The three international jury chairmen for this year’s Loerie Awards, which recognise exceptional work in all areas of brand communication in South Africa, Africa and the Middle East, seemed genuinely impressed with this year’s entries.
“I have great respect for the work that I saw,’ said Matt Shirtcliffe, the Loeries Experiential Jury Chairman and a founding partner at Saatchi and Saatchi DGS New Zealand. “And what I enjoyed the most was seeing work unique to the country but executed to world standards. The standard of animation is very good and the level of art direction and design exceptional.’
The Loeries Design Jury Chairman and Co-founder of Hat-trick Design, Jim Sutherland, said the work had exceeded his expectations. “The innovation to introduce an open discussion session between the judges was a great idea and it helped judges understand underlying nuances of local languages and South African culture.’
South African Jan Jacobs, the Loeries Advertising Jury Chairman, who owns New York based agency Johannes Leonardo, said the future of the advertising in the country lay in the abundance of local flavour in the work. “It has taken the industry a long time to become comfortable being South African. Used correctly, this will be a powerful tool for local advertising and completely set it apart from the rest of the world.
“I was pleasantly surprised by the South African “voice’ that’s present in the work – something that wasn’t very strong when I worked here. Radio is excellent and probably the best I’ve heard anywhere. Very smart and well executed,’ said Jacobs.
He however had some criticism for television which he said had slackened from the great ads by BMW, Nandos and Mercedes 10 years ago. “TV needs a bit of work and it’s not a budget issue. There also tends to be a habit of over art-directing print and poster advertising which often does not make the ideas stronger, but in fact harder to understand,’ Jacobs said.
Shirtcliffe commented that the judging process of the Loeries is among the best internationally with clearly defined rules, processes and categories.
Loeries chairman Festus Masekwameng added: “It is always encouraging to see that there are some brave clients out there with some great and bold ideas. The quality of the entries for the New Voice Award launched this year was exceptional. It is clear that the work that will be winning in these new categories will also hold its own in the main categories.’
Loerie winners will be announced during Loeries weekend, which takes place from 24 to 27 September in Cape Town.
