Celebrating amazing creative work with the 2015 AMASA Awards

1. Share some of the AMASA Awards' history and how they build on the Roger Garlick Awards of past.

Bishop: They started in the early-2000s, and were known as the Roger Garlick Awards. Roger was an innovative media person in South Africa and the industry honoured the awards with his name in these after he died. The awards initially followed the old Loeries format of 'best use of' specific media, but were initially simply bolted on to other award ceremonies, like the AdReview and MOST Awards. We decided as a committee in October last year that it was time to launch the awards as a stand-alone as the first-ever AMASA Awards and saw huge success in doing so, with 106 entries over the previous best 56 entries. When you consider the Loeries 'media' category for the same time period saw just 75 entries, that's impressive. We hope to see entries top the 200-bar soon, and even reach 500 once the awards open up to the rest of the continent - that'll only happen when the Festival of Media launches for Africa, though.

Wayne Bishop, MD of PHD Media and AMASA's Head of Awards Portfolio; with the Roger Garlick Winner 2014 Fiona Brauns of The Media Shop and Wayne Bischoff, Chairman of AMASA.

2. Tell us about the decision to include new categories this year...

Bishop: Media awards are a big thing, seen as the epitome of media success globally. We looked to the international award shows to see what works and looked to align with their formats - there's no longer a trend of simply celebrating the winner in a TV or outdoor category, as most campaigns are integrated and tick the box for multiple media types these days.

We also looked at ways of looking beyond media type to celebrating work by client, as the FMCG market is highly competitive yet in B2B we may get just 5 entries, so why pit these against each other? Instead, integrated campaign work can now be specifically entered into Best Integrated Campaign for a specific category: FMCG; transport; other consumer goods, including durables and telco; financial, public services; travel, entertainment and leisure; retail, including e-commerce and QSR; media; B2B; and cause-related.

We've also branched out into categories of branded content, experiential/events, social media strategy, use of mobile, use of technology and online. We basically give you a category no matter your agency type, and also cater to contributions from media owners by covering sponsorship and ideas conceptualised for advertisers, as well as an Ignition Award for students. Our two new categories this year are the best pro bono campaign and best use of a small budget under R150,000. These campaigns simply can't compete with ones that have a budget of millions. This means we have something for everyone, with a focus on meaningful innovation.

3. Tell us about the quality of entries you received last year and what you're hoping to receive this year.

Bishop: Every year is getting better. Last year, people saw what it takes to win at these awards, and with 37 shortlisted from our 106 entries, that shows we had many potential winners from the outset. This year, people asked us to send them an example of what they should include in their entry and we've seen a drastic increase in the standard of entries so far. I predict that every year will get better.

4. What are you looking for from this year's entries?

Bishop: It's always about meaningful innovation. When the Cannes Festival of Creativity first started, it was a case of creatives standing around patting themselves on the back. In the last ten years or so though, things have changed. Whereas just 5% of delegates were clients a decade ago, the number increased to 25% this year. This shows us that clients are more interested in innovation that works, asking questions about results and truly achieving campaign objectives - they understand that it's about more than just creativity, it has to also deliver on and exceed results.

5. What can we expect from this year's AMASA Awards gala evening?

Bishop: Our theme this year is 'Let me entertain you'. We have an exciting MC lined up, former England cricketer Warren Dugmore, who may just wear a KISS outfit and sing the Robbie Williams song. At the end of the day it's a prestigious event attended by the cream of the crop - just 300 of them at that - with top entertainment by Hot 91.9 to round out the proceedings.

Here's hoping events of this calibre will raise the bar on producing creative work that also delivers commercial results.

The AMASA Awards' entry deadline has been extended until 14 September and tickets will soon be available to purchase for the Gala evening on 1 October. Visit the official website for more.