Outdoor Media and the Best Western Coral Beach Hotel.
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