Creative Circle Awards: Local proves it's a winner
The runner-up in both categories is the King James Group. The agency had a lot to celebrate on the night as it also won two of the seven category awards, Digital and Interactive, and Integrated for its Uk’shona Kwelanga campaign for its client Sanlam.
Co-founder and group creative director of the King James Group, Alistair King was also inducted into the Creative Circle Hall of Fame at the event, which took place at Katy’s Palace Bar in Sandton, Gauteng.
Constant push to be original
David Krueger and Tammy Retter, group heads at Ogilvy, says being awarded the top accolades at the Creative Circle Awards is testimony to creativity. “Being creative requires hard work and pushing clients to be more original. There is a constant push to be original.”
Both also believe it is about trust. “Ogilvy leadership allows us to build relationships of trust and the creativity follows from that.”
.@OgilvyJoburg wins the individual agency of the year gong at the @CCreativeCircle awards, with the @OgilvySA claiming the group agency of the year award. Congrats to the winners! #stateofcreativity pic.twitter.com/ZILofn3IOV
— media update (@mediaupdate) March 15, 2018
Uk’shona Kwelanga is a campaign for Sanlam’s funeral scheme offering that used WhatsApp text messages, voice notes, and videos to tell the story of a family planning a funeral.
Speaking about using WhatsApp as a medium, he says it was a no-brainer. “It’s where your audience. However, you need to use the correct language. Digital does not allow for complicated language.”
Tshepe adds that it a campaign close to his heart as he went through what the family in the campaign go through a few months before. “The campaign came from an honest place.”
Intoxicating joy of being recognised
In accepting his award, Alistair King, confessed that this was “quite a moment for me.” He told the gatherers, who gave him a standing ovation twice, that long ago at his first Loeries ceremony in Sun City, he learnt that not all awards are equal. “There are some advertisements anyone can do and then there are ones that solve a tough brief.” It is with the second one in mind that he co-founded King James and has approached his work.
“For me, nothing’s more satisfying than to do spectacular advertising for a client that no one really expects it from and it has never been a more important time for agencies in our industry to fundamentally make a difference to the bottom line of our clients’ business and not just the already sexy and already award-winning clients, but the clients who have not already tasted the intoxicating joy of being recognised. The transformation of the previously disadvantaged brands, that’s my mission and it always will be.”
Other winners include TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris Johannesburg in the Experiential category for their client Flight Centre for the campaign Babybot. Grey is the recipient of the Outdoor and Out of Home (OOH) category for its Satellifes campaign for Grey Design. DDB South Africa walked away with the Print category for the campaign “He She - Eric, Ethan, Frasier, Steve” for the Commission of Gender Equality. Ogilvy South Africa’s KFC Sad Man Meal won the Radio category while Young and Rubicam took the TV and Cinema category for “Salt Heals Wounds” for client Surfshack.
At the Awards the new Creative Circle chairperson, TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris' CCO Peter Gabriel Khoury for the next two years, was also announced.
All the Creative Circle Annual Award Winners: 2017
Digital and Interactive
| Entry Agency | Prize | Brand | Title |
| King James Group | First | Sanlam | Uk’Shona Kwelanga |
| NATIVE VML | Second | HuffPost SA | Stop The Cycle |
| Ogilvy Johannesburg | Third | KFC | KFC Soundbite Chart |
Experiential
| Entry Agency | Prize | Brand | Title |
| TBWA\Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg | First | Flight Centre | BabyBot |
| TBWA\Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg | Second | Goodbye Malaria | Beautiful Pathogens |
| NORTH VCA | Third | Polyco | Packa-Ching |
Integrated
| Entry Agency | Prize | Brand | Title |
| King James Group | First | Sanlam | Uk’Shona Kwelanga |
| Ogilvy Johannesburg | Second | KFC | KFC Soundbite Chart |
| Ogilvy Johannesburg | Third | KFC | KFC Suppertime Stories |
Outdoor and Out of Home
| Entry Agency | Prize | Brand | Title |
| Grey | First | Satellife | Grey Design |
| Y&R | Second | Joburg Zoo | Conservation Animals – Frog, Bird, Snake, Bat |
| Ogilvy Johannesburg | Third | Viacom | MTV #FCKHIV – Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink |
| Entry Agency | Prize | Brand | Title |
| DDB South Africa | First | Commission for Gender Equality | He She – Eric, Ethan, Frasier, Steve |
| FoxP2 Advertising | Second | National Geographic Kids Magazines | Nature never gets old – Frog, Sprout |
| Joe Public | Third | One School at a Time | Unsanitary Pads |
Radio
| Entry Agency | Prize | Brand | Title |
| Ogilvy Johannesburg | First | KFC | Sad Man Meal – No One Cheerses, Long red thin shape, Repeat the Punchline |
| FCB Africa | Second | Cell C | iGugu – Lebo, Nomsa, SIya |
| Grey Advertising Africa | Third | Duracell | Times Change, Power Doesn’t – Britney, Harry, Paris |
TV, Video and Cinema
| Entry Agency | Prize | Brand | Title |
| Y&R | First | Surfshack | Salt |
| FCB Joburg | Second | South African Tourism | Bheki the uMbaco Maker |
| FCB Cape Town | Third | Western Cape Government | Safely Home “Boys TVC” |
About Danette Breitenbach
Danette Breitenbach is a marketing & media editor at Bizcommunity.com. Previously she freelanced in the marketing and media sector, including for Bizcommunity. She was editor and publisher of AdVantage, the publication that served the marketing, media and advertising industry in southern Africa. She has worked extensively in print media, mainly B2B. She has a Masters in Financial Journalism from Wits.
