Jury for the 2017 APEX awards announced

For over two decades, the APEX awards have honoured highly effective communications campaigns in South Africa. As with previous years, the 2017 edition of the awards sees a heavyweight adjudication panel made up of captains of industry from various disciplines including strategy, digital, creative, research, media and marketing as well as agency heads judge the ‘work that works’.

Judges will be looking for campaigns that disrupted the clutter, had extensive reach and communicated via mediums that resonate with the desired consumer. The rigorous adjudication process spans three rounds during which submissions are judged against specific criteria including rigour, degree of difficulty, clarity of evidence, compelling case, and insight.

“APEX affirms the credibility and the value of creativity in business activity. The awards, and more specifically the results attained by the communications campaigns affirm our professions’ contribution to business success. They add and reinforce credence in the profession and affirm its contribution to the broader economy and business success,” says Odette van der Haar, CEO of the Association of Communications and Advertising (ACA) which hosts the annual APEX awards.

Apart from being an essential business tool that affixes value to credentials for agencies, marketers and leading brands, an APEX award is a definitive manifestation of great ideas meeting great results.  APEX recognises the work that worked; the campaigns that demonstrated effectiveness in creativity that extends beyond pictures to creative intellect and intellectual property that is the currency of the industry.

Concludes van der Haar: “For agencies, winning an APEX affirms their effectiveness and contribution to their clients’ businesses. For clients, winning an APEX affirms their contribution to their company’s bottom line.  Winning an APEX is therefore the ultimate testament to the vital role that effective advertising and marketing communications play in business success.”

The 2017 APEX awards jury members are:

JUDGE	DESIGNATION	COMPANY
Ana Carrapichano	Group Managing Director	Mediology
Bridget Johnson	Consulting Executive Creative Director	WICK Consulting
Daniel Naidoo	Director Interactive	Gendel Interactive
Doug Place	Chief Marketing Officer	Nando’s
Elizabeth Lee Ming	Executive Director: Strategy and Digital	TBWA
Elouise Kelly	Head of Marketing	SABC
Gareth Leck	Group CEO	Joe Public
Ivan Moroke	CEO	Co-Currency
Katlego Moutlana	Head of Strategy	Mortimer Harvey
Lwandile Qokweni	Chief Strategic Officer	MEC Global
Marlin van Noie	Creative Partner	Sugar Ray Leonard (SRL+SCC)
Mike Jones	Head of Strategy	Native VML
Natalie Otte	Head of Brand	Kantar Millward Brown
Neil Higgs	Independent Consultant	Retired ex TNS Global
Odette van der Haar	CEO	ACA
Priniven Pillay	Independent Strategist
Roxy Maqache	Group Business Insights Executive	Tiger Brands
Sbu Sitole	Creative Director	The Odd Number
Sharon Keith	Marketing Director	Coca-Cola
Thabang Ramogase	CEO	Mindshare
Thabang Skwambane	Managing Director	FCB, Johannesburg
Tshego Tshukutswane	Insight Director	Co-Currency
Veli Ngubane	Chief Creative Officer	Avatar
Virginia Hollis	Managing Director	Magnetic-Connection

The 2017 APEX awards is proudly hosted by the ACA with sponsors Kantar Millward Brown, Liberty LIfe and Unilever.

 Connect with the ACA on Facebook at ACASouthAfrica and on Twitter @ACA_SA for regular updates on #APEX2017

About the APEX awards

The annual APEX Awards is hosted by the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) which is the recognised industry body of the advertising and communications sector of South Africa. APEX recognises and celebrates communications campaigns’ performance excellence by contributing tangibly client’s business and bottom line. Winning an APEX places a real seal on a client and agency team’s achievement because it demonstrates the contribution made by the team through its collaboration and work.  Entry into the prestigious APEX Awards is exclusive to agencies that are members the ACA and their clients.

For more information about the APEX awards visit www.acasa.co.za/apex.aspx or call the ACA on (011) 781 2772/3.

The ACA is the official, representative body for the Communications and Advertising profession in South Africa, representing agencies in the profession (who at present contribute approximately 95% of South Africa’s measured ad spend) to government, media and the public. The ACA is a voluntary body formed by and for the industry, focused on and committed to self-regulation and to defending the highest standards of ethical practice.