Entry deadline for inaugural Marketing Achievement Awards extended

The entry deadline for the inaugural Marketing Achievement Awards, which celebrate excellence in the science and art of marketing, has been extended to from 22 February to 28 February 2019.

“We have been inundated with requests for an extension from various busy marketers – we recognise that sometimes, we just need to be flexible, and so we were happy to grant this extension,” says Anne Kirkpatrick, Director of the Marketing Achievement Awards.

Industry awards play an important role in celebrating excellence and upholding high standards for agencies in the advertising and marketing fraternity. There has, however, been a gap in South Africa in terms of dedicated awards for marketers and brand owners – until now.

The awards recognise and reward innovative marketers whose work demonstrates excellence in marketing strategy, creating and delivering value that satisfies the needs of their customers driving brand sustainability, while simultaneously raising the profile of marketing in South Africa.

It’s time that marketers are recognised for the important role they play in leading organisations and not merely for the role marketing plays in communications.

With this in mind and in the spirit of future-proofing marketing – by creating a benchmark to maintain high standards in the industry – a council of esteemed marketing professionals collaborated to launch the Marketing Achievement Awards this year.

“The Marketing Achievement Awards are about encouraging innovation and creativity within the strategic environment of marketing,” says Yvonne Johnston, owner of Fast Forward Coaching and chair of the Marketing Achievement Awards council.

The Marketing Achievement Awards are being held from 2 to 4 April 2019 at Sun City. There will be an industry golf day, a networking welcome cocktail event, hosted by Nando’s on 2 April and a business forum and summit on 3 April, with the awards ceremony and gala dinner being held in the Superbowl on the evening of the 3rd.

“For the first time our industry is looking at marketing capability as a framework – basically all the skills and competencies required to be a world-class marketer,” says Alistair Mokoena, CEO of Ogilvy South Africa and Marketing Achievement Awards council member.

The categories

The awards are open to all brands, irrespective of size and budget, in the following categories:

Purpose-led Marketing
Strategic Sponsorship Marketing
Brand Positioning
Marketing Innovation
New Product or Brand launch
Reputation Management (Corporate and Brand)
South African Resonance Marketing
Excellence in Brand Marketing B2B
Integrated Marketing
Limited Budget, Unlimited Idea
Internal Marketing
Rising Star of the Year (nominated)
Marketer of the Year (nominated)

“We would like to encourage as many brands and the marketers behind their successes to enter – it is time to shine and showcase the amazing work that you do,” says Kirkpatrick. “In particular, I am looking forward to seeing entries come through in the Brand Positioning and Internal Marketing categories. But go through each category to find which suits your brand and campaign best.”

Says Geoff Whyte, Nando’s CEO and member of the awards council: “These awards focus on the insight and marketing thought that leads to the great campaigns that everyone sees.”

Endorsed by the Marketing Association of South Africa (MASA) the Marketing Achievement Awards are the new benchmark for marketing excellence in South Africa.

“At last we have awards by marketers, for marketers, celebrating marketers, assessed by marketers, and it’s about time,” says Heidi Brauer, CMO of Hollard Insurance and an awards council member.

The judges

The awards council members, who will be judging the entries, are all seasoned marketers and successful business people who aim to raise the bar for marketers through the Marketing Achievement Awards.

The judges are:

Alistair Mokoena – CEO of Ogilvy South Africa
Aisha Mohamed – marketing director of Sony Music Entertainment SA
Anne Kirkpatrick – director of the Marketing Achievement Awards
Colleen Larson – CEO of Business Engage
David Wingfield – head of marketing of Barclays Africa Group: Absa, Barclays
Doug Place – CMO of Nando’s
Fahmeeda Cassim-Surtee – CEO of DStv Media Sales
Geoff Whyte – CEO of Nando’s
Happy Makhumalo Ngidi – CMO of Proudly SA
Heidi Brauer – CMO of Hollard Insurance
Ivan Moroke – CEO of Kantar TNS
Jeremy Sampson – director at Brand Finance
Justin Spratt – head of business Africa & Middle East at Uber
Kheepe Moremi – director of Value Creation Capital
Leigh-Anne Acquisto – MD of Liquorish Ink Communications
Mpho Maseko – business manager: rest of Africa and corporate relations at Absa
Mike Middleton – marketing consultant and futurist
Nicola Kleyn – dean of Gordon Institute of Business Science
Nyimpini Mabunda – chief officer: Consumer Business Unit at Vodacom
Risuna Mayimele – director at Rurban Concepts
Rob Collins – group chief strategy and operations officer of Sun International
Rob Fleming – CMO of Blue Label Telecoms
Simon Camerer – chief customer officer of Multichoice
Sithembile Ntombela – general manager: marketing at Brand South Africa
Yvonne Johnston – owner of Fast Forward Coaching and chair of the Marketing Achievement Awards council

How to enter

Entries are easy to prepare and for most categories should be 1 000 words or less. Submissions should be concise and demonstrate how customer needs have been identified and used to focus, align and empower organisations and meet business objectives.

The judges are looking for a clear understanding of strategic intent. Additional collateral to back this up is also required. Entries are strictly confidential.

Marketers can enter more than one category. Follow this link to enter: https://www.marketingawards.co.za/

The Marketing Achievement Awards, endorsed by the Marketing Association of South Africa (MASA), already has a number of key partners including: