Honey badgers, empty categories and Gareth Cliff’s tweets: Bookmarks 2013

Digital matters. And even in a country like South Africa, where people in the advertising industries have been a bit slower to adopt to new trends, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to imagine any campaign that doesn’t have a digital component.

It makes sense too. In a world where Google makes more money than all US magazines combined, failing to be on a digital platform means you’re pretty much signing your own death warrant. In South Africa meanwhile, digital is drawing an increasingly large slice of the advertising pie, especially as newspaper and magazine circulations fall.

One other thing that digital offers, more than any traditional medium, is the ability to measure results. And that’s what the sixth edition of the Bookmark Awards, held last night, aimed to celebrate.

Hosted by radio shock jock and Idols judge Gareth Cliff — who by the way is adamant that he’s never sold tweets — the awards were much less about beautiful-looking and out there conceptual offerings and much more about delivering actual metrics.

The importance of being able to demonstrate measurable results has been a hot button issue in the country’s marketing space, particularly after MetropolitanRepublic was stripped of all its Loeries after winning for a campaign that never actually ran.

That ties in with reports from insiders on the Bookmarks judging panels saying that the process was particularly arduous this year. In turn, it also explains the large number of categories in which there were no winners.

There were also a comparatively small number of golds on the night, with the big winners being HelloComputer (most notably for BG, the world’s first live-tweeting honey badger but also for its Toyota Rav 4 outdoor website) and Ogilvy and Mather Cape Town (for the Send your Facebook Profile to Cape Town social media campaign and the Klein Kimmie online video).

Other gold winners on the night, included Synergize Digital for the non branded and mobile search work it did for Media 24, Spree.co.za for its email newsletter, Native for its Exchange social media campaign and DStv online for Big Brother Africa in the Multi-platform Publisher category.

In the special honours section meanwhile, Native took best agency while Mail & Guardian claimed best publisher.

The full list of winners follows below:

CORE – WEBSITES/MICROSITES/MOBISITES

Brand, Commercial & Retail websites – Large enterprise (business turnover > R100m)
BRONZE – Liquorice – Robertson’s

Specialist Publisher sites (smaller, niche audiences)
BRONZE – SARIE.com
BRONZE – How we made it in Africa (howwemadeitinafrica.com)
BRONZE – Memeburn
BRONZE – www.planetf1.com

Government, Public Service, Civil society Sites or CSI sites
BRONZE – Quirk – Pledge4Mandela Website Microsites
BRONZE – NATIVE – Nedbank Ke Yona site
BRONZE – Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town – Audi A1 Experience
BRONZE – Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town – #AudiA3Exchange

Commercial & Retail mobile sites
BRONZE – Quirk – Woolworths Online Brand/Company Identity mobile sites
BRONZE – Gorilla Creative Media – I Love Baking SA Publisher Mobile site – No winners E-Commerce
BRONZE – spree.co.za
BRONZE – Woolworths Online & Quirk – Woolworths.co.za

CORE – ADVERTISING & SEARCH

Display advertising
BRONZE – Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town – Audi R8 – Gone in 5 seconds (collaborated with OgilvyOne & R.E.C Cape Town
BRONZE – TBWA\Tequila\Johannesburg – McDonalds McMixa – Small Change Big Smiles.
BRONZE – 140 BBDO – Instagram Banner
SILVER – Gloo – BMW 7 Series iPad
SILVER – Gloo – DStv BoxOffice Online Best Media Plan
SILVER – Lighthouse Digital – FNB Retail Banking (collaborated with Gloo)

Paid Search Campaign
BRONZE – The Media Image – Virgin Active: How To Grow Leads By 160% With The Help of Mobile!
SILVER – Quirk – Woolworths | Always On PPC Campaign
SILVER – Synergize Digital – Prime Meridian Direct Paid Search Entry

Organic Search Campaigns
BRONZE – 2Stroke Interactive – Andy Cab Organic Search Campaign
BRONZE – World Wide Creative – American Swiss Organic

Non-Branded and Mobile Search
BRONZE – Synergize Digital – Rovos Rail
GOLD – Synergize Digital – Careers24

CORE AWARDS: Email Marketing

Email Campaign
BRONZE – Ireland/Davenport – Right2Know Confidential E-mail

Email Publication
GOLD – spree.co.za newsletter

CORE AWARDS: Social, Community & PR

Social Media Properties
BRONZE – Liquorice – Robertson’s Spice
BRONZE – Quirk – Savanna
SILVER – Gorilla Creative Media – I Love Baking SA (collaborated with First View Media)
GOLD – Hellocomputer – World’s First LIVE Tweeting Honey Badger (collaborated with DraftFCB Johannesburg)

Social Media Campaigns
BRONZE – DDB South Africa – The 5Gum Experience (collaborated with Seed productions, B4shaw & Retroviral)
BRONZE – M&C Saatchi Abel – Heineken 007
BRONZE – The Jupiter Drawing Room (South Africa) Cape Town- Hyundai Superband (collaborated with World Wide Creative)
SILVER – BNRY & Jupiter Drawing Room JHB – ABSA, The Democratic Republic of Design (The DRD)
SILVER – Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town- #AudiA3Exchange (collaborated with OgilvyOne Cape Town & Platypus Productions)
GOLD – NATIVE- The Exchange
GOLD – Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town – Send your Facebook Profile to Cape Town (collaborated with Flow Communications & R.E.C. Cape Town)

