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Exactly two years after Grey Africa opened the doors of WPP Team Liquid, the bespoke agency solution for Distell, the agency celebrates its first haul of international awards on the Savanna account. Including four of South Africa’s 19 finalists at the prestigious One Show Awards held last week in New York.

The brilliant but deceptively simple mobile hack to help people text in their own language resonated with jurors the world over and amidst the highly competitive field of big budget, cutting-edge technologies in the Mobile category at this year’s One Show Awards, it brought home South Africa’s only two Merits in the category - one in Mobile Utility and another in Mobile Innovation and Transformation.

“It’s brilliant to see locally relevant work on a proudly South African brand like Savanna getting international recognition. This is extremely encouraging as we continue our goal to take the brand to exciting new heights,” says Steph van Niekerk, creative director Grey Africa working on the Savanna account.

This impressive win follows on the D&AD Awards, where #DecoloniseAutocorrect was shortlisted for Use of Mobile in the Impact category, accounting for South Africa’s only finalist in the Impact programme, which supports and recognises work that benefits society. Known as the hardest show in the world, a D&AD shortlist is enough to merit points on the official Creative Circle rankings, which recognises five award shows (One Show, D&AD, Cannes, Loeries and Creative Circle’s annual awards).

Yes indeed folks, another accolade for Savanna's #DecoloniseAutocorrect

Issued by Grey Africa 19 May 2021

Earlier this year, the campaign also took home a Silver Clio in the Mobile category.

Grey Advertising Africa’s chief creative officer, Fran Luckin, explains: “It is so gratifying to see this piece being recognised by international judges on a global stage."

"Being awarded in the pioneering Digital/Mobile - Emerging Technologies category is testament to our effectiveness in navigating the industry with game-changing campaigns and illustrates the value of sticking with a creative idea for as long as it takes to execute. Over two years in the making, ‘Decolonise Auto Correct’ has finally stepped into the limelight," Luckin concludes.

About the One Show

The One Show is the world's most prestigious award show in advertising, design and digital marketing. For over 40 years, the Gold Pencil has been regarded as one of the top prizes in the creative industry. The One Show has had a rich legacy of honoring some of the most groundbreaking ideas, created by some of the most remarkable minds in creativity.