Pendoring now embraces all SA languages

Pendoring was established by the major media groups in the country 11 years ago to reward and promote excellent Afrikaans advertising. The view of the organisers that advertising in mother tongue is the most effective way to communicate with a specific target group is shared by CAFE, a forum that seeks to organise, facilitate and engage in activities designed to enhance and propagate transformation and empowerment within the industry.

As is the case with Afrikaans, many role players and decision makers believe that it's sufficient to only advertise in English. The fact that many South Africans do not understand English and that an ad's message frequently gets lost, is not always considered.

Another matter shared between Afrikaans and the other indigenous languages is the fact that judges of local advertising awards do not understand the fine nuances and idiomatic expressions of a specific language. As a result advertisements in indigenous languages seldom win awards.

In the light of the present debate in education circles around the importance of mother tongue education, it's clear that the different language groups realise that one should be aware of the link between comprehension and language.

"Millions of rands are annually being spent on advertising and it makes for sound business sense to make sure that the ads are understood by the people they are targeted at," is the view of CAFE Board members, Kaibe Mollo and Nonjabulo Hlengwa.

Initially there will only be one category for indigenous languages, the Homegrown Category, for which ads done for the following media can be entered, namely: TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and outdoor. Students will also be allowed to participate and will be judged on equal standard with entries from the industry.

Depending on the reaction from the advertising industry, more categories may result in future. As is the case in Pendoring's other categories, the winner will receive R6000, a Pendoring trophy and a Vodafone Live cell phone.

Although the official closing date for Pendoring is 30 June 2005, entries will be accepted until Friday, 8 July 2005.

Judging will take place from 22 - 24 July and the winners will be announced at Pendoring's gala event on 2 September 2005 at VodaWorld.

More information and entry forms is be available on Pendoring's website, www.pendoring.co.za.

Founder members of Pendoring: ATKV, Caxton, De Kat, Copywriters' Forum, kykNET, Media24 (Newspapers and Magazines), Rapport and RSG. Main sponsors: ABSA and Vodacom. Senior sponsors: Lithotech, Lufthansa, Oracle Airtime Sales. Other sponsors: Ads24, Beeld, British Airways, FNB, Klipdrift, Newsclip, M-Web, Sanlam, Sappi.