Chris Babayode, managing director for MMA in EMEA said; “We were thrilled to see how marketers and agencies in South Africa have embraced the opportunity to be creative and effective in their campaigns, bringing technical sophistication and consumer relevance to the entries they submitted. It is more evident than ever that mobile holds the unique ability to bring brands closer to their consumers and engage with them in a way that is visceral, memorable and delivers business results.” 

The Best in Show Award was given to MovieRideFX and Waterstone Entertainment for the MovieRide FX Campaign. The singular mobile app allows any user to star in a movie clip of their choice through using a combination of emerging technologies and their mobile camera for an enhanced user experience.

Tim Bishop, director of digital at Deloitte and jury chair for the MMA SA Smarties™ Awards 2016 said; “Well-known tech giants Facebook and Vodacom won Enabling Technology Company of the Year and Operator of the Year respectively owing to the scale and rate of mobile innovation within their businesses. We were also pleased to award Gorilla Creative Media with Agency of the Year and Yonder Media with Media Company of the Year.” 

The winning campaigns illustrate a trend towards customer-focused mobile experiences that blend technology in new and exciting ways. As a benefit to its brand members, the MMA will be converting the global shortlist into case studies to be added to its 600 strong Case Study Hub. All winning campaigns can be viewed in the 2016 MMA SA Smarties™ Winners Gallery.

Best in Show: MovieRide FX for MovieRide by Waterstone Entertainment 

Agency of the Year: Gorilla Creative Media

Enabling Technology Company of the Year in Mobile: Facebook

Operator of the Year in Mobile: Vodacom

Publisher / Media Company of the Year in Mobile: Yonder Media

Marketing Strategy 

Brand Awareness: Silver: #YouGottaDry for Unilever by Gorilla and Mindshare; Bronze: South Africa Municipal Elections Campaign for IEC South Africa, by Yonder Media 

Product/Services Launch: Silver: #YouGottaDry for Unilever by Gorilla and Mindshare; Bronze: Inecto Colour Walk for Inecto by Conversation Lab 

Relationship Building and CRM : Silver: OMO Fast Kids for OMO South Africa by Liquorice; Bronze: Suncoast Casino – Tsogo Moments for Suncoast Casino Tsogo Sun by Always Active Technologies 

Social Impact/Not for Profit : Special mention: ilovelife for LoveLife by Thumbtribe; Silver: OMO Fast Kids for OMO South Africa by Liquorice

Media Strategy 

Cross Mobile IntegrationGold: South Africa Municipal Elections Campaign for IEC South Africa, by Yonder Media; Bronze: Beat Your Monster Craving for R&R Ice Cream/King Cone by Gorilla; Bronze: The Chase for Richelieu by Liquorice 

Messaging: Gold: Beat Your Monster Craving for R&R Ice Cream/King Cone by Gorilla; Bronze: South Africa Municipal Elections Campaign for IEC South Africa, by Yonder Media

Mobile Website: Gold: OMO Fast Kids for OMO South Africa by Liquorice; Gold: Varsity College Website for Varsity College by Conversation Lab

Mobile Social: Gold: Donate your Pee for Unilever Domestos by Niche Digital; Bronze: #YouGottaDry for Unilever by Gorilla and Mindshare

Enabling Technology 

Innovation: Gold: MovieRide FX for MovieRide by Waterstone Entertainment; Silver: The Holobooth for, and by, Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town 

Mobile Video : Gold: #YouGottaDry for Unilever by Gorilla and Mindshare; Bronze: Inecto Colour Walk for Inecto by Conversation Lab

For more information, visit www.mmaglobal.com/south-africa.