"Advertising awards is not merely a worthy cause to support - advertising is essential to the existence of any paper," says Bun Booyens, editor. He reckons people buy a paper firstly for the content such as news, sport and entertainment, but also for the advertising. To him it seems important that a paper carries interesting advertisements.

"The better the advertising, the more the reader enjoys the read and more useful ads contribute to the relevance of the paper."

He regards creative Afrikaans, even in advertising, as crucial for the newspaper. The language has always been its passion and he sees a poor advertisement as bordering on an insult to the reader. "A weak translation sticks out like a sore thumb to an Afrikaans reader and they often find it irritating." On the other hand, they have great appreciation for an advertiser who goes the extra mile by placing a creative ad. Creative advertising often becomes a topic of conversation, another reason why Die Burger will stand by Pendoring.

Booyens regards the rap language or so-called funky Afrikaans that sometimes marks Afrikaans advertising copy as an enrichment of and complementary to the standard version of the language. "Afrikaans belongs to everyone who speaks the language. It is a creole language and each new influence enriches the language."

"A very important chapter"

"A very important chapter in the history of papers is lying ahead." He is convinced that everybody realises that people will pay for quality, especially if information is not available elsewhere and in Afrikaans to boot.

He is hoping that ad agencies will fully grasp the potential of the new ways and the new media, take cognisance of and exploit the possibilities. "These days Twitter and Facebook are indispensable news resources. People see comment on news events as almost as important as the event itself."

That is why he hopes the advertising industry with the media will investigate the unexplored possibilities and render the reader a well-rounded service. Any medium's income is after all its lifeline, he concludes.

Franette Klerck, GM of Pendoring, reiterates the importance with which she regards advertising. "At Pendoring, creativity took centre stage from the very beginning and Die Burger is right when it claims great ads give consumers enormous pleasure, which is in turn to the mutual benefit of the advertiser."

Entries to the Awards open on May 6 and close on 15 June 15 2013 and the award ceremony will take place on Friday, 20 September 2013, at the CTICC.