The EBM Group (EBM) has reinforced its position as one of South Africa’s leading retail marketing agencies, securing an impressive 42 awards at the 2026 South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) Footprint Marketing Awards this week.
The agency’s haul comprised eight Gold, 22 Silver and 11 Bronze Awards, as well as a Special Recognition Award, with winning work recognised in public relations, strategic marketing, brand and store partnerships, tactical activations and corporate social responsibility. The results follow EBM’s recent international success at the ICSC Global Awards in Las Vegas and reflect the agency’s ability to translate strategic thinking into measurable marketing outcomes for shopping centres and mixed-use destinations.
8 Gold Awards for standout campaigns
Among the Gold winners was Sandton City’s Words That Heal campaign secured two Gold Awards, for PR and Corporate Social Responsibility and Fourways Mall’s Destination Fourways reputation-building campaign for PR. The Zone @ Rosebank’s Lauryn Hill pop-up campaign won Gold for Tactical Activation and Bedford Centre’s Ticketless Parking campaign took Gold for PR.
Gateway Theatre of Shopping’s Unity at Gateway received Gold for Corporate Social Responsibility, while Eastgate earned two Gold Awards for Eat Out at Eastgate, in Strategic Marketing and Brand and Tenant Partnerships.
A particular highlight was the Special Recognition Award for campaigns delivered on budgets below R25,000, presented for Unity at Gateway in the Corporate Social Responsibility category. The recognition demonstrates EBM’s ability to deliver award-winning work at every level, from major, high-investment campaigns and unique experiences to highly focused initiatives working with extremely limited budgets.
For Bradley Wise, managing director of EBM, the awards are ultimately significant because of what the work delivers for the agency’s property-owner partners: “Our role is to create value for our property-owner partners. That starts with understanding the commercial objectives of each property and developing holistic strategies and solutions that drives engagement, strengthens destinations and delivers a return on investment. These awards recognise not only the excellent work that is designed first and foremost to achieve those objectives, *but equally our exceptional client relationships and the trust they place in our team,” says Wise.*
Specialist expertise behind the results
EBM’s integrated model brings together specialist expertise in strategy, marketing, creative, PR, social media, activations and non-GLA sales support, enabling teams to develop campaigns around the individual requirements of different properties, audiences, objectives and budgets.
“The recognition is particularly rewarding because it reflects the collective strength of our teams,” says Najeeba Small, group head of marketing at EBM. “We have specialist people who understand property and destination marketing and know how to bring different disciplines together to deliver synergy. To see that work recognised across such a diverse range of categories, properties and budgets is something we’re incredibly proud of,” she added.
The latest wins add to a strong year of industry recognition for EBM, which earned two Gold Awards, two Silver Awards and two Finalist recognitions at the 2026 ICSC Global Awards in Las Vegas, further strengthening the agency’s reputation locally and internationally.
EBM currently oversees marketing for shopping centres in the Liberty Standard Bank Group, Old Mutual Property and Burstone portfolios, in addition to Mall of Africa and Fourways Mall. As EBM continues to expand its presence beyond South Africa, this level of recognition is significant in strengthening the agency’s global brand and reputation.
