ADFOCUS AWARDS Nunu on track
Ntshingila heads winners at stellar annual awards show
Johannesburg agency Joe Public was rewarded for its phenomenal progress last week when it was named the 2012 AdFocus Advertising Agency of the Year. Cofounders Gareth Leck and Pepe Marais led their jubilant team onto the stage at Kyalami’s Theatre On The Track, in Midrand, to receive their award from FM editor Barney Mthombothi and AdFocus jury chair Michelle Meyjes.
Nunu Ntshingila, group chair of Ogilvy & Mather SA, received a standing ovation from more than 400 guests when she stood to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The sell-out event once again attracted industry leaders from across the SA communications spectrum. In keeping with this year’s AdFocus annual and its guide to doing business in sub-Saharan Africa, Media winners Jury chair Michelle Meyjes and editor Barney Mthombothi flank (left to right) OMD’s Josh Dovey, Lisa Leach, Michelle Brook and Noleen Cochran the evening had an African theme.
Before the award winners were named, Carol Abade, Kenyan-born group CEO of the Exp group, provided a master-class in pan-African marketing. Abade, who has helped launch Exp in 12 countries in the past 14 years and has direct experience of many more, spoke of the rewards and challenges of doing business in Africa.
Her “10 commandments” for success included a warning to avoid arrogance — SA marketers and agencies are notorious for going into new markets with a “weknow-best” attitude — and to be prepared for anything.
Joe Public’s success was just reward for its remarkable success after buying back its independence from the international IPG group in 2008. Besides picking up a series of significant accounts, since last year the agency has launched the first leg of its own global expansion with the opening of an associate agency in the Netherlands, and launched two new businesses — branding and design specialist Shift and below-the-line and experiential company Ignite.
Josh Dovey’s OMD SA finally gained the recognition it deserved in the Media Lifetime achiever with Agency of the Year category. The agency’s relentless growth over many years has often been overlooked in favour of shorter-term, stellar performances. But it benefited this year from a change in the scoring for all agency categories, to give more weight to business retention and client relationships.