Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg - KFC Team

“Now in its sixth year, the Loeries® Official Rankings™ provide an authoritative and independent indication of who’s who in the brand communications industry across Africa and the Middle East. The rankings are calculated on a methodology that allocates points to brands, agencies and individuals based on results from the Loeries® Creative Week™ Durban held in August,” says Loeries® chief executive officer, Andrew Human.

This year the Loeries® introduced a Regional Agency Group table, with Ogilvy EMEA the number one network across Africa and the Middle East. They are followed by BBDO MEA, TBWA\, J. Walter Thompson MEA, with FCB Africa rounding up the top five networks across the region.

Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg and Cape Town took the top two positions in the large agency table, while Net#work BBDO received the highest ranking amongst medium-sized agencies, and FoxP2 took the honours as the top small agency.

From the region excluding South Africa, TBWA\RAAD from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranked as the top agency, with J. Walter Thompson KSA from Saudi Arabia in second place. Following in third place is Memac Ogilvy Dubai (UAE), with J. Walter Thompson Beirut (Lebanon) in fourth and the FP7/DXB (UAE) in fifth. At number nine in the table, Noah's Ark Communications (Nigeria) is the first sub-Saharan agency in the table.

In line with the overall agency winners, Ogilvy & Mather’s Pete Case claimed the top spot as the number one Chief Creative Officer, with Mike Schalit from Net#work BBDO coming in at number two. DDB’s Liam Wielopolski took third place, followed by Joe Public’s Pepe Marais in fourth, and Memac Ogilvy’s Paul Shearer rounding out the top five.

Thabisa Mkhwanazi and Mike Middleton, both of KFC, emerged as the top two brand representatives followed by previous Marketing Leadership & Innovation Award recipient, George Sombonos of Chicken Licken, with Hloni Mohope (KFC) and Bradley Knowles (Ster-Kinekor) making up the top five.

In education, the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography moved to the number one slot, followed by the AAA School of Advertising Cape Town. The Vega School of Branding came in at number three, with the University of Pretoria and the Red & Yellow School of Logic and Magic making up the top five educational institutions.

The full rankings, available on loeries.com, includes more tables on specialist agencies, production companies and individual credits. Entry for Loeries 2017 opens in February 2017. Work from 1 June 2016 to 31 May 2017 is eligible for entry.

About Loeries® Africa Middle East

The Loeries®, a non-profit company, is Africa and the Middle East’s premiere initiative that recognises, rewards, inspires and fosters creative excellence in the brand communication industry. As the highest accolade for creativity and innovation across our region, the Loeries® promotes and supports creativity by helping marketers, agencies and consumers appreciate the value of ideas and fresh thinking.

Culminating in the biggest creative gathering in Africa Middle East, Loeries® Creative Week™ Durban brings together the best innovative minds from our industry for a festival of networking, inspiring minds and recognising great work.

Our region's creative economy is world-class and has great potential to grow and to offer employment both to our talented youth. The growth occurring throughout Africa and the Middle East is very exciting, and a major focus of the Loeries® is to increase the standard of brand communication in the region.

Major partners of the Loeries 2016

Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN), the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, KwaZulu-Natal Province (EDTEA), EThekwini Municipality – Durban Tourism, DStv Media Sales, Gearhouse South Africa.

Category partners

Accenture, Adams & Adams, ADreach, Channel O, Facebook, Film & Publication Board, Google, JCDecaux, Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA), The Times, Unilever South Africa, Woolworths, YFM.

Additional partners and official suppliers

AAA School of Advertising, Antalis South Africa, Aon South Africa, Arcade Content, Association of Practitioners in Advertising, Backsberg, BEE Online, Castle Lite, Clive Stewart Photography, Circus Circus Beach Café, Egg Films, First Source, Fresh RSVP Guest Logistics, Funk Productions, Gallo Images, Graphica, Grid Worldwide, HelloCrowd, Hetzner, Independent Agency Search and Selection Company, Multiprint Litho, Newsclip, Paygate, Red Hot Ops, Rocketseed, Scan Display, South African Airways, Telkom SA SOC Ltd, Tiekie Barnard Consultancy, Total Exposure, Tsogo Sun, Universal Music Group, Vega School of Brand Leadership.

Official media partners

Between 10and5, Bizcommunity.com, CliffCentral.com, Coloribus Advertising Archive, Design Times, Film & Event Media, Goliath and Goliath, iDidTht.com, Marketing Edge Nigeria, Music in Africa, The Redzone, YouTube.