Pendoring opens for entries

Says Lucille van Niekerk, chairman of the Pendoring working committee, “We want to take Pendoring to a new level this year and have smoothed the rough edges of the categories to bring it more into line with other advertising competitions. There are five main categories this year, namely advertising (above the line), communication design, experiential marketing, students, and general.

“Entries opened on 15 May 2007 and the most important information is available on the Pendoring website (www.pendoring.co.za). The closing date for entries is 15 July.”

Enter online

According to Van Niekerk, advertising professionals will be able to enter online this year. “This is a first for Pendoring and this electronic backbone will make the whole entry process quick and trouble-free. Big prizes are once more at stake, including cash prizes and a study bursary for the student winner.”

Greater co-operation with advertising representatives of other languages is of the utmost importance to Pendoring and therefore the project also caters for indigenous languages by means of a special category, called Tuisgebak/Homegrown.

“Even more: the role of the Afrikaans consumer or the public is just as indispensable in the advertising value chain. That is why the public also gets the opportunity this year to make their voices heard by voting for the favourite advertisement in the People's Choice Award. A member of the public stands to win a cash prize and will be able to attend the gala Pendoring event on 7 September at Vodaworld in Midrand,” says Van Niekerk.

Saatchi at the helm

Saatchi & Saatchi in Cape Town is at the helm of Pendoring's own advertising campaign that promises to touch each and everyone for whom Afrikaans is a matter of the heart. According to Leon Jacobs, creative spirit of Saatchi & Saatchi, the punch line of this year's Pendoring campaign is “Praat Afrikaans. Praat met die mense (Speak Afrikaans. Talk to the people.)”

According to Jacobs, the powerful dollar has driven most full-time Afrikaans writers from the advertising agencies. “This has had an enormous impact on the quality of Afrikaans as advertising language. Those people that are currently working as freelance creators have less opportunity to really create good work and to spend time on original work.

“The campaign is trying to create awareness among more agencies of the value of Afrikaans advertising. Pendoring is the most important motivation for Afrikaans advertising practitioners to create world-class work, while South Africa can boast with some of the best creative people in the world.”

Heroes of the profession

“We provide a peep into the heroes of the profession, among others through a unique website www.afrikaansehelde.com. On the one hand we pay tribute to many frontier-movers and on the other hand convey the message that advertising professionals can become heroes by firstly creating in Afrikaans, and secondly, by entering for Pendoring,” says Jacobs.

According to Jacobs, Afrikaans is such an expressive language that it is easy to convey strong ideas in a simple way. “Companies can unashamedly advertise in Afrikaans and advertising professionals can with confidence create in Afrikaans, because in the end the consumer buys in the language of his heart.”

Penwortel sponsors are ATKV, First National Bank, Media24, Rapport, Sanlam, Toyota and Vodacom. Founding partners are ATKV, Caxton, Copywriters' Forum, De Kat, kykNET, Media24, RSG and Rapport. Other partners: 24.com, Caxton, De Kat, Die Burger, Interactive Market Systems, Intiem, Klipdrift, kulula.com, kykNET, Newsclip and Swartland Wines.