He adds, “The standard of work generally was very poor and quite a few of the winners would not have scraped through in any other month. In fact, in some categories we battled to identify even three moderately good ads. Nevertheless, it is fair to say one or two of the winners are terrific and will go on to do big things, we are sure.”
Magazine (in no particular order):
Says King, “Ocean Basket demonstrated ‘Man' as the top of the ocean food chain. Sun Sure uses Hot Stuff to demonstrate sun block, whilst Toyota shows the scale of what can be carried in their Hilux in a campaign of three strong ads. This wasn't the strongest of categories with no absolute corkers, so judges were very divided.”
Newspaper (in no particular order):
Says King, “A Babushka Doll is used by Beyer Supradyn to shows there's a thin girl inside every fat one. Tuffy shows how ill advised it is to use their sandwich bags for water bombs. And Eveready demonstrates how the power in an AA battery can make your hair stand on end. Surprisingly this was a very small category. Put it this way, 25% of the entries won. Had the Eagles taken place this year this would no doubt have been a massive category this month.”
Radio (in no particular order):
Says King, “Oh my hat, Radio has hit an all time low. An appalling collection of work on average. Distell/Savanna continues with its very dry but funny spoof of Brokeback mountain. Maybe it's a Cape Town thing. Ramsay Son and Parker shows how it very seldom has a bad ad with Car magazine. And Nando's uses two very funny blokes experimenting, with each other. Good enough winners, but an easy month to win in.”
TV/cinema (in no particular order):
Says King, “People might be surprised by these winners. There were a number of well-produced, semi blockbuster ads, but the panel tended to gravitate to simplicity and a good chuckle. SABC takes a very funny approach to tackle the need to get a TV licence. Castrol, wins with a very simple promotional, animated idea promoting the Castrol Chicken run. And BMW M3 uses some beautiful production values to make it through.”
Experiential: (in no particular order):
Says King, “This is a very difficult category to judge as you inevitably find yourselves comparing promotions with elements of design, and even websites. Nevertheless, the work entered is fantastic and as hard as it is to pick winners, it's loads of fun going through the work. Kulula shows how cost efficient they are by recycling other's business cards. Addis showed how direct mailing to the trade is still alive and well with a great demonstration of their product. And Smirnoff creates a promotion that brings a Vegas Love Chapel to South Africa. A piece of design, a direct mailing and a promotion – hard to compare.”
Outdoor (in no particular order):
Says King, “There still a little confusion between Outdoor and Experiential, so we ask agencies to think carefully before entering. The Salvation Army uses a window display with live children to demonstrate the plight of human trafficking. Mini Town in Durban creates the world's smallest moving billboard, and Trees for Africa makes use of the many fake trees/cellular masts around town. This was a strong category this month.
“As previously mentioned, one or two of these might be in the running for Ad of the Year, but generally the feeling is that it was a very poor month indeed."
The judging panel for September 2007 comprised:
Anthony de Klerk, Draft FCB
Noel Cottrell, FoxP2
Alistair Morgan, Lowe Bull
Sue Stewart, TBWA\Fusion
Kyle Cockeran, BBDO
Livio Tronchin, TJDR
Anton Cronje, Saatchi & Saatchi
Conn Bertish, JWT