CORE AWARDS: Application & Tools

Browser-based Software
BRONZE – NATIVE – Isuzu Trail View (collaborated with Studio Muti)
BRONZE – BrandsEye – BrandsEye Handheld/phone Apps
BRONZE – The Jupiter Drawing Room (South Africa) Cape Town – Mediclinic Baby App (collaborated with Tech Mahindra (IT Solutions and Programming)
BRONZE – BNRY & The Jupiter Drawing Room JHB – ABSA, The Democratic Republic of Design (The DRD) (collaborated with H-factor)

Tablet Apps
BRONZE – DStv Online – DStv for iPad (collaborated with Immedia) Tablet Publication
BRONZE – Mail & Guardian – Mail & Guardian iPad edition

CORE AWARDS: Games

No winners

CORE AWARDS: Other Digital Media

Digital Installations and Activations
BRONZE – Saatchi & Saatchi AtPlay – CPUT Champions of Engineering (collaborated with Etienne la Grange)
BRONZE – Aqua / Wunderman South Africa – Coca-Cola Swing For Good
BRONZE – iKineo – Loom Immersive Retail
BRONZE – Ireland/Davenport – Walking Dead Activation
SILVER – Gloo – FNB ATM Switch

Online Video
BRONZE – Liquorice – Chef Wendy’s Cook Along
GOLD – Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town – Klein Kimmie

CORE AWARDS: Branded Content

Branded Content
SILVER – Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town – Send your Facebook Profile to Cape Town (collaborated with DraftFCB Johannesburg)
SILVER – NATIVE – Nedbank Ke Yona (collaborated with The Institute of Amazing Shit, Net#work BBDO, BonNgoe Productions & Universal Productions
GOLD – Hellocomputer – World’s First LIVE Tweeting Honey Badger (collaborated with DraftFCB Johannesburg)

CORE AWARDS: Integrated/Mix Media Integrated

Digital Marketing / Campaigns
BRONZE – Lynne Mackenzie & Partners – Integrated Digital Marketing / Campaigns – Doritos house Party
BRONZE – iKineo – Loom Immersive Retail (collaborated with Michael Elion, Duvan Durand – The Institute, Adam Hill, Daniel Ting Chong, Emma Cook)
SILVER – Yonder Media – Hungry Lion Mobile Coupon Campaign
GOLD – Hellocomputer – RAV4 Outdoor Website(collaborated with DraftFCB Johannesburg)

Multi-platform Publisher (>3 platforms)
BRONZE – DStv Online – DStv Catch Up
BRONZE – EYEWITNESS NEWS (collaborated with Liquorice)
SILVER – Liquorice – whatsfordinner?
GOLD – DStv Online – Big Brother Africa

CRAFT AWARDS

Editorial (media – news, magazines, radio, and TV stations/networks)
SILVER – Daily Maverick

Interface, Interaction, Navigation, UX
SILVER – Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town – Be the Champion Coach (collaborated with OgilvyOne Cape Town)
SILVER – Hellocomputer – Toyota Hilux Dakar Emailer (collaborated with DraftFCB Johannesburg)

Graphic Design, Illustration, Animation
SILVER – Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town – #AudiA3Exchange (collaborated with OgilvyOne Cape Town & Platypus Productions)
SILVER – iKineo – Loom Immersive Retail (collaborated with Michael Elion, Adam Hill, Daniel Ting Chong & Emma Cook)

Tech. Innovation
SILVER – iKineo – Loom Immersive Retail (collaborated with Michael Elion, Duvan Durand – The Institute, Duvan Durand – The Institute & Daniel Ting Chong,)
SILVER – Gloo – Pixel Pong
SILVER – Hellocomputer – Toyota Hilux Dakar Emailer (collaborated with DraftFCB Johannesburg)
SILVER – 140 BBDO – Pinhole Camera Emailer (collaborated with Ninjas For Hire)

INDIVIDUAL & TEAM AWARDS

Best Digital Advertising Sales Team – No winner
Best Media Planner – No winner
Best Copywriter – No winner

Best Editorial Team
Mail & Guardian

Best Digital Editorial Individual
EYE WITNESS NEWS – Janine Willemans
Daily Maverick – Rebecca Davis

Best Community Manager
Liquorice – Jane-Anne Hobbs
EYEWITNESS NEWS – Dori Van Loggerenberg

Best Creative
Hellocomputer – Matt Thompson

Best Client Service
NATIVE – Elizabeth Janse van Rensburg

Best User Experience Designer
Hellocomputer – Ryno van Niekerk

Best Digital Strategist
MACHINE – Andy Gilder

Best Social Media Marketer
Quirk – Catherine Scott

Best Paid-search Marketer
Quirk – Linah Thandiwe Maigurira

Best Organic-search Marketer
Synergize Digital – Tim Withers

Best Student
AAA – Luscha Brink & Melissa Fontini (Netflorist campaign)

Best Youngster
Burn Media – Stuart Thomas

SPECIAL HONOURS

Best Agency – NATIVE
Best Brand/Company – No Winner
Best Publisher – Mail & Guardian
Best Individual Contribution to SA Digital Media & Marketing – Jarred Cinman