Since their inception, the Most Awards have motivated and inspired media owners and agencies to excellence by setting a benchmark for the industry. “The Most Awards are special because the media owners, our most important stakeholder, tell us we are doing a great job,” says Chris Botha, group managing director of Park Advertising - the holding company for Meta Media and The MediaShop.
I always talk about the four legs of a chair where the creative agency, media agency, media owner and client are the four legs. All four are equally strong and important. In the same way, if a client tells you that you re doing a great job, it is equally important the media owner says you are doing a great job.Being named Media Agency of the Year is a big award to win, he adds. “We don’t deal with other media agencies, so we don’t know where we stand so this is a way of figuring out where we are. The Award tells us we are doing something right.”
He believes that they are doing the fundamentals right. “Making sure that every media owner is your partner and that you treat them as a partner, giving them access to your building, to your people, looking after them, talking to them and educating them. It’s not brain surgery; it’s people doing business with people,” he says.
This is the second year that AdColony has won the Most Awards’ Media Owner of the Year. Andrew Kramer, MD of AdColony South Africa says this is very gratifying because the Award is determined by your clients and peers voting for you. “To win the Awards two years in a row shows us that we are moving in the right direction,” he says.
He attributes their success to a passionate, hardworking team inspired by their head of sales, Michael van Tonder.
We are very customer-centric and believe the customer is king. We are also nimble - we have to be as we compete with all the big guys such as Facebook and YouTube.Alphabet Soup is a three-time winner of the Specialist Media Agency Award. Nicolette Lewin, CEO and founder of the Alphabet Soup, says winning this year took hard work as the category included all agencies that specialise, from digital to outdoor and radio, etc.
Our success is our approach to continuously engage with our partners. We are always pushing the boundaries and looking for opportunities to innovate.The agency also works with clients that do not have big budgets but still want innovation and something different in their media strategy that gets the numbers. “It’s all about ROI at the end of the day,” she says.
The evening focused in particular on women and of the seven individual awards, six were awarded to women. Dawn Rowlands, Dentsu Aegis Network sub-Saharan Africa was recognised as Media Agency Legend.
Dentsu 10 Apr 2019
Accepting her award, Rowlands focused on the plight of women in South Africa and on the continent. “In light of the last few days, my legacy pales in significance to the legacies of the women who have recently lost their lives. We are formulating a plan within our business and will ensure that women in South Africa and across the continent have a voice.”
Rowlands adds that there are still not enough senior women in the industry. “I also set out to ensure that Dentsu Aegis has the best network across the region, so my work is not done.”
The evening also paid tribute to Sandra Gordon, the mastermind behind the Most Awards. “I have so enjoyed being part of the Most Awards and every time I have stood up here and seen the comradery and the togetherness of the industry, I am very proud of you all,” she said to a standing ovation at the end of the evening.
A true legend herself #SandraGordon being thanked by #TisoBlackstar for her hard work at the #MOSTAwards2019 pic.twitter.com/67yVHYvjq7
— Mediamark (@MediaworldSA) September 10, 2019
