Celebrating the passion of communications

The Awards, which reward excellence in PR and are a highlight on the PR industry’s calendar, took place at the Indaba Hotel in Fourways.

PR Expert won gold for the South African Campaign of the Year with five silvers also awarded in this category. This, says judge Daniel Munslow, principal consultant at VMA Group, South Africa, shows the superb quality of work in this country. “I am proud of the work in South Africa.”

He adds that the entries also show how agencies and clients are collaborating more to drive business results. “PR is adopting new ways to deliver better results and this shows just how good the industry is at evolving.”

FleishmanHillard won Pan African Campaign of the Year for the second consecutive year. Newly appointed general manager (effective 1 May), Sharon Piehl says the award signifies that FleishmanHillard is working across the continent as a matter of course. “We are doing work every day in Africa and reaching audiences across our borders.”

Africa strategy

She adds it is exciting that global brands are realising they need to have an ‘Africa strategy’. “And within this they are understanding that Africa is a continent and not a country.”

The winner of the Small PR Consultancy of the Year is Positive Dialogue Communications. This is the Cape Town-based consultancy’s second win in this category, having also won it in 2014.

“Since our win in 2014 everything has changed and it proves that there is no cookie cutter solution in PR. Nothing about PR is a formula; there are too many channels and opportunities so you must think out of the box for each brief. It is all about passion – passion for your work and your client,” says Tracy Jones, MD of Positive Dialogue Communications.

Tribeca Public Relations won the Mid-sized PR consultancy category. Nicky James, co-owner and senior consultant at Tribeca Public Relations says the win is all about their people. “Without our people we do not have a company and we would not have amazing campaign results. I am fiercely proud of the work we produce for our clients because everything we do has to meet or exceed their business objectives and make a difference.”

This year, no award was given for Large Agency of the Year and Best PR Professional.

Passion for people

Ogilvy PR Cape Town’s Roxanne Leibrandt won Best up-and-coming PR professional. “We are thrilled for Roxanne, and this is the second year in a row that [someone from] our Cape Town office has won in the individual awards, as Pippa Holland won the PR Professional of the year in 2015,” says Joanna Oosthuizen, national managing director, Ogilvy Public Relations South Africa, adding that it is bears testimony to the quality of the people at Ogilvy.

Ogilvy PR’s Cape Town office also took top honours in the social media category and new mobile category. “We are thrilled to be recognised for properly integrated campaigns that are rooted in strategy and utilise social media effectively. We love winning in this category because social media is changing PR as a whole,” says Oosthuizen.

She adds that it is good to see excellence being rewarded. “It is clear that the quality of work this year is high and therefore we are delighted with our campaigns that were recognised through the Awards.”

Organiser of the Awards, Bridget von Holdt, executive director of Glasshouse Communications Management, was happy with the evening. “We are delighted in our campaign of the year winner and the participation and response of the industry to the Awards, which is represented in the calibre of representation at the Awards evening.”

Burson-Marsteller was awarded African Network of the Year, while The Lifetime Achiever Award, sponsored by Bizcommunity, went to Peter Mann of Meropa Communications.

Click here for the full list of gold winners.