Before the Loeries Creative Week Durban 2016 kicked off, Ray shared that a win at Loeries means your work is relevant to a South African audience, and that “Winning locally with work that resonates and gets referenced around the braai feels especially rewarding.”

M&C Saatchi Abel: Able and adept

M&C Saatchi Abel’s 2016 Loerie Award wins included a ‘live events’ silver and live crafts certificate for Heineken SA Cool Can’s ‘edible music’, as well as ‘brand identity and collateral design: general collateral’ and ‘live events; sponsorship’ bronze for The Nedbank Wonderland Project, and PR communication campaign bronze for Takealot.com’s ‘A perfect match’.

M&C Saatchi Abel’s recently revealed Loeries 2016 rankings also show them ranking 18th overall in the South African agency table. Little surprise as M&C Saatchi Abel is the agency that chief executive partner Mike Abel shares won a Gold Loerie just six months after opening its doors for the rebranding, repositioning and relaunch via social media only of Mr Delivery.

Ray with this year’s Loerie wins.

Johnson, looking forward to what next year holds.

Here Ray, also a founding partner, with the agency since inception over six years ago and working across brands such as Takealot.com, Hollard, Heineken and MWEB; and Johnson, appointed as a creative partner at M&C Saatchi Abel Johannesburg late-2015, working across brands such as Nando’s, Nedbank, Sun International and part of the 2016 Print & Outdoor Judging Panel, share how the group feels about its wins, plans to extend that winning streak next year and who they admire most in the industry…

1. Share your top three emotions linked to your Loeries wins and 2016 rankings.

Ray and Johnson: Our emotions regarding the results were mixed. Slight disappointment that we dropped a few places, we have a winning culture and we like to win gold. That said, it’s always great to win silvers and bronzes on our big blue-chip clients like Nedbank and Heineken. We’re extremely proud of the body of work we produced last year. It may not have shifted us up the Loeries’ rankings, but it was recognised elsewhere: We saw the brands we do work for, like Hollard and Heineken, move up in the Sunday Times Most Loved Brands Survey. Hollard moved from ninth to second and Heineken as one of the favourite beers in SA. Nando’s has seen a "return to form” according to the Financial Mail’s AdForum, and achieved some of the most impressive sales figures in a while. Our Red Cross campaign raised R10m and MWEB took two places in the top five most-watched ads on YouTube. Whether the judging was fair or not is a debate that has and will rage on forever!

2. How do you plan on keeping – if not bettering – your rankings next year?

Ray and Johnson: Every year we try to better our rankings, and every year we aim to build a stronger, more diverse body of work across a number of categories. Right now, after just five years, we’re more than pleased to be ranked amongst South Africa’s older and most established agencies.

3. Where are you displaying your Loeries?

Ray and Johnson: Our Loeries live discreetly on a shelf at the entrance to the creative and account management teams. We treat them a little like wedding photos – we love them, but not everyone wants to see them all the time.

4. Tell us who you personally admire in the industry – both an established mentor figure as well as a newcomer making waves.

Ray and Johnson: We’ve always admired the work King James does. It’s strategically sound. Refreshingly creative. They don’t dabble in scam, and consistently produce well-crafted pieces of work. Despite the hoopla around the music video category, we also think some of the freshest film work and ideas are happening in this space.

Exciting times. Seems we’re all looking forward to seeing what 2017 holds! Click through to our Loeries special section for more, here for more from M&C Saatchi Abel and be sure to follow them on Twitter.