More bling for the mantlepiece. |
Team Gloo |
Pete Case and Templar Wales at AdFocus |
Kelvin Jonck from Cell C, Chris Colburn, Team Gloo and Studio 4332 winning best of show at The Bookmarks |
Pete Case, Tony Koenderman, Dallas du Toit and Paula Hulley at AdReview |
Chris Colburn, Chief Experience Officer at RGA |
Team Gloo takes Best Microsite at Bookmarks |
Zanele Hadebe from FNB Connect on set with Team Gloo |
The only Digital Gold awarded on the night, went to their FNB Connect digital campaign and was followed by two silver statues. The first for a groundbreaking viral marketing project for Simba and the second for an innovative online advertising rich media campaign for MWEB's recent brand repositioning.
Zanele Hadebe, Head of Marketing at FNB Connect, comments on their win: "FNB Connect is really excited about the Assegai win. Our brief to Gloo was to come up with a fun, interactive and dynamic digital campaign that would launch FNB Connect in the digital world and seal our status as a virtual internet service provider that delivers innovative products that deliver on the FNB brand promise of how can we help you? Congratulations to the Gloo team that worked hard on making this brief a reality and helping launch FNB Connect!"
These wins follow a string of creative and strategic successes at South Africa's other awards festivals this year, The Bookmarks, The Loeries and the two national agency reviews.
The Bookmarks judging was led by two of the world's leading digital marketers; Chris Colburn from RGA in New York and Fernanda Romano from Euro RSG in London. Gloo won ‘Best in Show' for their Cell C Create Me campaign, with Chris Colburn commenting that the campaign stood out amongst the entries as a clever, engaging and customised consumer experience. With seven awards in total, Gloo took home more than double the nearest rival.
Previously this year at The Loeries, judged by a local panel of 14 leading industry marketers, a similar result saw Gloo awarded nine Loeries, including ‘Best in Show' for both the Mobile and Online Advertising categories.
Taking home the highest number of awards at all three festivals reaffirms the company's position as Digital Agency of the Year (by the national
AdReview) for the past three years in a row.
Finally last night's win at The AdFocus awards, as Overall Best Performing Digital Agency, created the perfect ending for Gloo's rollercoaster year.
http://www.adfocus.co.za/adfocus2009/stories/nadf.htmPete Case comments: "Let's face it, awards don't always mean everything. But when the work we produce for our clients wins the highest creative awards at Loeries, our team cheers proudly. When we follow that with the highest strategic and measurement awards at awards such as Assegais and Bookmarks, we know we've done well. Any client is quite rightly only interested in work that brings real returns. We've proved once again that creativity and innovation are the key to helping our clients cut through the increasing clutter in the market place, and we'll continue to follow that path."
Speaking at the recent Brainstorm conference, Case was critical yet constructive about the way digital has been approached in South Africa. Using a mixture of commentary in the press, comments from clients and also quotes from the traditional advertising industry, he demonstrated that a huge shift in attitude is needed in the approach to digital, if the South African marketing industry wants to unlock the full potential of digital marketing.
Case continues: "Any brand that wishes to make digital work for them, needs to invest seriously in digital and to find the right approach to their particular audience. Right now, there's a trend where large brands are investing highly in traditional channels, but only dipping their toes in the waters of digital. This imbalance will never reap great returns. We must remember that true success doesn't always come first time, especially in such a complex area as digital marketing, so a long-term strategic approach is the only way to get the real returns that brands require. Internationally every great digital case study is the result of long-term and integrated thinking, so why are so many brands still testing the waters with minute budgets and in many cases no long strategy at all in place? A simple shift in approach has showed a small number of local brands and traditional agencies (that choose to collaborate) that digital can reap strong returns. So let's hope that more and more people take note of this and start approaching digital seriously."
Gloo's 2009 award results:The Loeries - (creative excellence and innovation).
Gloo eclipsed the rest of the industry with nine statues, including ‘Best in Show for Mobile and Online Advertising' for:
Gold - Wicked Pixels (website) - Gloo Digital Design & Wicked Pixels Gold - Cell C Create Me (microsite) - Gloo Digital Design & Studio 4332 Craft Gold - Wicked Pixels website (digital craft) - Gloo Digital Design & Wicked Pixels Best use of online advertising - MWEB Connect and You Can - Gloo Digital Design Best use of mobile - Puma Tetralift (mobi) - Gloo Digital Design Silver - Cell C Create Me (mixed Media campaign) - Gloo Digital Design & Studio 4332 Bronze - Wicked Pixels (mixed media campaign) - Gloo Digital Design & Wicked Pixels Bronze - Ghost Pops (online advertising) - Gloo Digital Design & Net#work BBDO Bronze - Love from Gloo (digital application) - Gloo Digital DesignThe Bookmarks - (strategy, creativity and effectiveness)
Gloo led with seven statues, including ‘Best in Show for Digital Marketing' for:- Best in Show - Cell C campaign
- Silver - Wicked site - Gloo Digital Design & Wicked Pixels
- Bronze - Cell C campaign - Gloo Digital Design & Studio 4332
- Silver - Cell C site - Gloo Digital Design & Studio 4332
- Bronze - Zombie Ghost Pops banner - Gloo Digital Design & Net#work BBDO
- Bronze - Cosmo SMS - Gloo Digital Design
- Bronze - Puma mobile - Gloo Digital Design
The Assegais - (recognising measurement and business effectiveness)
Gloo took three statues including the only Digital Gold:- Gold - FNB Connect integrated digital campaign - Gloo Digital Design
- Silver - MWEB Launch - online advertising - Gloo Digital Design
- Silver - Simba - viral advertising - Gloo Digital Design & Net#work BBDO
AdFocus - (national agency review of entire business performance)
Digital was recognised for the first year ever at AdFocus and Gloo secured the 2009 title.
Ad Review - (national agency review of entire business performance)
Gloo won this prestigious award for Overall Agency of the Year, making it three years in a row (2007, 2008 and 2009).
