A total of 299 awards were handed out, including 35 Gold, 68 Silver, and 120 Bronze Loeries®. While awards for the whole region were presented together at the awards ceremony, South African entries continued to be judged separately. The Loeries Official Rankings this year will include an overall table, as well as a separate table for South Africa, and a separate table for the rest of the region. Last year, the top 10 agencies were as listed below, with one agency from outside South Africa, Geometry Global Dubai, at number 9:

1. FCB Johannesburg
2. Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg
3. Shift Joe Public
4. King James Group
5. Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town
6. Grid Worldwide
7. Native VML
8. Joe Public
9. Geometry Global Dubai
10. TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris

The 2015 Official Rankings will be published in four to six weeks time.

Only two entries were awarded the coveted Grand Prix this year - Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg in the Digital & Interactive Communication category for KFC, and IMPACT BBDO Dubai for their Black Cats On Holiday campaign in the Branded Content Video category.

The Loeries, a not for profit company with a board made up of representatives from across the industry, has been celebrating work from across Africa and the Middle East for a number of years. While IMPACT BBDO Dubai did particularly well this year, this is not the first time the Middle East has been richly rewarded at the Loeries. In 2007 a Grand Prix was awarded, and last year two Gold Loeries were awarded to Dubai.

"...a perception seems to exist that the Loeries is purely a South African award, for South African agencies, doing work for South African audiences. While the Loeries has a rich and proud South African heritage, it has evolved to recognise excellence in creativity from the entire African continent, including the Middle East, and is currently the largest representation of the continent's most prestigious creative work," said Creative Circle Chairman, Justin Gomes in a recent article published on bizcommunity.com.

Companies are increasingly turning to Africa as well as the Middle East as new growth markets, and marketing communications are increasingly being tailor-made for a local audience. Brands are looking for partners working across the region and the Loeries is ideally positioned as the best measure of the work being produced from South Africa and across Africa all the way to the Middle East.

"The winning work from Africa and the Middle East raised the creative bar by another two notches. It also illustrated that locally relevant work will out-punch more generic work on any given day. It is a reminder for us as business owners to take a serious step up in terms of taking Africa seriously - not just as a business opportunity but also as a new creative frontier. I left Loeries totally inspired," said Pepe Marais, Chief Creative Officer and Founding Partner of Joe Public United, South Africa.

While the Loeries celebrates creative excellence across the whole region, a focus on developing communications in South Africa's non-English languages continues. This year all non-English radio was judged by a specialist panel and plans are in place to create a platform to reward South African non-English work across all media platforms next year. For the first time, the Loeries has awarded five bursaries and scholarships to talented learners from KwaZulu-Natal, with a total value of over R1m. The focus of this programme that has been running since 2008 is to enable talented learners from previously disadvantaged backgrounds to enter the industry, and to address imbalances in the industry. Since inception, eleven females and three males have been awarded the bursaries and scholarships.

Major Partners of the Loeries 2015

Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN), the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, KwaZulu-Natal Province (EDTEA), EThekwini Municipality - Durban Tourism, DStv Media Sales, and Gearhouse South Africa

Category Partners

Adams & Adams, ADreach, Continental Outdoor Media, Film & Publication Board, Google, Independent Media, Mobile Marketing Association,Songstruct, Standard Bank, The Times, Unilever South Africa, Woolworths, andYFM

Additional Partners and Official Suppliers

AAA School of Advertising, Antalis South Africa, Aon South Africa,Backsberg, BEE Online, Bioscope Films, Brand Council SA, Clive Stewart Photography, Egg Films, First Source, Funk Productions, Gallo Images, Graphica, Grid Worldwide, Hertz, Hetzner, King James II, Media Film Service, Multiprint Litho, Newsclip, Paygate, Rocketseed, Scan Display, South African Airways, Tiekie Barnard Consultancy, Tsogo Sun, Vega School of Brand Leadership.

Official Media Partners

Adlip.com, Between 10 & 5, Bizcommunity.com, Brandwork Nigeria, Design Times, Film & Event Media, Ididthatad.com, Music in Africa, Nex Media, The Redzone.