After a one-year hiatus, the VUKA! Awards for public service announcements (PSAs) look set to return in November 2009 under the auspices of South African pay-TV broadcaster M-Net.
Originally launched in 1998 by MultiChoice (owner of the DStv bouquet), the VUKA! Awards were designed to enable social causes to promote their messages to television viewers in a cost effective manner. These PSAs, produced by both newcomer and professional filmmakers, showcased both the issues prevalent in South African society and the talent within the local television industry as they found innovative ways to illustrate hard-to-swallow messages.
Says M-Net Corporate Marketing and Communications Director Koo Govender: “We took over the VUKA! Awards in 2007 and during 2008 re-evaluated and reviewed how the awards fit into M-Net’s corporate social investment (CSI) strategy. This process involved a lot of consultation with stakeholders. It became clear that we needed to produce the awards in a different way.
“M-Net identified five key issues. Firstly, the need to incorporate VUKA! into M-Net’s CSI strategy. Secondly, a focus on specific South African societal issues. Thirdly, a focus on young creatives in the emerging and professional market. There is also a need to establish VUKA! as a premiere even on the South African calendar and to utilise top judges. Lastly, we need to explain the concept and principles of VUKA to M-Net’s audience, who mostly sit in the LSM8 – 10 bracket.’
According to Govender, M-Net is committed in its re-launching of the VUKA! Awards to add value to the participating NGOs.
