Riverbed's performance earned it recognition as the first 100% black female-owned agency to lead the PRISM scoreboard. "Our vision of becoming South Africa's leading creative agency is built on moments like this," says CEO and founder of Riverbed Monalisa Sibongile Zwambila.

"It is humbling and rewarding to be recognised for our great work, and our success at the Prisms is testimony to the dedication that has gone into creating a unique proposition for our clients, founded on our integrated capability to deliver on whole-idea solutions," adds Zwambila. 

Riverbed worked with Aware.org.za in launching a national awareness campaign to tackle the problem of underage drinking by developing an integrated campaign that included a television commercial, radio, digital and PR.

According to the agency, the campaign exceeded all its performance metrics, putting underage drinking on the national agenda for the first time.

"We're especially excited to have won South African Campaign of the Year, which was the result of a massive collaborative effort from the Riverbed team across various disciplines — harnessing the unique strengths of digital, creative and PR around a central insight," says executive creative director at Riverbed Bridget Johnson.

"The success of the campaign is also a result of the bravery of our client Ingrid Louw, chief executive at Aware.org.za, who made bold choices that enabled the creation of thoughtful social impact work," adds Johnson. 

Riverbed also won several awards for its work on Nedbank's 'Money Secrets' campaign, which explores South African's emotional relationship with money and aims to help them make a positive change when making financial decisions.

"While winning South African Campaign of the Year is a huge achievement for Riverbed, winning 12 awards across different categories makes it even more special," Zwambila says. "This milestone represents the culmination of years of hard work in building a purpose-led agency." 

"More importantly, this is a win for transformation, with Riverbed as a black female-owned agency being the biggest winner on the day. The number of awards received by black agencies this year has increased significantly, showing the value of diversity and the great work coming from black agencies," adds Zwambila.

"These awards set in motion the realisation of our ambition to become a leader in our sector and, more importantly, positions us favourably against the best in the industry," concludes Zwambila.

Riverbed won the following awards at the 2020 PRISMs:
  • SA Campaign of the Year Overall winner for Aware.org.za's 'Underage Drinking' campaign
  • Digital Media Relations Gold for Aware.org.za's 'Underage Drinking' campaign
  • Digital Media Relations Silver for Nedbank's 'Money Secrets' campaign
  • Financial Services Silver for Nedbank's 'Money Secrets' campaign
  • Influencer Management Bronze for Aware.org.za's 'Underage Drinking' campaign
  • Influencer Management Silver for Nedbank's 'Money Secrets' campaign
  • Integration of Traditional and New Media Silver for Aware.org.za's 'Underage Drinking' campaign
  • Launch of a New Product, Service for category Silver for Aware.org.za's 'Underage Drinking' campaign
  • Media Relations Bronze for Nedbank's 'Money Secrets' campaign
  • NGO Campaign Gold for Aware.org.za's 'Underage Drinking' campaign
  • Reputation and Brand Management Silver for Nedbank's 'Money Secrets' campaign
  • Social Media as the Primary Communication Tool Bronze for Aware.org.za's 'Underage Drinking' campaign
For more information, visit www.theriverbedagency.co.za. You can also follow Riverbed on Facebook or on Twitter.