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Johannesburg - Gloo Digital Design's dominance of online advertising awards in South Africa is under threat at the 2009 Bookmark Awards, due to be presented in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Three agencies, of which Gloo is one, are bunched in a tight group at the top of the shortlist including Stonewall+ Digital Marketing, which has 10 entries shortlisted for awards and Aquaonline which has eight. Gloo has nine shortlisted nominations.
Gloo has been the dominant agency at last year's Bookmarks, and has also been the biggest online award winner at the Loeries for three years.
The shortlist comprises 77 entries, 35% or just over a third of the total entry of 220. This is a bit high because commonly accepted global standards suggest shortlists, or finalists, should not exceed 10% to 15% of the total entry.
But a good sign is that the finalists come from 31 agencies, a reflection of the vibrancy of this emerging advertising sector.
And as at the Loeries recently, the number of new and emerging agency names on the list is encouraging. Among them are Fireworkx, Cambrient, Clickthinking, SpacePatrolCar, isobar, Cow, TheUnlimited, digiVOX, and Content bar.
The Bookmarks were created by the Online Publishers Association to encourage quality in online and digital marketing. A glance at the global winners makes the need very clear.
At the Cannes Lions advertising festival earlier in 2009, South Africa did not have even one finalist. But in other advertising fields, South Africa is globally respected, punching well above its weight.
Entries are made in 12 categories, including website, microsite, online advertising, mobile advertising, social media and search engines.
Bookmark entries
Top 10 Agencies: number shortlisted
- Stonewall: 10
- Gloo: 9
- Aquaonline: 8
- Prezence: 6
- Acceleration Media: 3
- HelloComputer: 3
- Afrigator: 2
- DStv Online:2
- Isobar: 2
- Quirk: 2.
- Fin24.com
