Two new awards for 2009 Loeries

All hopeful entrants will be able to get full criteria, eligibility and any additional information after entries open on the 16 March.

The Loeries are recognised as awarding only the best in creative excellence across every area of brand communication including television (TV), radio and print advertising, communication design, architecture and interior design, direct marketing, promotions, public relations (PR), non-broadcast video, live events and digital media. In 2008, the Loeries celebrated its 30th anniversary by receiving over 3400 entries - a 17% growth from the 2007 total.

Recognise broad scope

This year the Loeries will continue to recognise a broad scope of creative excellence by the introduction of these two new awards.

In order to promote the production of non-English radio advertising, The Loerie Awards, in partnership with the SABC, is introducing a new radio category. Unlike other categories, entries can be pro-active and do not need to have flighted and the winning entries will receive SABC radio airtime, as well as all-expenses paid samplings of the most indulgent and inspiring treasures of the Mother City.

The second new award is the Creative Use of Paper Award, in partnership with Sappi. All paper-based entries are automatically eligible for this prize. The winning entry will receive a special prize for the creative team, as well as Sappi paper for the winning agency.

Entry fees as per 2008, early bird discount

More good news from the Loeries is that the entry fees have been held at last year's prices. The entry deadline is 15 May and entries submitted before 15 April will qualify for a 5% early bird discount.

Only work that is aired, launched or published for the first time between 1 June 2008 and 31 May 2009 is eligible for entry.

Winning a Loerie is one of the highest honours marketers and the industry can receive. Only 23 Gold Loeries were handed out last year, which shows just how elusive the rare Loerie bird is. Of these a mere four were Grands Prix, which were awarded across a range of categories, from architecture and interior design, to illustration craft, to digital, and to television.

Winning work showcased

All winning work is showcased across the region and internationally in The Loerie Awards Travelling Exhibition and is featured in the Loeries Annual, where the work is indexed by brand, agency and production company, as well as by individual credits.

The major sponsors for the 2009 Loerie Awards are the SABC, Ads24, Cape Town Tourism and The City of Cape Town. Additional sponsors and partners are Brandhouse, Lithotech, Lightworks, Sappi, Hetzner, MetropolitanRepublic, Hello Computer, Zero One One, Wicked Pixels, DJ Badly, Orchestra Blue, Sonovision Studios, Gallo Images, Paygate, Ornico Group, Rocketseed, Newsclip, Lifesense Financial Services, Velocity Films, Rosebank Hotel and Grand Daddy Hotel.