Fran Luckin, Grey Advertising Africa CCO, awarded AdFocus Industry Leader of the Year

With an impressive career to reflect on, Luckin was recently the chairperson of the Loerie Awards 2020/21, is current deputy chair of South Africa's Creative Circle, and is a member of Grey's Global Creative Board. She has judged all the prominent international and South African creative awards shows (including D&AD, the Clio Awards, The Loeries, and The One Show and has four tours of duty judging at the Cannes Lions).

Leader of the Year Award

Regarding career highlights, 2017 comes to mind when she served as jury president of the Print and Publishing Jury at the Cannes Lions – the first female jury president from Africa. "I’ve had a very fulfilling career and continue expanding my horizons daily by working on some of South Africa's most iconic brands, such as Savanna Cider. I’ve been able to learn from some of the best in the industry and been privileged to be involved with the careers of some of this country’s best creative directors. Creativity is a muscle that needs constant training and exposure to business challenges to remain strong and create work that not only grabs the attention of award panels, but also wins the hearts of the public," says Luckin.

Luckin holds an MBA from the Berlin School of Creative Leadership. She has served three years as chairman of the Academic Board of the Red & Yellow School and continues to serve on an advisory board to the school.

Paul Jackson, CEO at Grey Advertising Africa, says: "Fran is a creative rockstar. That no one can argue. But Fran's most admirable qualities are humility and kindness. And because of this, Fran is one of the most sought-after creative leaders to work with. She is patient and only sees the best in people… it is no wonder Fran has nurtured some of South Africa's most talented creatives. I am privileged to have Fran as my creative partner, and I'd like to congratulate her for the deserved recognition as Industry Leader at this year's AdFocus Awards.”

Louise Johnston (MD at Grey Advertising Africa); TJ Njozela (creative director at Grey Advertising Africa); Paul Jackson (CEO at Grey Advertising Africa); Fran Lucking (chief creative officer at Grey Advertising Africa); Thando Mafongosi (strategy director at Grey Advertising Africa); Jacqui Howard-Tripp (client service director at WPP Liquid); Attish Harichunder (chief financial officer at Grey Advertising Africa) and Gavin Stafford (chief operating officer at Grey Advertising Africa)

Every creative who gets the opportunity to work with Luckin can count themselves as lucky and will learn how to become the best they can be and genuine humility and kindness.