FM AdFocus Awards announce 2022 jury, extend deadline

Image supplied. 2022 AdFocus chair Faheem Chaudhry (right) with 2020/21 AdFocus jury chair, Tumi Rabanye (centre) and Rob Rose, FM editor (left)

“Due to the volume of demand of this year’s entries, the decision was made to extend the deadline to give all applicants the time they need to ensure they get their entries in,” says 2022 Jury chair, Faheem Chaudhry.

The 2022 jury

As is tradition with the awards, several new jurors join second-term jury members as they determine this year’s winners.

The new jury members include:

• Zanele Zwane, managing director of Duke
  
• Firdous Osman, managing director of Saatchi & Saatchi
  
• Nimay Parekh, chief digital officer, King James
  
• Merissa Himraj, chief executive officer, Wavemaker
  
• Wandile Collins, founder and chief strategic officer, Black Swan
  
• Sharon Keith, marketing director, Heineken
  
• Ana Carrapichano, founder and owner, Mediology (served on the AdFocus media jury in 2021)

They join second-term jury members:

• Faheem Chaudhry, managing director, M&C Saatchi Abel Jhb (AdFocus jury chair 2022)
  
• Gillian Rightford, founder, AdTherapy<
  li>Lebo Madiba, founder, Powerhouse PR
  
• Luca Gallarelli, group chief executive officer, TBWA
  
• Warren Moss, founder and chief executive officer, Demographica

Chaudhry says this year’s jury is made up of an exceptional group of industry leaders from across a variety of companies.

“On the jury, we have agency chief executives across through-the-line, media and public relations agencies as well as industry consultants and clients, all of whom have a wealth of experience both locally and internationally.

“This jury brings true diversity of thought to the judging room and I’m looking forward to the robust debates that will in the end decide the agencies most worthy of being named agency of the year,” he says.

Media part of the main jury

The AdFocus judging process will be slightly different this year. In previous years, a separate media jury adjudicated the media agency entries. This year the media categories will be adjudicated by the main jury.

Chaudhry explains, “Media agencies form a critical part of our industry’s landscape. We wanted to bring the debate and discussion around the media industry into the main jury for two main reasons. The first is so that the media industry is represented on the main jury and benefits from all the core discussions that will take place across all categories. Second is to ensure that the media award is judged by a cross-functional set of jurors who interact with media agencies and experience media agencies from different angles.”

PoPIA update

All information submitted by agencies is protected by the Protection of Personal Information Act (PoPIA) and entry requirements have been amended to reflect this

.For further information on award categories, entry criteria and to enter the 2022 AdFocus Awards please register on the AdFocus website.