"The past two years put forward a challenge that has shaken every part of business," says AdFocus Awards chairperson Faheem Chaudhry.

Chaudhry adds, "However — time and time again — when a crisis hits, creativity thrives. 2022's AdFocus Awards will look for the businesses who have holistically shown how they are able to bounce back."

"They have shown how creativity can be the vaccine for the economy by stimulating demand and guiding businesses back to their true north. We're looking forward to celebrating and rewarding those agencies who have shown that no matter what challenges come forward, the creative industry always finds a way," says Chaudhry.

Financial Mail editor Rob Rose says, "We've been doing this competition for 32 years and we think that it is more vital than ever, given the imperative to rebuild the country now. The advertising industry can play a fundamental role in doing that."

There have been some changes made to the awards 2022, according to the awards. The most significant change is the addition of the Group Agency of the Year Award category. This category will look to award the agency group with the best performance over the period under review and will include the total business impact of all the agencies included in the agency group or holding company.

"Given the tough external environment of the past two years, we'll be looking for the agency group that has shown flexibility, versatility and bounce back-ability across all its businesses," concludes Chaudhry.

The Large, Medium and Small agency size categories have been redefined and the Media Agency category has once again been split into Independent and Network Agency categories.

The awards add that, in addition, the questionnaires have been updated to ensure they are relevant to the current environment and in order to better interrogate the business case of entrants in a more defined manner. They have also been streamlined to ensure the entry process is more efficient.

The agency awards for 2022 include the following:
  • Large Advertising Agency of the Year
  • Medium Advertising Agency of the Year
  • Small Advertising Agency of the Year
  • Network Media Agency of the Year
  • Independent Media Agency of the Year
  • Public Relations Agency of the Year
  • Specialist Agency of the Year
  • Partnership of the Year
  • African Impact Award
  • Transformation Award, and
  • Adaptability Award.

Nominated awards include the following:
  • Lifetime Achievement
  • Industry Leader of the Year
  • Student of the Year, and
  • Shapeshifter.

Jadi Tillim, MD of Tukio Media, takes the reigns as the 2022 FM AdFocus project director. Tillim's long career in the media industry has included running Primedia Broadcasting's in-house creative solutions team for over a decade and being 702's marketing manager on numerous award-winning advertising campaigns.

Individuals can enter the 2022 AdFocus Awards here. The deadline for all entries is midnight on Wednesday, 31 August.

All award categories, entry criteria and closing dates can be found on the website.

The winners will be announced on Wednesday, 23 November.

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