At the Awards ceremonies, 287 Loeries were awarded across 14 categories, including six Grand Prix Awards, 31 Golds, 69 Silvers, 113 Bronzes, 18 Craft Golds and 50 Craft Certificates.

More than 2 500 entries were received, with 15% of entries from outside South Africa. A total of 700 brands were represented by 265 agencies from 15 countries across Africa and the Middle East.

The Awards were judged by over 170 regional and international industry leaders in their fields, including international jury presidents Fabian Frese, Ian Mackenzie, Nicolas Courant and Sebastian Padilla.

The six Grand Prix Awards winners can be found below.

• In Communication Design, Fear and Fantasy Festival’s 'Fear and Fantasy Festival' by TBWA Reklam Hizmetleri AS, Turkey
• In Digital & Interactive Communication, Sanlam’s '2 Minute Shower Songs' by King James Group, South Africa
• In Print Communication, Nando’s '#rightmyname' by M&C Saatchi Abel, South Africa
• In Radio, Louvre Abu Dhabi’s 'Highway Gallery' by TBWA\RAAD, United Arab Emirates
• In Film Communication, Kimberly-Clark’s 'The World's First Baby Marathon' by Ogilvy Johannesburg, South Africa
• In Integrated Campaign, La Libanaise Des Jeux’s 'Lucky Face' by Impact BBDO Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Suhana Gordhan, creative director at FCB Africa, ended her period as Loeries chair, and Tseliso Rangaka, executive creative director at Ogilvy Cape Town, was announced as the new chairperson for the next two years.

"I think Africa and the Middle East are among the most brand-conscious places in the world right now, and I’m thrilled that I’m going to have a bird’s eye view of the region," says Rangaka.

"I think we have an opportunity to be really brave and take advantage of the fact that we’re not as constrained by tradition as markets like Europe and the United States," adds Rangaka.

The Marketing Leadership & Innovation Award was presented to Doug Place, CMO of Nando’s. "This award is designed to honour an achiever like Doug who brings sustained dedication and performance as a marketing professional," says Loeries CEO, Andrew Human.

Greg Gray of Romance Films was inducted into the Loeries Hall of Fame. "Everyone in the commercials industry knows Greg Gray," says Human.

"He has been responsible for an amazing body of beautiful, memorable and award-winning work over many years – a true legend in the industry."

Kirstin Uken, designer at Sunshinegun, and David Franciscus, founder and producer/director of Protagonist Films, were honoured with the Brand South Africa Young Creatives Award.

The award recognises the creative performance of individuals aged 27 or younger and the prize includes a Gold Loerie and $5 000 USD for each winner.

In the Student category, five Gold Loeries were awarded, with students from AAA School Of Advertising in Cape Town winning two Golds, North-West University one Gold, University of Johannesburg one Gold and The Open Window one Craft Gold.

In the Student Facebook Challenge, where entrants created mobile-first ad campaigns for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, a Silver Loerie went to ‘Helpin’ Hands’ by Vega Johannesburg.

Also in the Facebook Challenge, two Bronze Loeries were awarded to AAA School of Advertising, Cape Town and 02 Academy, Lagos for ‘The things Gogo says’ and ‘Give a Soap’ respectively.

The Loeries also announced a new partnership with the AAA School of Advertising Johannesburg and TBWA\ Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg who, together, aim to contribute to the Creative Future Scholarship.

The scholarship launched in 2008 to support talented young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Since 2015, when the Loeries moved to Durban, it has benefitted 11 local students to the value of R8-million, in partnership with Vega.

Pete Khoury, executive creative director at TBWA\ Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg, challenged other agencies to also sponsor the Creative Future Scholarship. "The more sponsorships the Loeries gets, the wider our talent pool becomes," he says.

The Awards were brought to a close on Saturday evening, with the announcements of the Agency and Regional Agency Group of the Year. The top three Agencies of the Year are: 

  • First – Joe Public United
  • Second – TBWA Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg, and
  • Third – Impact BBDO Dubai.
The top three Regional Agency Groups of the Year are:
  • First – TBWA\,
  • Second – Ogilvy EMEA, and
  • Third – Joe Public United.

Fahmeeda Cassim-Surtee, CEO of DStv Media Sales, a major partner of the Loeries, says that it was important for the company to take a vested interest in the ongoing development of creativity.

"Our business is all about an enjoyable viewer experience. Our viewers are used to seeing great content, and good advertising forms a part of this," Cassim-Surtee says.

"The Loeries brings education, information and inspiration to the advertising and brand communication industry, which at the end of the day means better ads," adds Cassim-Surtee.

The Loeries will release its full Official Rankings at a later date.

For more information, visit www.loeries.com. You can also follow the Loeries on Facebook, Twitter on or Instagram.