Ramona Kayembe

“Creativity sells and supporting bodies like the Loeries ensures the sustainability and growth of the creative economy. Great work and the people behind great work should be celebrated … this drives engagement, reputation and motivates the creatives to keep raising the bar,” says Ramona Kayembe, AB InBev marketing culture and capabilities manager; Africa zone.

She applauded the Loeries for a stellar job, in the lead up to and during Loeries Creative Week, in bringing together thought leaders and renowned regional and international creatives on virtual platforms to discuss strategies and share ideas in line with the theme #CreateChange for good.

Presenting her Loeries Creative Week talk titled ‘Nurturing a Culture of Creativity’, Kayembe said it was important to elevate creativity and innovation as part of the business culture something AB InBev, like many companies, found of paramount importance in the face of challenges presented by Covid-19.

In her talk, Kayembe presented a case study of how in 2017 AB InBev undertook an internal culture restructuring when the company was plagued by generally safe, short-term, campaign focused creative work that was doing very little to build its brands.

“The online world still eluded us as we struggled to crack the code. It is at that time we knew we needed to change and create work that would impact society and our consumers. We embarked on a journey to be more purposeful and relevant,” said Kayembe.

She said the solution involved shifting from behaviors that were bureaucratic, hierarchical, risk averse and short-term oriented to empowering their staff, encouraging collaboration, embracing creativity and innovation as well as looking past the short-term to plan for the future.

“We put creativity at the forefront to catalyse a cultural change and ignite a passion for learning and within our marketing team and our partners to lead future growth. Essentially, we’ve created an environment of inspiration and collaboration where our people are empowered to bring bold ideas and take risks and invite external points of view to provoke and inspire us,” added Kayembe.

To watch her entire talk, visit www.loeries.com

^{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 across the region, Loeries Creative Week brings together the best innovative minds from our industry for a festival of networking, inspiring minds and recognising great work. 

The Loeries is the only award across Africa and the Middle East that informs the global WARC Creative 100, a showcase for the best creative work in the world. Successor to the prestigious Gunn Report, WARC collates the most important advertising awards from around the world to produce a global list that ranks the most creative companies and campaigns.

Partners of the Loeries

Sanlam, AB InBev, Barron, Brand South Africa, DStv Media Sales, Facebook, Tractor, Vodacom, Woolworths
 

Additional Partners and Official Suppliers

AAA School of Advertising, Aon South Africa, Backsberg, BEE Online, First Source, Fresh RSVP Guest Logistics, Funk Productions, Gallo Images, Ludus Post Productions, Mama Creative, Newsclip, Paygate, Rocketseed, Shared Value Africa Initiative, Shift, Unstereotype Alliance, Vega School, VQI Communications Nigeria, Xneelo

Endorsed by

Association of Communication and Design, Brand Council South Africa, Commercial Producers Association, Creative Circle, EXCA, IAB, South African Institute of Architects, IID
 

Official Media Partners

Between 10and5, Bizcommunity.com, Book of Swag, Brand Communicator Nigeria, Business Insider by Pulse, Campaign Middle East, Film & Event Media, IDIDTHAT.co, Mark Lives, Modern Marketing, MarkLives, The Redzone