The event, hosted by the Future Group in association with 49M, is a calendar highlight for the marketing and advertising community and the formal launch of South Africa's hardcover brand communication review, The Annual. This is the fifth year The Smartest Event is being staged, and the fourth time the Agencies' Agency Award will be presented - with previous winners including DDB SA (2009), Ogilvy Johannesburg (2010) and King James (2011).
The advertising industry has again awarded King James with the title in 2012. Much of the industry's admiration for the agency stems from the fact that the duo has been clear and consistent about their principles from the outset. They conduct business the old-fashioned way, with a clear sense of integrity in place.
Reacting to the win, King says: "It's spectacular recognition by our peers and we have to thank them for that."
Future Group director, Jeremy Maggs, who instigated the Agencies' Agency Award to provide advertising agencies with the means of rating one another across a range of criteria, congratulates King James on its second win. "This award is a fitting tribute to an agency that prides itself on its independence, behaves with a consistently strong set of values and never rests on its laurels in its ongoing quest to make great advertising," comments Maggs.
Following the presentation of the Angy Award to King James, Barty and James engaged in a panel discussion along with two of their clients to mull over sustaining an effective client/agency relationship.
A full write-up on King James can be found in the 2012/13 edition of The Annual, available from 30 November.
