Sponsored by the ACA and the SABC, with category sponsors, Anglo American; the IDC; and SAB, as well as contributors, AVL Productions; Cadbury SA; Edith Venter Promotions; Gideon’s Flowers & Functions; Ogilvy; Robertson Winery; Vodacom; and Vodacom Events, South Africa’s finest creative minds donned their smartest outfits and celebrated their successes. With orange juice; Grolsch; and sherry in hand, and a selection of tasty starters on offer, guest mingled in the foyer before entering the Vodadome, where we were entertained by an acrobatic show before proceedings began.

MC for the evening, Odette Roper of the ACA, welcomed guests to the event, and introduced the ACA Chairperson, Reinher Behrens, who gave the welcome address. She stated that “While the business of branding and selling is by its very nature highly competitive, it’s the innate desire to outperform one another, whether you are a large or small agency, that sustains a vibrant and healthy profession. Added to which, the co-operation and participation of agencies within a collective body, ensures professional respect and recognition. Being a member of the ACA affords agencies distinct business advantages, and participation in the APEX Awards is one such advantage.”

Following the welcome, certificates were handed out to new members of the ACA – Joe Public; Metropolitan Republic; Match; and Promise - and four bursaries worth R10 000 each were awarded to AAA School of Advertising students from Johannesburg and Cape Town in need of financial assistance, who are excelling academically. This is the first time that funding from the APEX Awards has been directed toward skills development. This was followed by an encouraging soccer-themed message from the SABC. Next, Roper introduced a film reel of memorable South African TVCs, such as the Cardies Ostrich and M-Net singing oran-gutan. Roper added that this year’s APEX-winning campaigns were of a similar calibre as they are true leaders in the industry.

Andy Rice, Adjudication Panel Chairperson, provided an overview of this year’s adjudication process, stating that he has been involved in the APEX Awards for most of their 15-year history, adding that in this time he has noticed healthy growth in the industry. He feels that this year’s submissions fell in line with the judging criteria and entry requirements, and stated, “We (South Africa) now stand up to international comparison admirably."

This was followed by an entertainment session by ventriloquist, Conrad Koch, and his controversial puppet, Chester. After a dinner of pepper-dusted ‘steak au poivre’ in brandy crème fraiche sauce, resting on sweet potato and onion rosti with a stack of baby vegetables, Roper introduced the key note address by guest speaker, Geoff Whyte, also a member of the 2010 adjudication panel, who pointed out that consumers often filter out what they don’t want to see on TV, which means that advertisers need to create content that people will want to watch, not merely interrupt the scheduled programming. They need to persuade the audience that their brand is special and different to the others on the market, as we are starting to be “bored to death by the familiar.” Whyte added that there are far too many weak clients out there, which leads to a snowball effect as the marketers are then not given free reign to be creative, which in turn results in a weak advertising campaign. He implored advertisers to stand up for their creativity and pitch radical new ideas.

Whyte stated that the general standard of APEX entries this year was extremely high, and the campaigns that picked up awards of any colour are truly exceptional. He said, “Reviewing the winning case studies, there was a very clear pattern for me: where there was great marketing thinking, great creativity followed. And where these two elements aligned, the impact on sales was significant and sustained. But, perhaps more importantly, where campaigns were really successful, the client and agency had the courage to do something different. So let’s all be brave enough to stand up for what we believe in; challenge every conventional wisdom; and aim to be world class. Let’s be driven by our ambitions for greatness, not by fear.” He ended his address by showing an inspiring ad by Apple titled ‘Think different/ The Crazy Ones’, stating, “let’s dare often to be ‘crazy’, and continue changing the world from the southern tip of Africa.

Next, Roper presented the Launch and Sustain category awards, with the Change category awards and Special Awards being presented following a short break for the dessert buffet. The Change category recognised new campaigns from previously advertised brands which resulted in significant short-term (less than 18 months) effects on sales and or behaviour. Sustain category winners had submitted campaigns that benefited business by maintaining or strengthening a brand over a long period (36 months); while the Launch category celebrated brands or services that are less than 12-months-old, with no significant history of advertising.

