UJ also won the IABC Africa Silver Quill Excellence Award for its 'The future belongs to those who reimagine it' campaign, as well as the IABC International Gold Quill Merit Award for the Beyond Imagining e-zine series.

The awards aim to recognise excellence in strategic communication globally.

In the opinion of the judges, this is a "world-class entry and shows the use of the global standard in action".

"It was a brilliant entry to review and we commend the team for their innovation, implementation and strategic results," adds the judges.

Lesmarie Bentley-Steyn, UJ's senior manager for marketing and brand management, says that the brief from UJ's vice-chancellor and principal professor Tshilidzi Marwala was clear: to communicate the message that at UJ, the future belongs to those who truly reimagine it.

"We activated the message through an imaginative 4IR website on which the Beyond Imagining e-zine is published along with all the various elements of 'The Future Reimagined' campaign," she says.

The 4IR project, she adds, has been a challenging and exciting one, albeit that it has provided the team with a steep learning curve.

"We took the traditional debate-panel discussion model and reimagined it, placing it firmly with the realm of its own 4IR scope using the latest technology. Inspiring 4IR-in-action stories show the audience how 4IR and humanity relate to each other," says Bentley-Steyn.

"At the same time, we introduced a fully online magazine experience with our Beyond Imagining e-zine. A bespoke website hosts all this 4IR information while a multi-channel media strategy communicates the content," adds Bentley-Steyn.

What the campaign has achieved, says Bentley-Steyn, is the amplification and extension of UJ's 4IR strategy and messaging to a worldwide audience. At the same time, it has highlighted the search for solutions to some of the fundamental challenges this new future brings.

"The campaign exceeded our objectives, successfully raising UJ's 4IR profile with a palpable return on investment," she says.

Congratulating the UJ team on their impressive wins, Tracy McCoy, client executive at brand agency HKLM, says, "Bentley-Steyn and her team have a clear vision for UJ's marketing communication, particularly as it relates to the university's 4IR positioning. We're very proud to be a part of the team."

Twisted Toast Digital MD Louis Eksteen says, "To have won a highly regarded gold award against other global entrants is a significant achievement. Congratulations to the UJ team. We're enormously honoured to be a member of this cutting-edge, 4IR tech-driven team."

"A key element of the success of this campaign was the fact that each party — UJ, HKLM as the lead agency and Twisted Toast Digital — played to their specific strengths," says McCoy.

"In addition to coming off a very sound strategic intent, all parties are totally aligned and understand the objectives of what we're trying to achieve. The agency-client relationship successfully epitomises a true partnership," she concludes.

For more information, visit www.hklm.co.za. You can also follow HKLM on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram