Sabine Heckman to judge at John Caples International Awards

Sabine Heckman

Heckman, one of the last graduates at The Red and Yellow School under the head of Brian Searle-Tripp (Creative Circle, Hall of Fame - 1995) and Alan Raaff, joined the world of 'educating people to buy products', as she expresses it.

'Putting the consumer at the heart of all conversations'

Her 10 years in the industry have spanned the range of focused communication in ATL through to covering all forms of media in BTL. Working at international agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi and TBWA has given her the opportunity to work on brands stretching from Africa to the Middle East including Guinness, Woolworths and Sanlam. Becoming deputy creative director at Draftfcb Cape Town allowed her to grow her interest in strategy and experiential marketing while working on some of South Africa's favourite brands including Savanna, Amarula, Fish Eagle, Momentum and Santam.

Her recent move to OscarTango, one of the pioneers of CRM, has allowed her to speak social media, digital, CRM and direct marketing and share the company's philosophy of 'putting the consumer at the heart of all conversations'. The daily challenge of breathing life into brands like Johnnie Walker, Bell's Whisky, Classic Malts Selection, Investec and Levi's on various media platforms gives her the opportunity to judge Caples with a competitive eye.

"Opportunity for South African agencies"

With international chairs in over 40 countries, the Awards are run by industry volunteers and are judged by more than 80 active, senior-level, international creative professionals. Local judge chair, Glynn Venter of Haas Communication, said the Caples Awards are open to any agency, client or individual involved in direct marketing and relationship marketing communication throughout the world.

"Entering the John Caples Awards is a wonderful opportunity for South African agencies to benchmark themselves against the best on a global basis, especially as judges are only drawn from the ranks of creatives and then only those who have at least 10 years' experience," he said.

"Judging is based on a creative solution to the marketing problem taking concept, copy and art direction into account across many channels including direct mail, print, digital, branded website, e-commerce web sites, micro sites, e-mails, and online advertising. There are also categories for ambient and guerrilla marketing, mobile marketing, viral video marketing and out-of-home, radio and social media.

"I am excited to have Heckman on board and know she will be bringing expertise and creativity to the judging process," Venter concludes.