Raindrops are falling on my head...

Arno Carstens

Marc Lottering provided a much improved MC service compared to the previous night and his witty deliveries kept events moving along. All-in-all, there were 180 winners this weekend, including three Grand Prix, 16 Golds, 16 Craft Golds, 38 Silvers and 107 Bronzes.

The two agencies awarded this highest accolade Sunday night were:

• Lowe Bull Johannesburg for the Axe 'Get A Girlfriend' campaign in the Advertising Mixed-Media Campaign category.
  
• Net#work BBDO in the Integrated Campaign category for the 'Lonely Finger' campaign it did for SABC youth radio station, 5FM.

Grid Worldwide Branding & Design won the Loeries first Grand Prix this weekend on the Saturday night in the Design Mixed-Media Campaign category for a campaign it did for Virgin Mobile.

The spirit of Loeries

Solid Gold Dancers

Sunday, characterised by soaking rain, kept planned promotions off the beachfront and beach and people indoors. The younger crowd packed one of the bars to listen to the inter-agency battle of the bands, which was won by The Privates, made up of staffers from Ogilvy and FCB.

The continuous fashion parade and huge agency spirit that kept indoor eateries and bars pumping more than made up for it. Sunday night's 'big band'/'gold' theme was muted due to the weather, but die-hard fashionistas were still there in their backless, strapless, short, plunging, diaphanous, bling and glitz.

The main awards ceremony, while short on entertainment, was professional and only two hours long, focusing on the awards - which is the whole point. H-Factor was responsible for the staging of the awards this year and Wozani Africa handled the organisation on the ground of registration, promotions and after parties, which were exceptionally well put together.

Gold winners Jupiter at Wimpy

And it was the individual agencies which brought along their whole teams which really kept the spirit going, rising and cheering en masse whenever their agencies were mentioned.

The SABC after party - moved from the beach to the Margate Hotel/Backline due to the rain - was one of the best seen in this industry. There were sexy stilt walkers, mime artists, candyfloss, fire eaters... The VIP section was done up to look like a harem tent with belly dancers, dancers in perspex boxes, jugglers and entertainment galore. The entertainer with a python proved hugely popular with various guests posing with the beautiful snake.

Feedback

The Loerie Awards chairman, Wingwing Mdlulwa, said he was delighted with the standard of work entered into this year's competition. "Our industry can hold its head up high," he said. "The winning work I have seen over the past two evenings is certainly of an international standard. All the winners - from Bronze to Grand Prix - should be very proud of themselves."

Winners in the Student Category were also announced this weekend. Here, a total of 37 Loerie Awards were presented - two Golds, three Craft Golds, seven Silvers and 25 Bronzes. The advertising schools taking home the two Gold Loerie Awards were AAA School of Advertising while Vega, the Brand Communications School and University of Pretoria achieved Craft Golds (two and one respectively).

John Farquhar

The indomitable John Farquhar - who was in Margate as the result of a bet between the SABC and Loerie organisers - gave organisers "full marks" for getting everyone away from the Joburg rat race. "I can see the youngsters having a good time, but I still don't think the infrastructure of the town can fully cope."

Farquhar, who was pampered and pandered to by main sponsor SABC and the local organisers to ensure he had a good time and to curb his negative attitude to date on Margate as a venue, has a point about service in particular, as Margate isn't geared up off season to cater for such an influx at the main eateries. But they try hard and there was already a noticeable improvement on last year.

Dianne Duncan of Margate Tourism also confirmed that there is a proposal in to build a conference centre for the South Coast, like Sibiya on the Natal North Coast.

Suzette Pretorius, brand PR and publicity manager, SABC Corporate Marketing, said it was very important for SABC to be back as a Loerie sponsor after an eight year absence. "A third of all advertising in South Africa is broadcast on SABC... 75% of all SABC revenue comes from advertising... so it makes sense for the SABC to plough something back into the industry. Apart from the industry promoting client brands, we also use the industry to promote our own SABC brands.

Lesson in community policing

As to problems, there were a few, but the local police and protection services could teach the rest of the country's police and emergency services a lesson in community policing - for the benefit of the community. There were a few opportunistic break-ins at units at the Boulevard apartments on Friday night, and already police have recovered some of the stolen goods. The 11 younger Loerie party goers were picked up for 'lewd behaviour' in public over the weekend by local cops, given a cup of tea at the police station to sober up and then driven back home to their units! There was only one serious injury when a young woman, part of the Loeries influx, fell off a second story building. Her name is not known, but she was taken to the local hospital where she is recovering.

The sponsors deserve a big thank you for their continued support of the Loeries and the Margate community. This year's event is expected to bring in R15 million in total revenue for the region.

Major sponsors for this year's awards are the SABC, Media24 and Tourism KwaZulu-Natal. Other sponsors and partners are: 24.com, Aon-Shield, Avis, Brandhouse, Cell C, 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 Design Indaba, The Video Lab, Ugu District Municipality, Verdantpoint, Masters & Savant.

For further information on The Loerie Awards visit www.theloerieawards.co.za.