2008 AdFocus winners

The winners

FoxP2 was crowned Advertising Agency of the Year, the three-year-old agency's reward for a stellar 2007/8 period during which it cut a swathe through the Loeries, gained recognition at Cannes, One Show and the Clios, and established itself firmly as one of South Africa's most exciting young agencies.

During the AdFocus review period, the agency picked up R108 media in new business, winning all five pitches it entered. What makes FoxP2's success all the more astonishing, said AdFocus judging convenor Yvonne Johnston, is that it employs fewer than 20 people.

The AdFocus Media Agency of the Year was Mediaedge:cia. Though he has since left the agency, the award was accepted by Mike Nussey, who was MD during the review period.

For the second successive year, Grid Worldwide Branding and Design was chosen as the Branding and Design Agency of the Year.

New award

A new AdFocus award, for effective advertising, was won by Ogilvy Johannesburg. This award recognises advertising campaigns that achieve holistic success: they must be not only creatively excellent but also benefit the client's brand and bottom line. Ogilvy, which topped the table this year at both Loeries and Apex, won the AdFocus award for its campaign on behalf of Audi.

There were three individual awards:

• Festus Masekwameng, creative director at McCann-Erickson and chairman of the Loeries, was named the AdFocus New Broom, which recognises up-and-coming young talent in the advertising industry.
  
• KingJames co-founder Alistair King was named Agency Leader of the Year. This award recognises industry leaders who have not only made a difference within their own agency but also had a profound impact in terms of industry leadership.
  
• The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Keith Rose, recognised internationally as one of the world's most influential TV commercials director. Rose and his Cape Town company, Velocity Films, are the first port of call for many of SA's advertising agencies. He is responsible for many of the industry's iconic ads, such as the BMW mouse, the Mercedes-Benz Chapmans Peak ad, and the more recent multi-award-winning Allan Gray ad.

The awards were presented by FM editor Barney Mthombothi at a banquet at Montecasino, in Johannesburg.

For more, go to www.adfocus.co.za/adfocus2008/.