2006 Loerie finalists released

Commenting on the judging, The Loerie Awards managing director, Andrew Human, says it had been an arduous week with judges often putting in 14-hour shifts to evaluate the over 3000 entries received.

"Judging any competition is always tough, and this year's The Loerie Awards was no different," he states. "I'd like to thank all the judges for their time, expertise and professionalism, especially the international judges - FCB Worldwide's creative director, Jonathan Harries, who presided over the Advertising Category; Proximity London's executive creative director, Duncan Gray, who oversaw the Experiential Category and Emmy van Gool, creative director, QuA Associates in the Netherlands, who took responsibility for the Design Category."

Over 1000 finalists

All-in-all, there are over 1000 finalists in the country's premier advertising, design and communication awards. This figure excludes finalists in the Student Category.

Of the finalists, 626 are in the Advertising Category, 177 in the Design Category, 197 in the Experiential Category and 9 in the Integrated Campaign Category. These figures include craft finalists in all categories but not student finalists. (The sub-category finalists are mentioned below.)

The full list of agencies with over 15 finalists (alphabetically as per entry information) is:

• BBDO Cape Town
  
• Black River F.C.
  
• FCB Cape Town
  
• FCB Johannesburg
  
• FoxP2
  
• Grey Worldwide SA
  
• Grid Worldwide Branding and Design
  
• King James Advertising
  
• King James Johannesburg
  
• King James RSVP
  
• Lobedu Leo Burnett
  
• Lowe Bull Johannesburg
  
• Lowe Bull Cape Town
  
• Saatchi & Saatchi
  
• Net#work BBDO
  
• Ogilvy SA
  
• TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris - Johannesburg
  
• The Jupiter Drawing Room South Africa.

The Loerie Awards chairman, Wingwing Mdlulwa, is pleased with the calibre of finalists. "I am confident that our judges have rewarded work that demonstrates true creative excellence - this would be defined as work that excels in five critical areas - concept, execution, and relevance to the brand, target audience and chosen media. See you soon in Margate where you can judge for yourself," he quips.

Three core communication categories

This year for the first time, there were only three core communication categories: Advertising, Design and Experiential. The fourth - and equally important category given today's complex marketing environment - is the Integrated Campaign Category. This caters for the evolved communication strategies employed by marketers. A minimum of one media component from each of the three other categories is required for a campaign to be considered; that is Advertising, Design, Experiential.

The new Experiential category included all communication that involves promotional or direct interaction, including Direct Marketing and Promotional Media and encompassing all media types from flat mail through digital to non-broadcast video and live events. Additionally, instead of standing alone as a fringe medium as it has in the past, Interactive and Online media took its rightful place within the three main categories.

All of the following results are unaudited and subject to final confirmation.

In the, Advertising Category sub-category breakdown is as follows:

In the Design Category, sub-category breakdown is as follows:

In the Experiential Category, sub-category breakdown is as follows:

Winners will be honoured at two gala awards ceremonies in Margate on the South Coast on Saturday, 16 September 2006, and Sunday, 17 September, and, with the judging complete and finalists announced, now's the time to - if you haven't already done so - book your seat in the audience.

Major sponsors for The Loerie Awards 2006 are the SABC, Media24 and Tourism KwaZulu-Natal.

Other sponsors and partners are: 24.com, Aon-Shield, Avis, Brandhouse, Cell C, David Prior Photography, Design Indaba, Gallo Images, Gauteng Film Office, Gearhouse, Hetzner, Hibiscus Coast Municipality, Joe Public Advertising, Kulula.com, Lightworks, Lithotech, Nashua Mobile, Online Publishers Association, Orchestra Blue, Ornico Group, Paygate, Proximity#ttp, Rocketseed, Sappi, Six Million Dollar Media, Sonovision, Strawberry Worx Media, The Video Lab, Ugu District Municipality and Verdantpoint.

Visit www.theloerieawards.co.za for award ceremony reservations as well as details on the special deals Kulula.com and Avis' Film Production unit have put together to ensure you travel there in style.

The Loerie Awards 2006 - finalists (unaudited and unconfirmed)

The Loerie Awards 2006 - student finalists (unaudited and unconfirmed)