DDB SA takes AdReview Ad Agency of the Year

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Though relatively small, the judges felt the agency out-gunned its bigger rivals on a pound-for-pound basis, in terms of creativity, effectiveness and business success. DDB SA used to be part of The Jupiter Drawing Room (South Africa) & Partners, but since the 49% WPP investment in the latter which occurred earlier this year, Jupiter shareholding in DDB SA has been released (the DDB brand is owned by WPP rival Omnicom).

DDB was the creator of the Cannes Lion Press Grand Prix print winner last year - the Energiser campaign which showed children getting up to mischief because the batteries in their electric toys had died. Other awards the controversial campaign has won include 2008 Creative Circle Magazine of Year, a 2008 Gold Clio, and a 2008 One Show Merit.

Other awards warranting a special mention were:

• Mike Schalit, creative chief of Net#work BBDO South Africa, was recognised as Advertising Person of the Year for his “advertising for good” campaign.
  
• The first father-and-son winners were Jeremy and Justin Sampson. The former walked away with the Design Agency of the Year for Interbrand Sampson while the second claimed the Marketing Services Company of The Year Award for sponsorship agency EXP.

Media marketing solutions provider RadMark established new award Radio Campaign of the Year to recognise the medium of radio in a separate category. Says RadMark trade marketing manager Lisa Benporath, “We are seeking ways to develop radio in new ways and encouraging creativity in all spheres of radio. Radio works and those who get it to work best deserve to be recognised.

The industry landscape has evolved to produce an increasing number of small specialist agencies excelling in their niche areas. In recognition of this, a special award was made to Six Hotshops. According to AdReview, they may not be hotshops in the traditional sense of little agencies producing award-winning work, but they are blazing performers, sometimes in very difficult markets.

Rose won on the success of Allan Gray “Beautiful” along with Sony Bravia “Pyramids” and Sasol “Questions” with a combined total of eleven awards including a Cannes Silver and the Loeries Grand Prix.

Ogilvy Johannesburg walked off with three of the awards, including "Gauteng Agency of the Year", "The Big Idea" award for its KFC Milkshake ad and the "Radmark Radio Campaign of the Year" for its KFC Manly Men campaign. Ogilvy South Africa media agency, Mindshare, won the "Media Agency of the Year" award.

According to Ogilvy South Africa CEO Nunu Ntshingila, it has achieved what no other agency has managed to do - consistently stay on top for the past five years. "As in previous years, this year's Finweek AdReview awards are highly satisfying as they speak to the professional and business performance of the agency, as well as its innovative achievement.

"Of critical importance is our focus on client and agency relationships. The KFC awards are just one example of a successful long-term relationship (15 years) and the consistency, trust, friendship, relevance and chemistry that stems from such a relationship."

Circus theme

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Nearly 600 of the South African advertising world's glitterati gathered at The Theatre on the Track in Kyalami, Johannesburg, for the event, which had a circus theme. Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide CEO Kevin Roberts was the guest speaker. This innovative advertising figure, who has headed Saatchi since 1997, provided a vision for the future of advertising.

Six brands were announced as Saatchi Lovemarks in the first survey conducted in South Africa: Castle, Nokia, BMW, Cadbury, Edgars, BP and Vaseline Intensive Care.

Those who attended also received their copy of Tony Koenderman's AdReview, which goes on sale with every copy of Finweek dated 30 April 2009. The annual, now in its seventh edition, provides a snapshot of the advertising and marketing industry aiming to help clients make choices.

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• Twitter Search: Results for 'adreview'.
  Bizcommunity.com's assistant editor Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz) and Hello World's Pedro van Gaalen on behalf of MarkLives.com (@MarkLivesLive) were reporting live from the event.