Media personality and editor of the Financial Mail AdFocus Magazine, Jeremy Maggs, convened the panel of jurors, headed up by Phumi Mashigo in her first year as jury chair.
Mashigo is the founding managing director of Ignitive, a pre-eminent stakeholder management and communications company.
Mashigo, together with other industry experts, adjudicated entries against four effectiveness measures: New Business and Growth; Business Retention and Relationships; Training and Industry Recognition; and Empowerment/Social Responsibility.
Panel members applied their scores in secret, with finalist agencies participating in Q&A sessions with the jurors in order to determine the overall category winners. The judging and scoring were audited by Deloitte.
Mashigo said:
In advertising, we are used to competing and have become very good at entering awards or putting our best foot forward for judges. In this exceptionally tight economy the level of creativity displayed by the entrants when displaying their wares made for very robust judging sessions and once again I believe that the winners are a real testament that where creativity leads profits follow.This year also includes some changes with the addition of a new category, the Financial Mail Creative Challenge. The Creative Challenge is a print-advertising contest that gives art directors and copy-writers an opportunity to deliver high impact, tactical print ads for their clients and a chance to win free placement in the weekly Financial Mail magazine.
The Shapeshifter Award replaces the New Broom award from previous years.
The Financial Mail AdFocus Magazine is SA’s largest brand communication review and will be distributed with the Financial Mail on 29 November 2018.
