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Johannesburg - Action Ambro's was honoured as SA's top direct response agency at the Assegai Awards on Tuesday night, filling its trophy cabinet with six golds, five silvers and two bronzes. This tally also earned it the overall winner's prize, the Inkosi Award.
Narrowly behind in second spot was Draftfcb, while Gloo Digital Design came in third by virtue of a winning performance in the digital media section.
Entry numbers were 42% up on last year, said Direct Marketing Association CEO Brian Mdluli, bucking an international trend of declining entries in marketing awards competitions.
"Across the board internationally, awards events have experienced a 30% drop in entries," he said. "Our growth proves that direct is the marketing tool that will survive a recession and is still riding the curve of growth in a rapidly changing market where effective communication is king."
The judges seemed to be in equally ebullient mood, handing out prizes a little like confetti at a wedding. In all, 52 golds, silvers and bronzes were dished out, which meant one in every four entrants received a trophy.
In addition, 14 other awards were presented: seven youth and student awards and seven special acknowledgements including two Hall of Fame nominations (Ian Geary of Computer Facilities and Keith Wiser of 5th Dimension), and Direct Marketer of the Year (Gary Simpson of Business Brokering Excellence).
Tunley's sponsored the Supplier of the Year, which went to Tunley's Mail & Print, while Absa sponsored the award for Organisation of the Year, won by Nedbank Personal Loans.
Here are the 10 best
The top 10 agencies were:
- Action Ambro's (Inkosi, six gold, five silver, two bronze);
- Draftfcb (six gold, three bronze);
- Gloo Digital (one gold, two silver);
- MGM Brand Construction (one gold, one silver);
- Momentum McCann (one gold, one silver);
- O'Keeffe & Schwartz (one gold);
- Lesoba Difference (four silver, one bronze);
- AquaOnline (two silver);
- Joe Public (one silver, two bronze);
- Innoviate (one silver, one bronze).
- Fin24.com
