By Nikita Geldenhuys

Bokang Mabiletsa, Desiree Gullan, and Jeff Siepman judged more than 400 entries at last year’s awards, which were held in October in Johannesburg. Six other experts joined them on the judging panel.

Gullan, the executive creative director of Gullan & Gullan, says that the entries to last year’s awards improved since 2015, with more big budget social media campaigns that integrated into 360 campaigns.

Here’s how the best social media campaigns performed:

Clever campaigns are driving local innovations

Some of the winning entries proved that social media marketing campaigns can be successful, regardless of the size of their budgets.

Mabiletsa, Mind Interactive’s CEO, singles out the Vespa campaign as a project that sparked audience engagement without the help of a big budget. “The G&G social media campaign for Vespa, showing how to beat traffic in a hectic situation – like the opening of Mall of Africa – at a next-to-nothing budget, was truly amazing and triggered the desired conversation.”

Domestos’ “Donate your Pee” campaign made an impression on Gullan, even though it wasn’t backed by a large budget. She felt the campaign communicated a strong message in a simple, smart and creatively rewarding way.

Axe’s “You Gotta Dry” campaign impressed both Gullan and Siepman, the creative director of Livion Media. For Siepman, the way in which the campaign spoke to its target market was innovative. “By using humour and totally off-the-wall prizes, [Axe] managed to cut through the noise, connect with consumers, and still kept the focus on the brand and product,” he explains.

Gullan describes the campaign as “exquisite”, as well as “beautifully produced and executed, and definitely worth noting for all-round entertainment value, glamour, and charm”.

It’s not the first time Axe’s campaign was commended for bringing humour and playfulness into social media marketing. Read our article on Top South African social media campaigns to learn from in 2017 to see what other experts thought of the project.

The growing trend of audience engagement

When asked about trends that stood out amongst the New Generation Awards entries, Mabiletsa answers that social media campaigns and projects entered showed more consistency throughout their life span. This, he says, generated more conversations and followers.

Gullan also noticed the trend towards increased engagement within South African social media marketing. “There was some very cool and clever use of user generated content, a great way to keep social channels authentic and get users deeply involved and invested in the brand channel – not an easy thing to pull off successfully.”

Content and conversation needs to be a bigger priority

Gullan would like to see more local brands focus on identifying the right content for their audience. “Consumers are becoming more discerning about which social campaigns they’re willing to engage with. This is making it difficult for brands to breakthrough. In my opinion, good content is still at the heart of successful social media marketing. If it doesn’t inform, educate, entertain or make a positive difference to consumer’s lives, it will just add to the noise flowing past in their news feed,” she says.

She suggests sustaining conversations on social media by using data to understand customers. Her advice? Start with the data and let that lead creative and strategic teams to the concept and execution.

Mabiletsa wants to see more campaigns that spark engagement. “I would like to see campaigns that request the end-user to be more engaging and provide feedback instead of just informing,” he explains. He says this can be done by asking for users’ opinions, or posting thought-provoking campaigns or videos, instead of text alone.

Bend the rules of traditional marketing

Mabiletsa was especially taken with the Wacky Wednesday campaign for Steers. The secret, he says,  lies in the fact that these campaigns were designed for social media and not general advertising.

Siepman hopes to see more agencies move away from using social media in ‘traditional ways’. “Social media is a fast paced and always evolving marketing medium and I would like to see agencies experiment with how it fits into their overall campaign strategy – not just using it in a traditional way,” he concludes.

For more information on how to enter the New Generation Awards, visit www.newgenawards.co.za or get in touch on Facebook or Twitter.