AAA Legacy Award goes to Hennie Klerck

Hennie Klerck and Dr Ludi Koekemoer

As chairman of the advertising industry professional body, he was the driving force behind the school's acquisition of the Boston House College of Advertising in 1989.

His influence has significantly contributed to shaping the foundation of the advertising education landscape over the past three decades.

"Humble beginnings"

"Today the AAA School of Advertising is an IAA (International Advertising Association) accredited and a world class advertising school, rated number two in the world by Lürcher's Archive. It is a privilege to recognise the efforts of the person who spearheaded our humble beginnings," says Dr Ludi Koekemoer, MD and principal.

Fellow board members of the era included Reg Lascaris, Bob Rightford, David McKinstry, Alex McCormack and Peter de Klerk (as the director of the school). Their stated objective was to prepare students for the marketing communications industry in cooperation with the advertising industry. Captured in the 20 April 1990 board meeting minutes, they stated 'The interests of the ad industry must be jealously guarded at all times'.

Business innovator

Klerck founded Adverkor with Lucas Potgieter in 1967, which later merged with Odes Marais to form Klerck Marais & Potgieter (KMP) in 1975. Although it had many Afrikaans clients, it was the first advertising agency to open a branch in Soweto in 1979.

In 1981, KMP became a member of Compton International, which was taken over by Saatchi & Saatchi. The agency underwent a number of name changes such as Klerck & White, Klerck & Barrett, until 1997, when the local names were dropped in favour of Saatchi & Saatchi.

In 1993, Reader's Digest honoured him as the Advertising Man of the Year and he was inducted into the Reader's Digest Hall of Fame. He also then received the Society of Marketer's prestigious Protea Award and a Pendoring Lifelong award at the end of 2011 for his contribution to advertising in Afrikaans.