Recognising Remarkable Results: Introducing the 2023 Effie Awards Jury

The Jury for the 2023 Effie Awards has been announced by The Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) and Effie South Africa. The Effie Jury has the crucial responsibility of upholding the integrity of the industry’s ability to deliver against business objectives while ensuring that the judging process adheres to the highest industry standards. The winners of the 2023 programme will be announced at a gala awards ceremony to be held in Johannesburg on September 15^th, 2023.

 The jury members, entrusted with Awarding Ideas that Work®, have been carefully selected based on their knowledge and experience within the marketing, communications, and advertising sectors. The 2023 panel consists of esteemed industry leaders and trendsetters drawn from various disciplines on both the client and agency sides, including the C-Suite, senior management, strategy, digital, creative, research, and media.

To provide an even better experience for agencies and marketers submitting entries, the Effie SA committee, following a request for approval to Effie Worldwide, has implemented key changes in the judging process for the 2023 Effie Awards South Africa.

• There has been a reduction in the number of overall judges selected this year, but an increase in average seniority of the judging pool.
• Second-round judges will be drawn from the first round panel, ensuring increased consistency in the adjudication process.
• Second-round judges will be exclusively selected from participating judges representing ACA member agencies, along with leading marketers.
• Another critical change is the extension of time allowed for reading cases prior to  formal judging, now extended to seven days, ensuring a more thorough review and well-informed judging process.

“We are absolutely thrilled with the calibre of judges for this year’s Effie Awards. As a collective, they represent a truly diverse and representative selection of the entire sector, consisting of top-level, experienced professionals from both the client and agency sides. The individuals entrusted with awarding cases represent a variety of advertising and marketing disciplines, which are key to an effective and equitable process,” says Mathe Okaba, CEO of the ACA.

The first-round judges will review, discuss, and score submissions on July 19^th, after which the panel will finalise the “shortlist” that will proceed to the second round.

During the second round on August 8^th, all shortlisted campaigns that have proven to be effective and have achieved marketing objectives will be evaluated by the second selected panel of judges. This round will involve scoring and identifying campaigns that will be awarded finalist status and deemed deserving of a highly respected Effie Award.

The top honour, the Grand Effie, will be judged by a third jury, once again drawn from the existing jurors, together with extra participants. The Grand Effie judging panel consists of C-Suite representatives who are tasked with awarding the most effective campaign of the year. Grand Effie winners are not guaranteed; however, campaigns worthy of such an award will only be considered among the Gold Effie winners selected in round two. The Grand Effie judging will take place on August 30^th, 2023.

“We look forward to the panel once again confirming and highlighting the value our industry delivers to the marketing and communications sector. We are thrilled to announce that we have made tweaks to the programme, particularly with respect to improving the judging process and look forward with great pleasure to announcing the most effective work of the year on September 15th at the Gala event,” comments Okaba.

Joe Public Co-MD and Jury Co-Chair, Mpume Ngobese, adds: ” We are privileged to have a jury comprised of such esteemed professionals entrusted with selecting the work that truly delivers results. The varied panels employed by the Effie program ensure that winning cases will have been subjected to extensive rigor throughout the adjudication process. I look forward to highly engaging and valuable discussion and debate during the various rounds of judging.”

Effie Awards South Africa 2023 Round 1 Jury

 

JUDGE	DESIGNATION	AGENCY / COMPANY NAME
Angie Hattingh	Strategic Planning Director	Superunion Africa
Astrid Staegemann	Media Director – South Africa	iProspect
Atiyya Karodia	Strategy Director	VMLY&R
Babalwa Nyembezi	Strategy Partner	Dentsu
Brunella Boamgard	Lead: Brand Integration/Execution	Absa
Buli Ndlovu	Executive Head: RBB Marketing	Nedbank
Candice Goodman	Managing Director	Mobitainment
Carel Scheepers	Head of Strategy	Havas Worldwide
Carl Willoughby	Chief Creative Officer	TBWA Hunt Lascaris
Carlo Murison	Group CEO / Group CCO	Two Tone Global
Charles Erasmus	Head of Strategy & Design Thinking	Sunshinegun
Danny de Nobrega	Managing Director	Kilmer & Cruise
Fran Luckin	Chief Creative Officer	Grey Advertising
Gillian Rightford	Managing Director	Adtherapy
Jabulani Sigege	Executive Creative Director	Machine
Jacques Du Bruyn	Managing Director	Flume
Johanna McDowell	Founder and Chief Executive Officer	IAS
Justine Drake	Executive Content Director	John Brown Media
Laurent Marty	Chief Strategy Officer	Joe Public
Makosha Maja-Rasethaba	Chief Diversity Officer & Head of Strategy (JHB)	M&C Saatchi Abel
Mogorosi  Mashilo	Founder & Director	TrendER
Moliehi Molekoa	Managing Director	Magna Carta Reputation Management Consultants
Mosala Phillips	Chief Marketing Officer	Old Mutual
Neo Makhele	Chief Strategy Officer	Ogivly South Africa
Ponatshego Makhuza	Shopper Marketing Lead	Unilever
Refilwe Maluleke	TBWASA CSO and Yellowwood MD	TBWASA and Yellowwood Future Architects
Sarah Dexter	Chief Executive Officer	MullenLowe South Africa
Thibedi Meso	Chief Creative Officer	House of Brave
Thomas Lawrence	Marketing Manager	SAB
Tseliso Rangaka	Chief Creative Officer	Draft FCB
Tshiamo Tladi	Strategy Director: Retail – Song (Africa	Accenture
Vikash Gajjar	Strategy Director	Razor PR, an M&C Saatchi Group company
Warren Moss	Chief Executive Officer	Demographica
Yasmin Kathoria	Brand Growth Director	Kantar Consulting
Zayd Abrahams	Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer	Tiger Brands
Zetu Damane	Chief Strategic Officer	McCann1886

“It’s an honour to be co-chair of the 2023 Effie SA jury with Mpume and I’m truly excited about seeing and being part of the adjudication process, as we seek to recognise the most effective work our industry has to offer. We’ve taken extra care to see how we can improve the entire process this year and we’re confident that these changes will further improve this amazing platform. I’m committed to work with our jury, to find and recognise our industry’s strongest ideas that prove their business impact,” adds Pete Case, Creative Chairman of Ogilvy SA and Jury Co-Chair.

Tickets for the 2023 Effie Awards, taking place on September 15^th are available for purchase exclusively online via the dedicated ticketing portal by clicking here.

The Effie Awards South Africa is hosted by the ACA and sponsored by Nedbank, Investec and GIB, recognise marketing communication that is not only creative but, most importantly, effective.

The awards are in proud partnership with the Nedbank IMC Conference, Africa’s foremost integrated marketing conference. Attendees will gain valuable insights at the Nedbank IMC conference taking place during the say, and then witness how these insights are applied to achieve remarkable results at the Effie Awards Gala in the evening.

 Join the conversation using the hashtags #EffieAwardsSA, #MarketingUpClose, and #NedbankIMC2023. For more information on the 2023 Effie Awards, visit www.effieawards.co.za.