Twenty-one agencies were shortlisted across six categories. Agencies were adjudicated against four measures: New Business and Growth, Business Retention and Relationships, Training and Industry Recognition, and Empowerment/Social Responsibility.

Convened by Jeremy Maggs and David Furlonger – the co-editors of the annual Financial Mail AdFocus Magazine – a panel consisting of jury chairperson Craig Page-Lee and other industry professionals adjudicated each entry and applied their scores in secret.

Finalist agencies in all categories made themselves available for a Q&A with the jurors, arising from their entries. The judging and scoring were audited by Deloitte.

"The importance of digital and, specifically, mobile has been a key thread throughout this year’s entries, with all agency categories demonstrating evidence of delivery in this regard, irrespective how successful the campaigns and submissions were," says Page-Lee.

"That said, there is still a way to go before we see agencies being able to deliver seamlessly through the coupling of these concepts and trends," adds Page-Lee.

Page-Lee says, "The biggest highlight has been the introduction of the transformation award, which obviously solicited incredible conversation and signalled an important milestone for not only the Financial Mail AdFocus Awards programme, but for the industry as a whole."

The 2017 Financial Mail AdFocus Award winners are:
  • Agency of the Year – FCB Joburg;
  • Small Advertising Agency of the Year – The Odd Number;
  • Medium Advertising Agency of the Year – Promise;
  • Large Advertising Agency of the Year – FCB Joburg;
  • Specialist Agency of the Year – Grid Worldwide;
  • Digital Agency of the Year – Ogilvy;
  • Network Media Agency of the Year – The MediaShop;
  • Independent Media Agency of the Year – TMI Media;
  • PR Agency of the Year – Clockwork Media;
  • African Impact Award – Burson-Marsteller Africa; 
  • Transformation Award (sponsored by M&N Brands) – The MediaShop;
  • New Broom Award – THINK;
  • Partnership of the Year (sponsored by IAS) – 99c and Checkers;
  • Industry Leader of the Year (sponsored by House of Brave) – Robyn de Villiers; and
  • Lifetime Achievement Award (sponsored by Creatrix) – Andy Rice.
Student of the Year, sponsored by Coronation Fund Managers, was won by:
  • Winner – Keagan Clack;
  • Finalist – Raquel Ribeiro; and
  • Finalist – Jason Walden.

The Financial Mail AdFocus Magazine will be distributed by the Financial Mail on Wednesday, 23 November. The title’s co-editor, David Furlonger, will be retiring from his responsibilities after many years of involvement with the AdFocus Awards.

Phumi Mashigo will take the reins as the new jury chair in 2018. She is the founding managing director of Ignitive, a pre-eminent stakeholder management and communications company. The MediaShop sponsored the WiFi at the AdFocus Awards event.

For more information, visit www.adfocus.co.za.