Loeries standards world class, say jury chairmen

“I have great respect for the work that I saw. And what I enjoyed the most was seeing work unique to the country but executed to world standards,” said Matt Shirtcliffe, the Loeries Experiential jury chairman and a founding partner at Saatchi and Saatchi DGS New Zealand.

The 31st Annual Loerie Awards judging concluded recently at Vega Johannesburg. More than 130 of the best creatives in the industry judged more than 3000 entries received from South Africa, Africa and the Middle East.

Shirtcliffe said the judging process of the Loeries is among the best internationally with clearly defined rules, processes and categories. The Loeries Design Jury chairman and co-founder of Hat-trick Design, Jim Sutherland, said the work had exceeded his expectations.

“I have been very impressed by the professional way the Loeries and the judging process is run as well as the importance the judges attach to scrutinising and judging the entries. What has also become apparent to me is that there is great work going on elsewhere in the world.”

Shirtcliffe concurs: “The standard of animation is very good and the level of art direction and design exceptional.”

Open discussion a good innovation

Sutherland said the innovation to introduce an open discussion session between the judges was a great idea and it helped judges understand underlying nuances of local languages and South African culture. He promised to be back in South Africa next year to see more of the country.

South African, Jan Jacobs, the Loeries Advertising jury chairman, who owns New York-based agency Johannes Leonardo, said the future of the advertising in the country lay in the abundance of local flavour in the work. “It has taken the industry a long time to become comfortable being South African. Used correctly, this will be a powerful tool for SA advertising and completely set it apart from the rest of the world.”

“I was pleasantly surprised by the South African ‘voice' that's present in the work - something that wasn't very strong when I worked here. Radio is excellent and probably the best I've heard anywhere. Very smart and well executed,” said Jacobs.

TV ads are lagging

He had some criticism for television, however, which he said had slackened from the great ads by BMW, Nando's and Mercedes 10 years ago. “TV needs a bit of work and it's not a budget issue. There also tends to be a habit of over art-directing print and poster advertising which often does not make the ideas stronger, but in fact harder to understand,” Jacobs said.

He said he is happy to fly the flag, even if it means doing South African work from New York. ”Two of our prominent clients are based in Europe and we do creative here and account management over there. In the digital age it really isn't a problem.”

The Loeries chairman, Festus Masekwameng echoed the international jury chairmen comments on the high standard of entries.

“It is always encouraging to see that there are some brave clients out there with some great and bold ideas.”

He said the quality of the entries for the New Voice Award launched this year was exceptional. “The quality of the work has exceeded all our expectations. It is clear that the work that will be winning in these new categories will also hold its own in the main categories.”

The full list of finalists is now available on the Loeries website. The winners will be announced at the Loeries Festival Weekend to be held in Cape Town from 24 to 27 September 2009. With just two months to go before the Awards make sure you finalise all your travel and accommodation bookings.

Special Mango flights are available with return fares from R1389 Jo'burg or Durban to Cape Town and cars are available from Tempest Car Hire for as little as R149 per day.

Travelling Expo dates*

Vega, Cape Town 25 July - 1 August 2009
City Varsity, Johannesburg 9 - 15 August 2009
Tshwane University of Technology 22 - 29 August 2009
North West University, Potchefstroom 11 September - 4 October 2009
Stellenbosch Academy 10 - 22 October 2009
One Club, New York End November 2009

*All dates are subject to change

Sponsors

The major sponsors for the 31st Annual Loerie Awards are the SABC, Ads24, Cape Town Tourism, The City of Cape Town and Gearhouse South Africa. Additional sponsors and official suppliers are Brandhouse, Lightworks, Sappi, Vodacom Mobile Media, Cape Film Commission, Aon South Africa, Mango Airlines, Hetzner, Tempest Car Hire, MetropolitanRepublic, Hello Computer, Zero One One, Wicked Pixels, DJ Badly, Media Host, Orchestra Blue, Sonovision Studios, Gallo Images, Paygate, Ornico Group, Rocketseed, Newsclip, Lifesense Financial Services, Egg Films, Crowne Plaza Johannesburg - The Rosebank, Grand Daddy Hotel, Cape Town Partnership, Audio Militia, H-Factor, Universal Music Group, EMI Music Publishing South Africa, Ultra Litho, juju and the Core Group.

For more information, go to www.theloerieawards.co.za.