Loeries 2015: Durban flavour, digital ascending

From as far back as the wall-to-wall carpet days in Sun City, each host location for the Loeries has brought its own flavour to the event. Durban is promising to do the same this year.

The city of a million bathers is not to everyone’s taste but this is probably the closest the Loeries will ever get to feeling like Cannes. We’ll have our very own Boulevard de la Croisette in the form of OR Tambo Parade, the Elangeni and Maharani Hotel will bring the bling just as well as the famous Martinez and Carlton International, and Palais des Festival is really just a fancy way of saying Durban International Convention Centre.

The novelty of setting up camp in a different city will add much to the experience of Loeries 2015. There will be lots of new drinking holes to explore along with plenty of interesting, dark spaces for agency folk to dispose of names in. Out of the tropical haze, a South African version of the infamous ‘Gutter Bar’ will no doubt emerge.

In between the throbbing headaches and big small talk, other similarities to the ad mecca in the south of France will play out. Traditional advertising will put up a fierce fight to defend its receding coastline against a rising tide of stuff the consumer is more interested in. The first awards in the brand new Music Video Category will chime this point home loud and clear.

Marketers who are stuck in 30-second, one-sided “me, me, me” conversations with their audience will experience multiple epiphanies as metal gets handed out to the inaugural winners in the Service Design Category. This is an award recognising brands that innovate in the way they engage with consumers. These are the guys who have moved beyond short-lived campaign spurts, to prolonged, active and meaningful connections with their customers and this is the way we should all be going if we’re to remain vaguely relevant.

Much like in Cannes, we will also see the tech giants and ‘digital’ agencies stream in and, not so quietly, take more than just their seat. If you don’t believe me, take a look at the speakers lined up for the DStv Seminar of Creativity where only two out of the seven are from traditional ad agencies. A sure sign of things to come.

Personally, I’ll be keeping a keen eye on the pushing and jostling in the Student Category. This is the fontaine de vie of our industry and one we cannot allow to run dry.

Taken as a whole, the Loeries Durban 2015 experience has all the ingredients of a world-class creative showcase with just the right amount of local grease to make it more memorable than anything the French could ever cook up.