Youth Influencer Awards select 2016's winners

The Gamechanger - Pap Culture

The awards highlight recognised youth influencers under 25, with the focus on remarkable youth who are creating their own success through influencer marketing, without the support of fame.

According to Marc Kornberger, director and co-founder at Student Village, “Heading into the awards, we found that celebrities have been brands go-to source for achieving scale and reach in their influencer outreach, however this has not opened the floor for influencer marketing to develop in South Africa, as it has been able to in other countries.

“Student Village wants these awards to provide a platform for authentic young influencers to be recognised and give brands a better view of what influencer marketing really is and has the potential to become.”

Winners

• Best Male Lifestyle Influencer – Trevor Stuurman
• Best Female Lifestyle Influencer – Tsepang Modisane
• Best Social Media Influencer – Tshepi Vundla
• Best Campus Brand Ambassador – Isaac Mnguni
• Most Influential Visual Artist – Themba Mbuyisa
• Most Influential Vlogger – Moshe Ndiki
• The Socialite – Tshepi Vundla
• The Game Changer – Pap Culture
• Best Brand Influencer Marketing – Adidas

Judges
To single out South Africa’s top youth influencers in their respective categories, the judging panel consisting of Musa Kalenga (client partner Facebook Africa), Thithi Nteta (influencer; author of Teeteeiswithme.com) and Asanda Sizani (fashion editor and style curator) reviewed various social authority criteria of each nominee. This included measures such as reach, relevance, resonance and social impact. Kornberger further explained these particular measures' importance during an influencer marketing insights presentation delivered at the awards.

Since influencer marketing is already changing the way brands market to the masses, Student Village also put brands in the spotlight with a Best Brand Influencer Marketing category, which was won by Adidas, with other nominees in the category including Sunglasshut, Superbalist, Levis and Standard Bank.

“The influencers and brands nominated have set the bar for winners to come and we look forward to see how the influencer game evolves until we host our next Youth Influencer Awards,” concludes Kornberger.