"Abso-bloodly-lutely!" to quote Nathan Reddy on the success of Loeries, but there are challenges for next year that must be taken cognisance of.
The majority of the comments from the key creative heads and main industry media has been overwhelmingly positive. Sure, we know that the creative heads will mostly say the politically correct thing as this industry has invested a lot in the 'new' Loeries and this is supposed to be a Loeries organised "by the industry for the industry"; and this is not about the media, we know, even if we fulfilled our branding objectives and got great copy, and the sponsor media largely pick up the tab for Loeries every year.
Both Saturday and Sunday at the Loeries in Margate were pumping on the beachfront, with music from East Coast Radio, touch rugby on the beach, free massages, surf lessons and everyone who was anyone to see and be seen looking fabulous. The atmosphere was relaxed and fun. In fact, some of the locals were a bit disappointed - they expected the industry to be wilder and weirder... go figure... so there's the challenge for next year!
Organising committee chairman, Wingwing Mdlulwa, said Margate was an ideal venue, proved by a large number of delegates from Cape Town and Durban. He also said the restructured awards ceremonies had - in the main - worked well and proved entertaining and fast-paced. "There are areas where we can improve," he said. "But I am very proud to have chaired such a successful event. On the awards front, the judges were certainly much more stringent in awarding statues than they have been in the past. I hope agencies realise that winning a Bronze Loerie this year is a great achievement. I think this augurs well for the future and attaining our goal of growing the international stature of The Loerie Awards."
Committee member and direct judging chair, Nici Stathacopoulos, added: "Loeries 2005 was astonishing - sure, not without its odd glitch - but certainly two outstanding evenings in a little spot in South Africa that has now risen to fame. Different? Yes! Possibilities for the future of the Loerie Awards? Endless! The whole Loerie Committee, the MD, the Judging Panels and all the various partners, together with the towns' folk of Margate and St Michaels should be congratulated on taking on a massive challenge - and succeeding!"
Judging chair of the Interactive category, Roelof van Wyk, said he is anticipating a lot of criticism, especially from individuals who do not understand the parameters wherein this transitional event had to happen. "The purely physical: the weather, the infrastructure, the environment... Yes, we chose to start the new Loeries in Margate. But, it was a choice to break from the old pattern. We made our bed, and slept in it. We've changed the way all of us thought about the most important event in the marketing calendar. A shift in perception has happened, and change is good. Questions, queries and quandaries, let us know," he said.
Judging chair of the Interactive and Corporate Video categories, Peter Carr, commented: "From our side, the whole event was just fantastic, especially those who embraced the weekend with an open mind and positive attitude. Everyone seemed to love the carnival atmosphere the Loeries brought to the small town and made better by the locals who welcomed the party with open arms to boost their trade. There was never a dull moment, made good by the concentrated massive attendance in the tent, the streets and at every watering hole along the way. The show itself was better being less glitzy and it had an awesome vibe in the audience as it got straight into awarding the good work.
"Of course, there has been and will be some valid complaints forthcoming but this can only be expected as with any event and no matter where this is held. Each and every option will have its own shortfalls but I think with Loeries 2005, the 'issues' are minor compared to past and after a post mortem should be easy to sort out. We'll learn from the mistakes and can only make it better. For me, the real pity was not having the tent on the beach or at least closer to the town, but safety had to be considered. With it being the first time event for a new management company at a new venue with a short lead time, a lot of sceptics were predicting a flop, so it did well to come through with odds stacked against it. I thought it was a remarkable achievement and I do hope it settles down in Margate for a few years to come. Well done Andrew and team."
On the ground organiser in Margate, Vicky Erasmus of Wozani Africa, said she felt that Margate had proved itself a deserving venue and capable of hosting The Loeries for many years to come: "The advent of The Loerie Awards in Margate has had a positive effect of dual consequence. Not only have they opened an exhilarating new window of opportunity for local residents by creating an intense focus of national interest on this area, but they have more importantly changed the perceptions of the destination by a set of people that previously viewed Margate with disdain - that's powerful".
Said CEO Mike Bosman, at the TBWA party at the weekend: "This is a celebration of amazing work... and on top of that, its an opportunity for everyone to get together for a good party. Margate is a great choice, the town is pumping! And I'm amazed to see how relaxed everyone is."
"Isn't this great? What a vibe! It looks as if everything is happening down here," exclaimed Angel Jones of MorrisJones.
Mathew Bull of Lowe Bull, quipped: "It looks awesome, great vibe and very young! I now know that I'm the oldest guy here!"
Sandy de Witt, TBWA/Gavin/Reddy and one of the judges, said she was loving Margate. "This is the start of a new era for Loeries and I think we'll be back here. The registration process could have been a little slicker, but Sun City had been done, and we needed to move on."
Questions remain though.
Will Margate be the venue for the next four years? Will the Loerie Committee be able to sustain a year-long branding initiative, financially? Who will run the event next year? Did The Loerie Awards make any money on the event, and will the industry bail out its premier event if it needs it? Will Andrew Human be back? Is there a budget to keep going forward, as the big picture envisages and support the travelling exhibition and small support staff? It is hard to see how anyone could have made profit on this year's Loeries. It is rumoured that the event production company and organisers on the ground battled to even meet costs this time round - particularly with the venue change and additional hundred thousand or so to lay on the buses.
These are all questions which will be answered in due course by The Loerie Awards committee and CEO Andrew Human, who have all been roundly praised for their brave step in moving the awards to Margate and making it more accessible to the younger industry.
