According to Andrew Human, CEO of the non-profit Loerie Awards Company which oversees all things Loeries-related, Loeries® Creative Week™, will be held at the Durban International Conference Centre (Durban ICC) and along the Durban beachfront. A key change is that Creative Week will move to a month earlier - taking place from Monday, 10 to Sunday, 16 August 2015.

Commenting on the venue change, Human says a number of factors swayed the decision in Durban’s favour: “Durban can be reached fairly easily by plane or car from Cape Town and Johannesburg which makes it affordable and convenient for the majority of participants. Durban is also sunny and warm virtually year round. The Durban ICC will allow us to increase our seating capacity from 1600 to 2200 and all activities and accommodation will be conveniently concentrated within walking distance along the beachfront and at the ICC.”

New partners are eThekwini Municipality, Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN) and the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, KwaZulu-Natal Province.

Says MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Micheal Mabuyakhulu; “We are very excited to be hosting the Loeries in the KwaZulu-Natal province, once again. We look forward to welcoming the brand communications fraternity to our beautiful province. We hope they will take time and explore our beautiful landscapes and scenery and return to the province after the event to use it as backdrop in their projects in the future. The province has now established the KZN Film Commission and we trust that through this partnership, we will increase the number of television commercials being shot here. We also estimate that by hosting the Loeries in the province, more than R100-million will be injected into the local economy.”

“We are delighted to be the hosts of what is the most important annual showcase for the Pan African brand communications industry. This will provide Durban with a unique opportunity to showcase its talents and potential in this realm. In addition, the Loeries will provide representatives of our local creative industry with an opportunity to participate in and learn from this key event,” said eThekwini Mayor, James Nxumalo.

The Loeries have evolved significantly since their introduction and have gone from strength to strength under the auspices of the Loerie Awards Company and its board which features a number of prominent members of the brand communications industry. Today, the Loeries are internationally recognised and viewed as the benchmark against which regional industry excellence is measured. Importantly, all surplus funds stemming from the Loeries are channelled back into promoting the industry and fostering creative individuals primarily from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The awards and Creative Week are but two elements of the Loeries. Rather than just celebrating the best creative work once a year, prominent Loeries activities are now held throughout the year. Activities include a travelling exhibition that displays award winning work, a ‘Creative Future Scholarship,’ the ‘Official Rankings,’ and the ‘Loeries Archive’. The rankings offer transparent oversight of the awards and promote creativity and innovation as primary business tools in the brand communication industry. Once a year, Migrate, the official magazine of the Loeries, is also published.

Human says the year-long events showcase all that the industry has to offer both internally and externally and promote the way in which creativity adds to the bottom line in more ways than one.

Once again, Tsogo Sun will be the Official Accommodation Partner of the Loeries. Special accommodation packages will be made available to Loeries delegates at the Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani, Suncoast Casino and Garden Court.

Key dates to remember:

- The 2015 Loeries campaign will open in February 2015;
- The International Seminar of Creativity will take place on Friday, 14 August;
- The awards ceremonies will take place on Saturday, 15 and Sunday, 16 August 2015.

Major Partners of the Loeries 2014

The major partners of the 2014 Loeries are DStv Media Sales, the City of Cape Town, Western Cape Government and Gearhouse South Africa

Category Partners

Adams & Adams, ADreach, Commercial Producers Association, Continental Outdoor Media, Google, Independent News, The Times, Unilever South Africa, Woolworths, and YFM

Additional Partners and Official Suppliers

AAA School of Advertising, Antalis South Africa, Aon South Africa, Art Board, Backsberg, BEE Online, Cape Town Partnership, Cape Town Tourism, Clive Stewart Photography, Egg Films, Facebook, First Source, Funk Productions, Gallo Images, Graphica, Grid Worldwide, Hertz, Hetzner, Ice Models, Lampost, Media Film Service, McCann, Meltwater, Multiprint Litho, Newsclip, Paygate, Positive Dialogue Communications, Rocketseed, Shimmy Beach Club, Sonovision Studios, South African Airways, Tiekie Barnard Consultancy, Tsogo Sun, Twenty Model Management, and Wesgro.

Official Media Partners

Adlip.com, Between 10 & 5, Bizcommunity.com, Brandwork Nigeria, Cape Town Tourism, Design Times, Film & Event Media, Ididthatad.com, News24.com and SourceEcreative.