Ogilvy SA wins big at Apex Awards

Ogilvy South Africa emerged triumphant at the Apex Awards on Thursday, 11 July, taking home a total of six awards at the event, hosted at The Venue at The Houghton.

Ogilvy was the only recipient of two Gold Apex awards at the ceremony.

Ogilvy and Kimberly-Clark won a Gold Apex and a Grand Prix award for the “Making them move to Huggies” campaign. The second Gold Apex went to Ogilvy and KFC for the “Make a Meal of It” campaign.

“We needed to change consumer behaviour and the Huggies® Baby Marathon allowed us to do exactly that,” said Morné van Emmenes, Marketing Manager for Kimberly Clark Baby and Childcare. “Through entertainment and humour, we were able to connect with consumers. We got them to engage as well as deliver the essential product messages.”

“Apart from all the amazing awards that we won, we also saw a 27% volume increase, which completely exceeded our expectations. Needless to say, a high level of trust sits at the core of our relationship with the Ogilvy team. Their behaviour and decision-making is not that of agency partners, but rather of fellow custodians of the Huggies® brand. It’s a double whammy, a Grand Prix at the Loeries celebrating creativity and a Grand Prix celebrating effectiveness at the Apex Awards,” Morne continued.

“At a time when the economy is forcing us all to work extra hard to grow our clients’ businesses – it’s exceptionally rewarding for our teams to know that our work has created the highest levels of impact for these brands,” said Ogilvy Chief Creative Officer Pete Case. “The Apex Awards has a tough judging standard, so this year’s two Golds and a Grand Prix are something we are extra proud of.”

“These accolades are an affirmation of Ogilvy’s commitment to creating ‘work that works’, and to making brands matter,” said Ogilvy South Africa CEO Alistair Mokoena. “Ogilvy’s partnerships with our clients span decades. They’ve been built on trust – the freedom to present big ideas and to adopt exciting new modern marketing principles in addressing client needs.”

The Apex Awards are presented by the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA), which announced on the evening that the event will change its name from 2020. Next year will see the first African edition of the Effie Awards – Effies South Africa.

The Effies are recognised globally as amongst the advertising industry’s most prestigious awards, and celebrate the contribution of marketing in building successful brands.