Because they were all there: the sponsors, the media, the key agency heads, the younger creatives. Only John Farquhar stuck to his guns and stayed home!
We know that the sponsors and marketers held back this year in bringing key clients down or blanketing the town with innovative branding and promotions, preferring to "wait-and-see" if it was a success.
There's been a lot of whinging in Bizcommunity.com online forums about Loeries - mainly organisational issues and the little things that really got to people on the night.
But let's keep in mind the big picture.
Over coffee at the "Loeries Margate office" (the Mugg&Bean) on the Monday morning after Loeries, an upbeat Andrew Human declared Loeries 2005 a success. "Feedback has been overwhelming. Our goals were to recognise, reward and foster creative excellence and I believe we did that. I had a youngster from Margate come up to me and ask me where he should study advertising! What you saw here, this past weekend, was that creativity and passion. A weekend like this shakes out the cobwebs and we hope people will be going back inspired... winning a Loerie this year was not easy. The judges raised the standard."
Human said he was not interested in running a party and there was a big picture vision for The Loerie Awards which went beyond the annual event, which included raising judging standards (secret ballot meant that not even the Loerie committee knew the final results); raising awareness of advertising, raising the bar on creative excellence, acting as an industry resource and branding The Loerie Awards beyond South Africa. The travelling Loerie road show with all the creative work kicks off at Design Indaba in February next year.
There was also significant business and networking behind the scenes, with international advertisers and delegates from Warner Brothers, One Show and Shots awards and OpenAd.net. Media attendance and coverage also went further than just the industry B2B media this year.
Human paid tribute to his team, the Loerie Committee, industry head honcho's for all their support, the local community of Margate for their incredible goodwill, and to Unplugged for pulling off the event.
"Making it happen required passion... it was a tough job... there were a lot of firsts, the venue change being only one, the judging process another... but it all came together in the end."
EVENT
Unplugged were the event production house tasked with staging the event for the first time to get away from the "corporate Sun City brief" and try a few new things. Well they succeeded, and spectacularly. Never before has there been so much laughter and cheering at the beginning of any Loeries. The vibe was awesome. And the local entertainment and audio-visual presentations were stunning and very slick. Of course the tent issue and various technical and organisational hitches may count against them and anticipating this, Unplugged already indicated on Saturday that they would not seek reappointment as the event staging company next year.
The worst complaints:
The local community were also extremely accommodating to the organisers - maybe they need to blink away all those 'dollar signs' speak up if something is so crazy that it actually won't work! It is OK to say NO!
Unplugged's Rick Melvill, who had to make the decision to move the tent from Margate beach to a more stable grassy outcrop at next door St Michaels-on-Sea, said while it felt at times like he was in a "head on collision", it all worked out for the best in the end. "This was brave new territory and while we are happy with the job we did, I think the Loerie Awards should be rotated around the different event production houses to give it a unique flavour. We are eternally grateful to The Loeries Committee for the opportunity."
Melvill's best moments were working with the people of Margate and his worst was having to make the decision to move the tent.
VENUE
Margate had the most unbelievable vibe the entire weekend. People networked over coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner and cocktails, non-stop. It was a blast to be there and to see everyone in one place - not just your own agency, client or media - Sun City was certainly not like that the past few years.
There was an excess of accommodation booked in Margate in all price ranges - but those who ended up staying half an hour from Margate at the Wild Coast Sun booked too late to be accommodated in Margate. There was a rush of last minute bookings for accommodation and demand for the special Kulula.com flights
Unplugged were also in charge of the travel arrangements and there were major problems there in sorting everyone's bookings and getting flight confirmations - many only received booking confirmations a day or two before departure. You cannot treat an entire industry in such a cavalier fashion and display such disorganisation - whosoever's fault it was, doesn't matter in the end. It's the total experience and the Loeries exco must accept some of the responsibility for not stepping in and getting a large travel agency on board to assist, or letting the Margate officials handle it on the ground.
What is astounding, is that although Kulula.com apparently says this industry doesn't even make up 20% of its target audience, there were lots of people on board who don't 'do' budget airlines and flew Kulula for the first time - what a missed opportunity to make them 'frequent flyers', MorrisJones?
That said, the accommodation specials and flights were amazing - well done to the Loerie exco for making it more affordable to fly and stay in Margate than to drive and stay at Sun City!
The worst complaints:
A lot could have been solved by a simple events schedule - not hidden in the Loerie magazine or on the website or in various press releases, giving the exact times and venue details of pre-dinner drinks and food for the industry, media and VIPs.
Yes we know that there were many changes to the programme - but even a general photostated list, handed out at registration could have greatly helped in feeding people before the event and getting everyone on time to where they were supposed to be.
JUDGING
The usual negative comments about the work that won are there, but there also seemed to be a huge disappointment in the Design category, by Bizcommunity.com bloggers.
The people of Margate were awesome and so accommodating. Nothing was too much and the majority dealt with what some have termed "that big Jo'burg attitude" from a minor group, very diplomatically.
The event this year was a huge departure from the norm, and nobody likes change. It was chaotic, being the first time an industry organisation in South Africa has taken over a small town and of course there are going to be problems. In fact, on the surface, things went unusually well.
And now that everyone knows the score, next year is sure to be far more professionally run and better organised. There are no benchmarks for this kind of thing and a big up to everyone involved for a fantastic weekend.
As far as success goes - the proof is in the pudding: the larger agencies and media houses are already reserving their preferred accommodation and branding blitz spots for 2006, as it is pretty much a given that Margate will be the venue for the next four years to properly entrench the vision for the awards.
