There were no gold winners in this category, which means that Choma received the highest award in this category for the night while bronze when to Hello Computer, FCB Africa for the “Raise your voice. Not your phone.” campaign for the Department of Education. This is Choma’s second award, having won gold at The New Generation Awards for the Most Innovative Social Media campaign by a Small Agency in 2017.

Choma is an online platform founded by HIVSA and funded by the Charlize Theron Africa Out-reach Project. The platform is aimed at young women in South Africa who come from vulnerable backgrounds. HIVSA’s main aim with the platform was to educate and empower young women, aged 15-25 in order to decrease the rate of HIV infection amongst this high risk group. Instead of just teaching young women about condom use and abstinence, the platform takes a more youth-friendly and comprehensive approach to sex education, delving into the complexities of life and relationships, offering advice on general health, critical information on sexual reproductive health and empowerment through positive female representation. The platform also offers direct and private counselling to young women via its “Ask Choma” function. The mentors who respond to questions are trained counsellors with a specific understanding of what the target market faces.

The agency behind the platform, Arc Interactive, was present to receive the award. Arc Interactive has been the agency behind Choma since 2014. After Arc Interactive was awarded the account, the agency did a total revamp of the brand. This included strategy, web design, responsive web development and a revamp of Choma’s social media campaigns. It seems to help that the team working on the Choma campaign is made up of majority females from diverse backgrounds.

Arc Interactive has dedicated an entire team to the Choma account, including web developers, UX/UI designers, strategists, marketers, social media managers and copywriters.

“Arc Interactive has worked alongside HIVSA on the Choma brand for a number of years and the project has become very close to the teams hearts. The most rewarding part about working on Choma is seeing the impact it makes. We’re very aware of the fact that what we’re doing here is not only big, but also important,” said Luke Goller, Managing Partner at Arc Interactive.

Choma continues to push boundaries on the platform. The organisation and brand is becoming increasingly focused on ensuring that the voices of young women are heard and that there is an even greater awareness around the issues young women face.

"HIVSA is extremely proud of Choma and this accomplishment. HIVSA, through Choma, is committed to ensuring that young women have access to correct lifestyle information to assist them in making the best choices for their lives,” said Yashmita Naidoo, CEO of HIVSA.

You can visit the Choma website here. And see more from Arc Interactive here.