Pendoring withholds Prestige Award

The Pendoring Directors were disappointed that no Prestige Award was given, says Japie Gouws, Chairperson of the Pendoring Awards and MD of the ATKV Group, a platinum sponsor of the Pendoring Awards.

"Next year the Pendoring Awards will focus on making all the stakeholders in the advertising world aware of the worth and impact of the use of mother language in the media. Research to support this will be undertaken," he says.

King James wins for The Reader

On the Awards night, which took place at Vodaworld in Midrand on Friday, eight golds and 25 silvers were awarded. The Umpetha Award and R20,000, was won by King James for their television commercial (TVC) for Bell's Whisky, The Reader.

The Reader is a South African story of global relevance. "I think South Africa has many stories like this, stories we just take for granted as normal and every day," says King James co-founder and Group Creative Director, Alistair King.

Mike Wilson, creative director, and Devin Kennedy, Executive Creative Director, the two creative minds from King James behind the TVC, are both surprised, but thrilled by the Award.

Says Kennedy: "It was a nice win for us because it was in a category where brands with a uniquely South African flavour tend to win. Having a Scottish Whisky win was surprising, but very rewarding because it shows that we have been able to take the brand to a place where South Africans can relate to it."

Wilson says it is a good feeling to know you have written a truly South African story that has resonated with the public. "We have been telling the stories of the unsung heroes through the Bell's Whisky campaign for the past two or three years. It is nice that this particular TVC has struck a chord and received an Award to go with it."

Disappointing entries

Five categories delivered no awards. This reflected the comments of some the 18 judges (on two panels, Afrikaans and Truly South African), who were critical as well as full of praise for this year's 330 entries. Many categories, they felt, did not live up to standards or expectations. Only a handful were exceptional.

In the radio category judge Pierre Odendaal, Chief Creative Officer, McCann Johannesburg, said there was some nice innovation, while Alistair Mokoena, Managing Director at FCB, found the television entries, "well-crafted". The television categories were deemed by the judges to be innovative and one of the categories with the best work.

In stark contrast, magazines and newspapers were thought to be poor, and no awards were given in these two categories. The student categories were also found to be wanting - and called "disappointing" by the judges. Overall the work was unimpressive. Ahmed Tilly, Executive Creative Director, BlackRiver FC, said he had expected more, but only one or two pieces stood out. In keeping with this, Mike Barnswell, Executive Creative Director, FCB Cape Town, said the winning student work could have won in any of the other categories it was that good.

View the full list of winners.