Assegai Awards call for judges; build for the future

The awards adjudication process is on two levels - an initial selection to filter the entries, and then a final adjudication to decide on the winners.

• Filter judging will take place from Monday 13 to Thursday 16 October 2008. Judges dealing with this selection must have a minimum of five years experience in direct marketing.
  
• Final judging will take place the following week, Monday 20 to Thursday 23 October 2008, and the judges of this section must have a minimum of 10 years experience in direct marketing

This year the Assegai Awards have a true international flavour. Finalists will also be judged by three leading figures in the international direct marketing space - Andy Owen, DM UK, Alastair Tempest, FEDMA and Pieter van den Busken, Interdirect Network (IDN). The participation of the three judges will be enabled via a remote panel facilitated through the awards website - http://www.assegaiawards.co.za

In addition, winners of the Assegai Awards 2008 will automatically be entered into the second round of the prestigious Echo Awards. Participating judges came from cities across the United States, as well as from UK, Brazil, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Scotland, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Hungary, Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. This is a valuable opportunity for South African direct marketers to be benchmarked against global standards and best practice.

If you reckon you have what it takes to be a judge, and you're an experienced direct marketer with the requisite amount of experience, and you'd like to be part of the Assegais judging panel, then send your CV and a short motivation of no more than 300 words to info@assegaiawards.co.za by no later than Fri 26 September 2008 or contact the Assegai Awards office at Teresa Settas Communications on (011) 894 2767 for more information.

You'll find more information on the Assegai Awards here

Building future talent

Fostering new talent in the direct industry is a critical focus, which is why Assegai Awards and Standard Bank, sponsor of the student category of the Assegai Awards 2008, have teamed up with the Direct Marketing Association of South Africa (DMASA) to host national student workshops as part of an initiative to foster and mentor new direct marketing talent.

The bank has for the second year committed itself to growing the number of young direct marketers entering the marketplace by sponsoring the student category of the Assegai Awards. Students will be put through their paces by two of South Africa's best known direct specialists, Michelle Perrow of Lesoba Difference, and Andrew Ambrogioni of Action Ambro's. The aim is to introduce aspiring direct marketers to the dynamics and challenges of creating a comprehensive, creative DM campaign.

“A key challenge for the direct industry is to develop a succession plan by attracting talented young people into the direct industry to learn from some of the top direct marketers in South Africa.
“New technology has had a dramatic impact on the value and processes of DM in the marketing mix and young people are supremely positioned to herald in a new era of technologically and creatively advanced response advertising,” says Brian Mdluli, CEO of the DMASA

He says that while the essence of DM hasn't changed over the years and the key factor is still to “Get the response,” the mediums used to attain this result have just got more complex. Mdluli says that this presents an opportunity for new candidates to embrace DM as the holistic advertising discipline that it's meant to be.

“Many corporates and agencies complain about the lack of talent but few have actually taken the bull by the horns and actively got involved to do something about the problem as much as Standard Bank has. There are a number of significant projects underway in partnership with the Services Seta and the DMA, and the bank's commitment to these initiatives and the fostering of new talent is a crucially needed boost for the direct industry,” he adds.

“Student teams are invited to attend a weekend workshop hosted by two of South Africa's most awarded top direct marketing professionals in the country, and are given a campaign to develop on behalf of Standard Bank and the Assegai Awards. Facilitators show the teams the ropes in putting the campaign together and completed projects are entered into the Assegai Awards.

“The winning team will receive R15 000 cash and an incredible development opportunity to learn from the best,” says Bellinda Carreira, senior manager, direct and online marketing, group marketing, Standard Bank.

Workshop details:

Dates:
Johannesburg - Sunday 21 September 2008
Cape Town - Saturday 27 September 2008
Durban - Sunday 28 September 2008

Format:
There will be teams of four students, with a maximum of 10 student groups per workshop.

Damelin has stepped on board as the venue sponsor for the three workshops.

Teams will be given one week after the workshops to complete their presentations for entry into the Assegai Awards where a team of top judges will assess and critique the entries.

Students can also enter existing campaigns developed as part of their curriculum in to the Assegai Awards - more information is available at http://www.assegaiawards.co.za

For more information on criteria to register for the Assegai Awards student workshops contact the Awards office on (011) 894 2767 or e-mail info@assegaiawards.co.za