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Cape Town - Companies that are expanding their brands beyond the borders of South Africa and trying to capture a saturated media landscape are craving creativity, said Loeries CEO Andrew Human.
Speaking during the Loeries Creative Week in Durban, Human told Fin24 that the biggest shift in the industry was the focus from advertising to communicating.
“It’s the biggest shift in the industry and it’s also been the most exciting shift,” he said. “Creativity is being recognised as very important now.
“Twenty years ago, TV, print and radio were so strong, (so) advertisers didn’t really care about how good their idea was,” he said. “They said, ok we’re just going to buy media and if I buy radio, TV and print, everyone is going to see this.
“Now they can’t capture these people; (because) everybody is doing different things,” he said. “Suddenly, you have to stand out. The only way people will look at you on Facebook is if they enjoy engaging with you.
“So, what’s become important is creativity,” he said, adding that advertising needs to add value to the lives of a brand’s target audience.
This week will see over 2 900 entries from across Africa and the Middle East being judged in 21 categories by over 160 of the best local, and international minds in the creative industry.
AUDIO: Interview with Loeries CEO Andrew Human and Fin24's Matthew le Cordeur
Growing the awards to Middle East
It will culminate in the Loeries Africa & the Middle East Awards on Saturday and Sunday. The name change to include the Middle East was strategic, said Human.
“What is important about the Loeries now is to show what’s been done and who’s doing it (across the region),” he said. “If a brand says, you know what, we want to expand into west Africa and we need an agency partner; who is doing work (there)?
“And this is what the Loeries now allows,” he said. “It says here is a showcase, this is what’s happening in east Africa, west Africa, southern Africa as well as the middle east. So you’re getting this full regional showcase.”
From innovation to relevance
Human said the Loeries was not about liking an advert from a customer point of view.
“We look at it quite functionally,” he said.
Judges look at innovative work and whether the project is relevant to that target audience, to that brand and that medium. “A panel of experts are using their position in the business to evaluate each entry, he said.
“That target audience is what is so important, because often when you talk about the public, they go: ‘oh, I hate that ad’ and you go, ‘well, you’re never going to buy that product’.
“If it’s not aimed at you, as a marketer, I shouldn’t really care what you think if I am no trying to sell that product to you, but if I am trying to sell my product to you, I really have to be relevant to you.”
Loeries judges started the tough process of finding the winning entries during the Loeries Creative Week in Durban.
