Once upon a time, digitally speaking, gets Ogilvy Joburg the prize

The Middle East and Africa brand category winners of the Microsoft Advertising Story Awards are Ogilvy Johannesburg's Michelle McKenna, Taryn Scher and Philippa Heal, who crafted the best hypothetical digital media plan and creative idea for a brand or non-profit of their choice, using Microsoft Advertising's storytelling platforms (MSN, Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live, Skype, XBOX Live, Kinect and Bing).

Award winners with Microsoft team

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Michelle McKenna and Marcus Stephens

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A multinational panel of client and agency figureheads judged entries according to the following criteria: strength of the overall campaign idea; innovative use of Microsoft Advertising solutions; creative impact; and the probability that KPIs would be attained.

Howzit MSN, the local Microsoft Advertising MSN partner and a subsidiary of Kagiso Media, recently hosted a breakfast to hand this award over to the Ogilvy team. Says Marcus Stephens, GM at Howzit MSN, "The agency's strong performance in this contest is testimony to the fantastic strategic thinking and creativity of South Africa's digital agencies. We are proud of their inventive work and excellent results in this competition."

"The software brand is pushing boundaries in every direction and enabling campaigns to tell great stories in ways that were not possible before. Knowing that there are platforms available to bring big brand ideas to life is inspiring," says award winner McKenna.