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Nando's & VMLY&R and The Shoprite Group of Companies / ShopriteX take top spots in MMA SA Smarties Awards
The Shoprite Group of Companies / ShopriteX received a standing ovation for being named the Brand of the Year. Both Nando's and VMLY&R, and The Shoprite Group of Companies / Shoprite also won in numerous cateogries.
Over 25 Gold Smarties were awarded on Friday 31 March, sponsored by Takealot Group Advertising, MTN, MultiChoice Group and Standard Bank, after over 200 submissions in 33 categories were reviewed and adjudicated between February and March 2023.
Authenticity, purpose and community
Nando’s Bright Side’s campaign cleverly tapped into consumers’ load-shedding pressures with a cross-functional focus on creating an exceptional customer experience at the heart of the campaign.
“Authenticity, purpose and community have never been more important than now,” says Sarah Utermark, MMA SA country director.
“The Shoprite Group’s initiatives around increasing and rewarding customer loyalty through their Xtra Savings programme have resonated with consumers across the country. Shoprite Group continues to be at the forefront of creating positive customer experience through the use of highly innovative tech,” adds Utermark.
Focusing on business impact
The Smarties Awards is the only marketing awards where business impact is weighted highest in the judging criteria, (40% of the score), with the judges scoring of strategy, execution and creativity weighted as 20% each.
Utermark says since they launched in South Africa 15 years ago, they have focused on awarding excellence in business impact as this is after all what sets one great campaign apart from another.
“We ensure that every piece of work judged must show a clear ROI or ROAS (return on ad spend). What this means is that we look for what moved the business’s financial needle, and / or made a tangible and sustainable impact on the organisation.”
New categories
This year’s seven new categories were added, all relating to the rise of experiential tech and Web 3.0.
The purpose of these additions, which include Blockchain, NFTs Intelligent Devices and Data Insights, among others, is to reflect the ever-expanding media and marketing landscape that is being shaped and moulded by innovation, access to data and changing consumer behaviour, especially through technology.
“We are seeing exceptional adoption of new technologies and ways of working. Today, technology has become an integral part of most successful marketing campaigns, and rightly so.
“Digital adoption on the continent is growing exponentially, consumer behaviour is changing alongside it, and the growing impact that emerging technologies like AI and Web 3.0 are having on the delivery of exceptional results is very impressive,” says Luisa Mazinter, MMA SA Smarties jury chair and MMA SA chair emeritus.
All entries – Bronze, Silver and Gold – will now be submitted to the international BII (Business Impact Index), which ranks these winning campaigns against their international peers. The results of the BII will be released in Q2 of 2024.
See all the winners here.
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