Advertising Age has named Global Media Agency of the Year and The Internationalist magazine awarded Mindshare South Africa a silver and bronze in its first annual Internationalist Awards for Innovation in Media for M-Net’s Ugly Betty and KFC’s Variety campaigns respectively.
According to Mindshare CEO Maria Phillips, steps taken in 2008 to strengthen the local operation have paid off. “Last year saw us driving change across our business – from our structure and our approach right through to our own brand look and feel – taking the lead position in the industry.
“The Advertising Age award has been made in recognition of this, together with the
impressive work that we have created for our clients across the whole of
our network. In South Africa specifically, we are incredibly proud to be part of such a forward-thinking, innovative, exciting group. Our clients will continue to see the results as we challenge our local talent to produce creative, intelligent, excellent work.”
The Internationalist awards recognise international examples of best practices as media takes a leadership role in the complex world of marketing strategy. Innovation is essential to today’s effective media thinking as messages are becoming increasingly global.
Andrew McLean, Chief Development Officer-Global of Group M and Chairman of the Jury, commented, "By answering critical questions about insights, strategy, solutions and results, these innovation award winners demonstrate that media has become a driving force in marketing."
The Internationalist Awards for Innovation in Media are the first international awards to be given based upon the geographic footprint of the campaign, specifically: a global campaign, a regional campaign, a local execution of a multinational campaign, and a local campaign worthy of international adaptation based upon world class standards.
