APEX 2008 winners

At the 2008 APEX Awards gala event that took place 10 April 2008 at Emperor's Palace, ACA Chairperson, Reinher Behrens, announced that the awards ceremony is to become an annual event. He also announced that in future the awards will be extending its footprint for Advertising Performance Excellence (APEX) by calling for entries from the rest of Africa. The ACA also unveiled its brand new corporate identity at the gala event.

APEX entries are judged in one of the following three categories:

1. Launch - for brands or services that are new, or have no significant history of advertising.
2. Change - for new campaigns from previously advertised brands, which resulted in significant short-term effects on sales and/or behaviour.
3. Sustain - for advertising campaigns that benefited a business by maintaining or strengthening a brand over a long period.

In the APEX category Launch, the finalists were:
• Cell C - Hola 7 initiative submitted by Network BBDO
• Nedbank Children's affinity submitted by Network BBDO
• Royco submitted by BBDO Cape Town
• Toyota Yaris submitted by Draft FCB Johannesburg
• Virgin Money - Bling it on submitted by Black River FC

The winners in the APEX category Launch are:

• Certificate of Commendation - Network BBDO Cape Town for their Royco campaign
• Bronze Award - Network BBDO for their Cell C - Hola 7 campaign
• Bronze Award - Network BBDO for their Nedbank Children's Affinity campaign
• Bronze Award - Black River FC for their Virgin Money Bling it on campaign
• Gold Award - Draft FCB Johannesburg for their Toyota Yaris launch campaign

In the APEX category Change, the finalists were:
• Audi South Africa submitted by Ogilvy Johannesburg
• KFC Streetwise submitted by Ogilvy Johannesburg
• KFC Twister submitted by Ogilvy Johannesburg
• MTN Go - Going to town submitted by The Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town
• Nedbank - Repositioning the Nedbank brand submitted by Network BBDO
• Standard Bank further advance submitted by TBWA
• Toot-n-scoot submitted by TBWA
• Tsotsi - Stop Piracy Stop Crime submitted by TBWA

The winners in the APEX category Change are:

• Bronze Award - Ogilvy Johannesburg for the KFC Twister campaign
• Silver Award - Ogilvy Johannesburg for the KFC Streetwise campaign
• Silver Award - Jupiter Drawing room for their MTN go - going to town campaign
• Gold - Ogilvy Johannesburg for their Audi South Africa campaign
• Gold - Network BBDO for their Nedbank Repositioning the Nedbank campaign

The finalists in the APEX category Sustain were:
• Cell C - sustaining Cell C submitted by Network BBDO
• Exclusive Books Homebru submitted by Ogilvy Johannesburg
• South African Breweries - Carling Black Label submitted by Ogilvy Cape Town
• Savanna - The Cider House Rules submitted by Draft FCB Cape Town

The winners in the APEX category Sustain are:

• Bronze Award - Network BBDO for their Cell C- Sustaining Cell C campaign
• Bronze Award - Ogilvy Cape Town for their South African Breweries
• Carling Black Label campaign
• Silver Award - Ogilvy Johannesburg for their Exclusive Books campaign
• Gold Award - Draft FCB Cape Town for their Savannah The Cider House Rules campaign

The winners of APEX 2008 Special Awards

• The award for the most ingenious response to advertising or research funds went to Ogilvy Johannesburg for their Exclusive Books campaign.
• The award for the best example of innovative strategic or executional thinking went to TBWA for their Tsotsi Stop Piracy Stop Crime campaign.
• The award for the case representing uniquely South African advertising went to Ogilvy Johannesburg for their Exclusive Books campaign.

This year, after much deliberation, the APEX judges decided that in order to maintain the standard for APEX - one which is used as a benchmark for best practices in future, no Grand Prix was to be awarded.

"The standard is high and will not be compromised. That said, to my colleagues in the industry, let this be the motivator - go out and execute only the best. We are confident that next year, the standard of entries submitted will be fitting of a Grand Prix," said Odette Roper, CEO of the ACA.