It was encouraging to note that while there were many entries from ‘the usual suspects’ - think Ogilvy; DDB; and Draft FCB - there were also a number of entries from newcomers and less frequently represented agencies and brands, such as Joe Public and Metropolitan Republic. Big winners included TBWA’s ‘Trillion Dollar Advertising Campaign for The Zimbabwean, which was a Gold winner in the Change category, and took home a Special Award certificate for ‘the most ingenious response to limited advertising or research funds’; DDB South Africa’s ‘Mrs Ball’s Please sir, can I have some more’ campaign for Unilever, which took home a Silver Change Award; The Innoxa ‘Neck and bust - show it off’ campaign by Morris Jones, which also won Silver for Change; Ogilvy’s KFC ‘Add hope’ campaign, which won Silver for change. Bronze Awards were presented in the Change category for Network BBDO Cape Town’s ‘David vs Goliaths’ campaign for Capitec Bank; the Cadbury SA Lunchbar relaunch by Publicis; Cadbury SA’s Dentyne campaign by Ogilvy Cape Town; the Cell C ‘Woza Wheneva’ campaign by Network BBDO; Ogilvy Cape Town’s ‘Goodbye Citi’ campaign for VW SA; and Euro RSCG’s ‘Welcome to the talent war’ by PNet. The launch category had four Silver winners: DDB South Africa’s McDonald’s entry; Coley Porter Bell SA’s Fairview Cheese Redesign; Ogilvy Cape Town’s ‘Stimerol 3-piece’ campaign for Cadbury SA; and Ogilvy Cape Town’s Landrover Discovery 4 launch. Bronze winners for the Launch category include Zoom Advertising’s UNEP Finance ‘Consider Us’ campaign for the UN Sustainability Forum CT; The Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town’s Bushmills Bromotion for Brandhouse; Ogilvy Cape Town’s VW new Golf for Volkswagen SA; and the WWF SA Earth Hour ‘Power of One Hour’ campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi, which also won a Special Award certificate for ‘the most successful submission for a non-profit charity organisation or cause’. The Sustain category had just three winners. Joe Public won a Bronze Award for its ‘Sustaining growth in a mature market’ campaign for Tracker; Ogilvy was awarded a Silver gong for its DStv Compact ‘Making less so much more’ campaign for Multichoice; and Ogilvy took home the Gold again for its ‘Finger Lickin’ Great’ campaign for KFC, as well as the Grand Prix Award.

The adjudication panel was comprised of Andy Rice, Chairman of Yellowwood Future Architects; Ivan Moroke, Group MD of Yellowwood Future Architects; Geoff Whyte, Commercial Director: Africa, Middle East at Cadbury SA; Nicola Lawson, Chief Marketing Officer at Yum! Restaurants Africa; Natasha Velen, Marketing Manager of Oracle Airtime Sales; Emmet O’ Hanlon, MD of DDB SA; Lynn Madeley, CEO of Euros RSCG SA; Neil Higgs, Director of Innovation and Development at TNS Research Surveys; Charles Foster, MD of Millward Brown; Lou Boxall-Davies, Head of Planning at Morris Jones; Jason Knight, Strategic Director at Brand Activation; Pepe Marais, Executive Creative Director of Joe Public; and Sandile Mkhasibe, ECD at Momentum McCann.

In terms of advice for next year’s entrants, Lou Boxall-Davies, Head of Planning at Morris Jones, and adjudicator of the 2010 APEX Awards, states that agencies need to be willing to embrace effectiveness and produce entries that persuade the adjudicators of the contribution of advertising to the success of the case at hand.

All in all, a dazzling event.

Click here for the official winners release, and here to view a gallery of photos from the event.