All the 2008 Assegais Awards winners

Organisation of the Year went to Greymatter, Supplier of the Year to Direct Channel Holdings, DMA Hall of Fame (sponsored by Nedbank) to John Rollason, DM Marketer of the Year (sponsored by Absa)to Keith Wiser of 5th Dimension, and Young Direct Marketer of the Year to Talitha Myburg of Lesoba Difference.

“We're very pleased with the turnout for this year's awards, both from an entry perspective, as well as a sponsorship point of view. The direct industry has once again stepped up to the plate and put their support fully behind the Assegai Awards,” said Brian Mdluli, CEO of DMASA.

“It speaks volumes about the growing credibility that direct is gathering and the high regard that it is afforded by some of the biggest brands in the country. Some of the industry's biggest industry names stepped on to support this year's awards and a huge amount of credit goes to these sponsors for putting the Assegais firmly back on the map.”

There were a total of 147 entries from over 40 agencies, corporate and Individuals. Of these entries, 78 made it through to finals and 43 finalists received awards.

Winners

Michelle Perrow, Assegai Awards chairperson and DMASA board member, added, “We have seen an interesting trend emerging in that while the number of entrants has increased dramatically on 2007, the number of entries has only increased by around 10%. Last year we had a situation where only a handful of leading agencies entered many campaigns, whereas this year the campaigns have come from a much broader base and is far more representative of the players in the direct marketing industry.

“This also makes for a much more exciting competition as you have a greater diversity in terms of industries represented. Overall this also makes for a much more challenging judging process. I also believe this is a direct reflection of the current economic environment and that, while marketing and advertising budgets have been dramatically curtailed this year across most sectors, direct marketing has remained a very strong contender for its share of the overall budget.”

Sponsors of the Assegai Awards 2008 were the South African Post Office, MTN, Absa, Vodacom, Standard Bank, Services SETA, Computer Facilities, Bytestream, SABC, Merpak, Nedbank and TransUnion.