Johannesburg - No golds, let alone Grands Prix, were presented at the second Bookmark Awards, which are given for excellence in online advertising and marketing. With the judges in an uncompromising state of mind, the inadequacies of the online industry here were plain for all to see.
The Bookmarks were created by the Online Publishers Association as part of a bigger programme to stimulate creative quality of world standard.
South Africa's long-time online award-winning champion, Gloo Digital Design, was the leading agency, with two silvers and three bronzes. And although there were no Grands Prix, it also was awarded Best of Show in the agency category. 24.com was Best of Show in the publishing category.
Gloo was less dominant than usual, crossing the finishing line just ahead of Stonewall+ and Quirk.
Here are the winners
The full list of winners is:
- Gloo Digital: 2 silver, 3 bronze;
- Stonewall+: 2 silver, 1 bronze;
- Quirk: 2 silver;
- 24.com: 1 silver, 1 bronze;
- Studio 4332 (with Gloo): 1 silver, 1 bronze.
Single silvers went to Avysa Media, Cow, Hello Computer and Wicked Pixels (with Gloo).
Single bronzes went to Afrigator, DigiVOX, Mnemonic/KingJames RSVP/Atmosphere PR< Urbian, Net#work BBDO (with Gloo) and Shuttleworth Foundation (with Fontera, Clockwork Zoo).
Several awards were made jointly to agencies or groups that collaborated. Both parties to such arrangements are credited.
The judging panel comprises two globally acknowledged experts, Fernanda Romano of Euro RSCG and Chris Colborn of R/GA, both New York-based.
The total number of awards made was 25, amounting to a fraction over 1% of the entries, which is in accordance with the standards set at the world's leading advertising award shows.
- Fin24.com