“We are delighted to be presented with this award,” says Priya Naidoo, Tsogo Sun’s general communications GM. “Tsogo Sun’s vision is to create great experiences for our guests, and our properties are positioned as the premiere entertainment destinations in their respective areas. The Amazing Slots Race activation was strategically focused on conveying both these positioning statements, while at the same time creating widespread awareness and talkability about the tournament across multiple media platforms.”
The African Excellence Awards are hosted by Communications Director, a magazine for corporate communications and public relations, which is distributed worldwide. The awards are open to public relations, communications, brand building, and reputation management professionals whose work has displayed exceptional talent and ability.
The 30-strong jury of leading communications professionals evaluated the applications on criteria that included strategy, innovation and creativity, implementation, and results and efficiency, where the jury considered the results of the projects in relation to the stated targets, as well as the resources used to achieve the results.
Tsogo Sun’s annual Slots Factor tournament was held for the third time in 2015, and an innovative approach to its launch and awareness campaign was required. Strategic Public Relations, a small-to-medium sized Johannesburg-based agency which has consulted to Tsogo Sun for over nine years, creatively conceptualised the The Amazing Slots Race as a means to position gaming as a fun form of entertainment while also attracting influential media, celebrities and bloggers to encourage the social conversation and simultaneously showcase aspects of Tsogo Sun’s refurbished Silverstar property, where The Amazing Slots Race took place.
The day started at Montecasino where the guests were divided into their teams and driven to Silverstar in The Amazing Slots Race branded vehicles. At Silverstar, the teams visited four pit stops, two roadblocks, and a detour, completing entertaining challenges along the route. Each challenge incorporated an experience at Silverstar, highlighting different aspects of the entertainment destination and throughout the race the contestants were required to use their social media platforms to document their achievements and progress.
For the final challenge, each team had to earn a R100 Slots Factor note to use as a buy-in for a special celebrity Slots Factor tournament, where they played in heats, gaining first-hand experience of the excitement and entertainment value of the Slots Factor tournament.
In congratulating Tsogo Sun and Strategic Public Relations on their win, Rudolf Hetzel, publisher of Communication Director and chairperson of the jury, said almost 3000 entries had been received from around the world.
“Awards increasingly matter to clients who can see as clear as day that creativity drives their business. Competitions like the African Excellence Awards mean promotions and new opportunities, new business, better talent, and third-party endorsement. We have set out to meet this demand on the African content by introducing a new brand of Awards. The Excellence Awards are by now a global brand, having started in Europe 10 years ago and now a worldwide competition on five continents. Today we celebrate the best that African PR has to offer,” says Hetzel.
“It is a privilege to work with a company for whom innovation is second nature. Tsogo Sun encourages a blue sky approach to strategic initiatives, and this one raised the bar in terms of gaming-related PR. Utilising the excitement of the amazing race, which meant incorporating aspects such as teamwork, quick thinking and competitiveness, we were able to attract influencers with a high following within Tsogo Sun’s target market. Most importantly, it allowed us to replicate the fun and excitement of Tsogo Sun’s group-wide slots tournament as the culmination of the experience,” says Vanessa Naudé, MD of Strategic Public Relations.
“The combined team of Tsogo Sun, Montecasino, Silverstar and Strategic PR staff, with assistance from partner agencies Angelfish PR and Eclipse PR, handled the many logistical requirements that ensured the success of the day,” adds Naudé.