Ogilvy was announced as agency of the year at last week’s Bookmark Awards, picking up a total of 25 awards from 51 finalist entries, with client KFC announced as brand of the year. That’s why they’re completely justified in sending through the above string of celebration-themed emojis when asked to digitally express how they feel about their digital accolades.

Commenting on the calibre of SA’s digital work, Ogilvy SA’s chief creative officer Pete Case says, “Despite a tough economy, it was great to see the general quality of work once again rising this year – in terms of powerful, brand aligned creative content that drives effective marketing. In particular, this year I noticed a deeper and richer range of storytelling using film. This is driven by various interwoven changes in the market; most prominently by the South African consumer who’s increasingly happy to watch and interact with video content on mobile. Because of this growing scale and depth of digital audience – brands are finally shifting meaningful media spend towards digital marketing – and with increased budgets the quality of work and size of reach is improving. The knock-on effect of this is many more traditional ad agencies producing digitally focused work alongside the ‘pure play’ agencies – directly influencing the increase in volume and quality of entries this year at the Bookmarks. All in all, it’s a very exciting time to be in the industry right now and feels like the birth of a new era of digital creativity.”

Ogilvy: Agency of the Year at the IAB Bookmark Awards 2017.

Matthew Barnes, executive creative director of Ogilvy Johannesburg, adds: “Huge credit must go to Jacques and his team at KFC for taking a TV budget and putting it behind a mobile-first campaign. It’s not just about being brave. If you look at the market and the amazing opportunities mobile offers, high-quality, targeted mobile campaigns are the way forward. And it takes a lot of focus to look through the data-hype and find the human magic that connects a product and a consumer. The new world of data is really just Digital 2.0; offering an opportunity to make richer, more interactive and more meaningful small screen campaigns. If you look at the world through this lens then you have to be very brave to keep spending your marketing budget in the same old way.”

Case studies of some of the winning work for a selection of their clients are embedded below:

Mobile campaign: KFC Shakin Shakin Meal

Integrated multi-platform campaign: “011 Beats” – Volkswagen brand

Existing social communities: “#LetsTalkColour”

Craft – interface design: “Race to the Fastest Place on Earth” – Castrol

Click here for the full list of Ogilvy’s Bookmark success, here for my digital download interview with KFC, here for the full list of 2017 IAB Bookmarks Award winners and visit our special section for the latest updates!