The Pendoring Awards, celebrating and rewarding excellence in Afrikaans and truly South African advertising, will this year coincide with Creative Week Cape Town. The Pendoring awards evening is scheduled to take place in Cape Town on 21 September – the same weekend as the Loeries.
Linda Gibson, CEO of Ads24, points out that the Pendoring and Loerie Awards immediately precede South Africa’s Heritage Day. “This, too, is fortuitous, since the country’s Afrikaans newspapers have a long heritage, with Die Burger’s Cape origins dating back well into the nineteenth century.’
Gibson says the nation’s other leading Afrikaans newspapers – Rapport, Beeld, Volksblad, Son and Son op Sondag – also boast proud histories. “That they have all thrived in an extremely tough media environment demonstrates the power of Afrikaans media and, in particular, its appeal for advertisers countrywide,’ says Gibson, adding that the annual Pendoring Awards are an acknowledgement of that role.
“Ads24, the national sales team for Media24 Newspapers (print and digital), strive to ensure that a significant number of influential Afrikaans newspapers stand tall in an extremely competitive print media environment.’
Afrikaans speakers represent the third-biggest language group in South Africa and Gibson points out that there has been an encouraging increase in excellent Afrikaans creative advertising. “It is great to see the advertisers embracing the power of Afrikaans, hence Ads24’s support for the Pendoring Awards. We stand firmly behind Afrikaans creatives, encouraging them to grow and remain in the industry so that marketers can communicate effectively with this sought-after target market.’
Ads24’s 2012 campaign, designed to raise awareness of its Afrikaans titles amongst the advertising community, is encapsulated in the following message: “Think in Afrikaans and your brand message will never get lost in translation. When you relate to the Afrikaans market in their own language you don’t just reach them – you move them.’
“Pendoring provides a platform for acknowledging and rewarding Afrikaans creatives for their sterling work. The awards are a great opportunity to showcase this vibrant sector to the whole industry. As always, we are proud to be associated with Pendoring and look forward to seeing the winning entries unveiled.’
Pendoring GM Franette Klerck says Pendoring is privileged to continue its unique partnership with Ads24 this year – a year in which the nation celebrates creativity in full force.
“With its Think Afrikaans campaign, Ads24 plays a crucial role in conveying the importance and profitability of home language advertising to advertisers and advertising creatives. It’s also absolutely in line with one of Pendoring’s most important objectives – to stress and promote the importance of Afrikaans marketing messages to advertisers and creatives.
“As the impact of a commercial message in a target market’s home language is so much greater, marketers who heed this truth should reap rich financial benefits,’ says Klerck.
