LINDA KRIGE writes… The international chairmen of the 2011 Loerie Awards judging panels shared their insights on breaking convention, being different and “interestingness” during the Loeries Seminar at The Campus in Bryanston, Johannesburg, on 5 July.
The seminar kicked off Loeries judging week and was attended by brand communication agencies and their clients. The Loeries are the premier brand communication awards in South Africa, Africa and the Middle East and will be presented on 17 and 18 September at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
Head of the TV & Radio Communication category Andre Laurentino, also known as Dede, is a Brazilian-born sitcom writer, novelist and executive creative director of TBWA\London. He spoke about TBWA’s commitment to break with convention, and urged the seminar attendees not to hold on to established marketing norms during a time of “revolutionary change’ in the industry.
Garrick Hamm, head of the Loeries Communication Design category, is creative partner at the London based design consultancy Williams Murray Hamm (WMH) and executive president of the D&AD. He shared 20 lessons learned from his two decades of working in design, including “if you really want to succeed, you have to put in the time’, “never trust a focus group’ and “every brief is an opportunity’.
South African born Adrian Miller is chair of the Loeries Print Communication category, and is chief creative officer of JWT Delhi and member of the JWT worldwide creative board. He spoke about the importance of “interestingness’ to the industry. “Brands are like people’, noted Miller, “how often do you meet a girl and say she was really consistent and on-message?’
In a Q&A session with journalists after the seminar, Laurentino noted that some exceptional work in advertising has already “put South Africa on the map’. “I didn’t need to research the work of the South African industry before coming here, I knew the work, and I’m expecting to be wowed again,’ said Laurentino.
Going into judging week, Miller said he was looking for “originality, relevance and execution’ in the work they will be judging.
For more on the Loeries Seminar, read the August issue of Screen Africa.
