The Assegai Integrated Marketing Awards was held in Melrose, Johannesburg on Thursday, 4 December. 

The Assegai Awards is an annual ceremony recognising integrated marketing excellence in South Africa. The awards strive to highlight best-in-class marketing campaigns and encourage all players in the South African direct marketing industry to push the boundaries of creativity, with the ultimate goal of continually raising the bar for the industry as a whole.

"We're very proud of our team as this was our first time entering these awards," says hoola's COO and co-founder Ebert Grobler.

"These achievements acknowledge and validate our ability as a modern agency and industry leader to recognise what the online public hope to receive for their precious time when they choose to engage with brands," adds Grobler.

Grobler says that the campaign was aimed at evolving Tekkie Town's brand from a perceived 'brick and mortar' retail brand to an engaging and relatable online brand, which connected with its audience in an honest manner.

"We created a campaign that spoke to a human truth, which is that everyone is unique. We all experience, live and love differently and no matter what you do; you do it your way, leaving your unique footprint behind," says Grobler.

The '#WalkYourWay' campaign aimed to give Tekkie Town's audience an opportunity to truly embrace and express themselves. According to the brand, the results were outstanding, with the brand increasing their online following and seeing their audience authentically engaging and sharing their stories with them.

"What made the campaign such a success was that we ensured all the integrated platforms received quality content that was effectively managed. We also continuously engaged with the public in a near real-time manner. We saw an unprecedented growth of following and engagement on all social platforms and at such a rate that it resulted in Tekkie Town rapidly surpassing their competitors' social platform growth," adds Grobler. 

Tekkie Town's executive of merchandise and marketing Mohamed Dewan says, "It was always a great feeling to know your agency and team's hard work was being acknowledged, especially considering the line-up of the great campaigns that we were up against. Tekkie Town is very proud of this result."

Dewan says that because consumer connection was at the center of what they do at Tekkie Town, the '#WalkYourWay' campaign was aimed at speaking to the everyday consumer who journeys through life with subtle greatness on daily events, which is more often than not, seldom celebrated in their communities.

"We wanted to take these stories out to South Africa so that we could become motivated to do better and inspire others to see life more positively. hoola successfully took this out into the public eye and the response has been humbling and motivating," concludes Dewan. 

For more information, visit www.hoola.agency. You can also follow hoola on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.