Pendoring gets a makeover

AFTER 16 YEARS, the Pendoring Awards for Afrikaans advertising has a new corporate structure and management, and new ideas. General manager Franette Klerck promises a number of new ideas that will lead to “renewed interest in Afrikaans advertising from the man-in-the-street and should result in a significant increase in sharp Afrikaans advertisements and Pendoring entries”.

Recession has hit Afrikaans advertising hard, with advertisers often saving on production costs by limiting their campaigns to English.

Afrikaans newspapers, like their English counterparts, are under readership pressure from the Internet.

Though the Pendoring Awards evening tends to turn into an exuberant celebration of the language, the volume of entries has dropped in the last couple of years after a long period of growth. In 1998 there were only 190 entries, but this grew, more or less steadily, to a peak of 380 in 2007. Since then, however, the numbers fell to 280 in 2008 and recovered to 315 last year.

Have the awards outlived their usefulness? Is it still appropriate to have a narrowly based awards event for one language group? Wouldn’t it be more relevant to have an award for Zulu advertising?

Klerck responds by recounting the power of the Afrikaans market – the third largest language group, with the biggest collective spending power. “Afrikaans as a marketing language is under threat in a recession,” she says, “but it contains some of the most affluent South Africans.

“Entries will increase if marketers accept the fact, proven by research, that mother-tongue advertising is more effective than advertising in a second language. While sponsors are well aware of this, marketers tend to turn a blind eye to Afrikaans TV ads, blaming high production costs.”

Chairman Japie Gouws, group MD of the Afrikaans cultural organisation, the ATKV, urges Afrikaans marketers to “harness their talents for the sake of Afrikaans and convince companies to advertise in the language”.

Changes are made regularly to keep the event fresh. A “Truly South African” category was added in 2000, for which entries in English are accepted. This year the Prestige Award (best of show) winner will receive R2,5m worth of advertising space and time.

The student winners will receive an internship at Draftfcb. Even the general public is invited to enter the “Mense se Doring” competition and vote for their favourite Afrikaans ad.

In a move to professionalise the awards, Pendoring has reorganised as a Section 21 (non-profit) company – according to Klerck an “essential stepping stone towards becoming a fully-fledged and credible awards show.” One benefit: exemption from VAT.

Concludes Klerck: “Afrikaans is an exciting language, and Pendoring wants to showcase its constant evolution.” We’ll see how well it’s done this on awards night, 29 October.