Saatchi & Saatchi SA stick their heads above the rest at the Giraffes

It's been a big year for Saatchi, with lots of change taking place. They have a hungry new team on board, amazing people, formidable specialist skills and a common purpose. They're also winning new clients and projects every month, which is why it's not surprising the agency was awarded numerous times in Publicis Group's recent Giraffes Awards.

Publicis Africa Group celebrates campaign excellence with Giraffes

Jonathan Beggs, Chief Creative Officer of Saatchi & Saatchi BrandsRock talked me through the Giraffes entry process. These awards aren't open to just any agency - entry is free, but only agencies in the Publicis Africa Group are eligible. That doesn't mean there was a limited selection of work to choose from though, as this year saw over 200 entries from about 30 countries.

The awards are run on a monthly basis, with work uploaded and judged remotely by creative directors in South Africa, Ghana and Mauritius. The annual awards invited agencies to enter any work run in the previous year, and judging was done in person in Cape Town. Categories ran the full spectrum, from TV and print to outdoor, radio, digital, social, activation and integrated - there really was something for everyone.

That said, Beggs feels their two gold awards in digital and integrated for their "Project Trapped" campaign for client Pharma Dynamics were the most to be proud of, as it showcases the strengths of the integrated agency, stretching from content production to responsive analytics and online optimisation. The campaign also won three silvers at the Loerie Awards, so Beggs says it was wonderful to see it coming through at the Giraffes too, in two of the most important categories.

Nurture and inspire African teams to aim high... and they will

But it's not just about his own agency's work. Beggs judged the awards too, so he was able to give more high-level commentary. He says the Giraffes are there to nurture and inspire African teams to aim high. He says the best work from the awards came from South Africa and Mauritius, but there was also a lot of great, fresh work from across the continent. While the best work at the Giraffes is world-class, South African agencies often have bigger budgets to play with, and are familiar with the process of creating compelling case studies to package campaigns for awards. But it doesn't end there, as they're expecting many more entries from our partner agencies in Africa, especially as Publicis Group continues to grow, and the Giraffe Awards continue to gain momentum.

While Saatchi & Saatchi SA won in a variety of categories, the areas it was truly outstanding in were activation, digital, social, search and design. Beggs attributes Saatchi's stand-out work to great ideas and craft, as well as the seamless convergence of online and offline elements.

And there's more to come, with Saatchi's 2015 aim to do great work for key clients, and connecting the dots between its different specialisations to produce smart, effective integrated campaigns. Overall it seems Saatchi & Saatchi South Africa is definitely on an exciting journey that it expects to accelerate in 2015. Click here for more on Saatchi & Saatchi BrandsRock.

View "Project Trapped" below: