Marketing Achievement Awards finalists announced

The finalists for the inaugural Marketing Achievement Awards (MAA) have been revealed and the winners will be announced at a prestigious gala dinner on 27 June 2019 at the Sun City Superbowl.

The awards – to be held annually to set a new benchmark for the industry – celebrate the best of the best in South African marketing and aims to future-proof the sector and raise the bar for local marketers.

A panel of judges, who are all seasoned and highly respected marketing professionals, carefully considered the self-nominated entries based on well-considered criteria, and the following brands were shortlisted for specific campaigns and categories.

Brand	Agency
AB InBev for Castle Lager #SmashTheLabel	Ogilvy SA
AB InBev for Carling Black Label #NoExcuses Soccer Song For Change	Ogilvy SA
Agrinet for Beyond Agriculture
Anglo American for Makarapa City	Ogilvy SA
Audi for Audi Proteas	Levergy
Aurecon for Aurecon Visual Contracts
AVBOB for The AVBOB Poetry Project	BRAND et al
Cadbury for Remarkable Regift	Ogilvy SA
Edcon for JET #JETLOVEYOURSELF	Joe Public
Edcon for JET Manny	Joe Public
FNB for It Takes a Bank that Does More to Help your Family	BrandTruth
FNB for Springboks from Grassroots to Greatness	BrandTruth
Innovative Solutions Group for Innovative Staffing Solutions	PR Worx
Investec for The Art of Investec	Ogilvy SA
Kimberly-Clark South Africa for Huggies – The World’s Most Innovative Product Demo	Ogilvy SA
MARS for Royco – Let’s Eat with Siphokazi	MediaCom
MINI for Creative Club	John Brown
Nando’s for #rightmyname	M&C Saatchi Abel
Nando’s for PERi-Farms	Sunshinegun
Nando’s for 30th Birthday Bash	Sunshinegun
Nando’s for Grillers’ Challenge	Sunshinegun
New Balance for New Balance Proteas	Levergy
P&G for Ariel, making the impossible, possible.	MediaCom
P&G for Gillette Venus #MovesLikeNoOther	MediaCom
Pernod Ricard for Sun Met presented by G.H. Mumm	Playmakers
Pick n Pay for Fresh Content	John Brown
Pick n Pay for Glass Act Series	John Brown
Road Accident Fund #AlwaysRemember	Flow Communications
Sasol for #Limitless	Levergy
Suzuki Motor Corporation for Suzuki Inbound	Penquin
The Merck Group for Merck Consumer Health Neorobion	Ogilvy SA
Toyota for Toyota Rush – Live That Rush Life	FCB Johannesburg
Volkswagen SA for The People’s Car	Ogilvy SA
Yoco for Yoco: For the Sales

The finalists for the Marketer of the Year category, in which marketers are to be nominated by their industry peers, are yet to be announced.

“We were very impressed with the calibre of entries and the judges had a tough job selecting these finalists,” says MAA council chairperson Yvonne Johnston. “Selecting the winners will prove even more challenging as we are determined to follow a rigorous and methodologically robust adjudication process to ensure that we showcase South Africa’s finest talent.

“We have in our midst world-class marketers and campaigns that are competitive in terms of innovation and effectiveness on a global level. It is time that we start celebrating the brilliant minds behind these campaigns.”

She adds that strategy lies at the core of successful marketing. “The planning that comes before the creative process is an art and a science – getting this right is essential for a campaign to achieve business results.

“These awards are by marketers and for marketers, but we recognise that executing a winning campaign involves a collaborative process with the right partners. The awards event is, therefore, open to the wider marketing industry and agencies.”

The celebrations will kick off at Sun City with a networking welcome cocktail party on the evening of 26 June, followed by the Marketing Achievement Summit on 27 June before the much-awaited ceremony in the evening.

The Marketing Achievement Summit, with the theme “Future-proofing marketing” will explore marketing strategy, key issues and imperatives.

Some of the questions being asked at the summit include:

Is the strategic importance and contribution of marketing to business performance eroding over time?
What are the “new rules of engagement” for future marketing and communications
How do you build a brand across Africa’s diverse countries?
Are South African companies innovating, or are they going to be disrupted?
Can marketing reshape our nation’s destiny?

Don’t miss the opportunity to join the conversation and make history at the country’s premier networking event for marketers, where you and your team will rub shoulders with some of the country’s leading industry professionals. Click here to reserve your spot and to download the programme.

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