Ogilvy Africa and its clients (Equity Bank and Safaricom) have emerged as platinum and gold winners in the 2020 SABRE Awards for Africa cementing the agency’s exceptional creativity and communication expertise in the region.
The firm carried the day in three categories with Wings To Fly campaign by Equity Bank winning the platinum SABRE award for the best show in the finalist category. The campaign also emerged as the best in the East African region in the geographic category bagging the gold SABRE award. In addition, Safaricom’s first mobile overdraft, Fuliza, took the lead in the financial and professional services categories winning gold. Finally, #LiveInTheNow –Audi South Africa campaign with Ogilvy South Africa won the gold in the marketing to consumer (new product) category.
Changing trends
“These awards are a testament to the changing consumer trends and proof that our integrated communications approach is helping us to bring the best creative ideas to life while solving our clients’ most pressing business challenges and reaching our targeted audiences through ideas that grab earned media and influence to build brands that matter,” said Mr Vikas Mehta, chief executive officer, Ogilvy Africa.
“Moving forward, we shall continue to build multi-faceted creative functions that shall be the engine of every discipline at Ogilvy delivering effective ideas and communication work for our clients in an earned media world,” said Mehta. The agency was also recognized and awarded certificates of excellence in superior achievement in brand building category for the Wings to Fly campaign, Chapa Dimba na Safaricom in the geographic category and the Ndoto Zetu by Safaricom campaign in the integrated marketing category.
More trophies
Originally, the 40 SABRE trophies were scheduled to be presented at the African Public Relations Association Congress is Dar-as-Salaam in May. This event will now be held at a later date once the dust over the covid-19 pandemic settles. “The increase in the number of trophies from thirty seven that were presented in Kigali, Rwanda last year in May reflects both an increase in entries from across Africa, and rapid improvement in the quality of work,” said Paul Holmes, who chaired the SABRE Africa jury. “Africa PR has come of age, and African agencies are producing highest standard work for corporate, government and non-profit clients,” Holmes added.
Last year, Ogilvy Africa – headquartered in Nairobi – carried the day in four categories with Chapa Dimba na Safaricom campaign winning in the marketing to consumer (new product) category, Blaze by Safaricom taking the lead in the marketing to consumers (existing product) category and Kenya Airways topping the consumer products/services category thanks to the launch of the direct flight from Nairobi to New York.
Ogilvy Ghana also won in the integrated marketing category for Ghanaians against Child Abuse (GACA) in partnership with UNICEF and Government of Ghana, as well as the mining and extractive industries category with Kosmos Energy Ltd.