Jury for the 2017 APEX awards announced

For over two decades, the APEX awards have honoured highly effective communications campaigns in South Africa. As with previous years, the 2017 edition of the awards sees a heavyweight adjudication panel made up of captains of industry from various disciplines including strategy, digital, creative, research, media and marketing as well as agency heads judge the ‘work that works’.

Judges will be looking for campaigns that disrupted the clutter, had extensive reach and communicated via mediums that resonate with the desired consumer. The rigorous adjudication process spans three rounds during which submissions are judged against specific criteria including rigour, degree of difficulty, clarity of evidence, compelling case, and insight.

“APEX affirms the credibility and the value of creativity in business activity. The awards, and more specifically the results attained by the communications campaigns affirm our professions’ contribution to business success. They add and reinforce credence in the profession and affirm its contribution to the broader economy and business success,” says Odette van der Haar, CEO of the Association of Communications and Advertising (ACA) which hosts the annual APEX awards.

Apart from being an essential business tool that affixes value to credentials for agencies, marketers and leading brands, an APEX award is a definitive manifestation of great ideas meeting great results.  APEX recognises the work that worked; the campaigns that demonstrated effectiveness in creativity that extends beyond pictures to creative intellect and intellectual property that is the currency of the industry.

Concludes van der Haar: “For agencies, winning an APEX affirms their effectiveness and contribution to their clients’ businesses. For clients, winning an APEX affirms their contribution to their company’s bottom line.  Winning an APEX is therefore the ultimate testament to the vital role that effective advertising and marketing communications play in business success.”

The 2017 APEX awards jury members are:

JUDGE

DESIGNATION

COMPANY

Ana Carrapichano Group Managing Director Mediology
Bridget Johnson Consulting Executive Creative Director WICK Consulting
Daniel Naidoo Director Interactive Gendel Interactive
Doug Place Chief Marketing Officer Nando’s
Elizabeth Lee Ming Executive Director: Strategy and Digital TBWA
Elouise Kelly Head of Marketing SABC
Gareth Leck Group CEO Joe Public
Ivan Moroke CEO Co-Currency
Katlego Moutlana Head of Strategy Mortimer Harvey
Lwandile Qokweni Chief Strategic Officer MEC Global
Marlin van Noie Creative Partner Sugar Ray Leonard (SRL+SCC)
Mike Jones Head of Strategy Native VML
Natalie Otte Head of Brand Kantar Millward Brown
Neil Higgs Independent Consultant Retired ex TNS Global
Odette van der Haar CEO ACA
Priniven Pillay Independent Strategist
Roxy Maqache Group Business Insights Executive Tiger Brands
Sbu Sitole Creative Director The Odd Number
Sharon Keith Marketing Director Coca-Cola
Thabang Ramogase CEO Mindshare
Thabang Skwambane Managing Director FCB, Johannesburg
Tshego Tshukutswane Insight Director Co-Currency
Veli Ngubane Chief Creative Officer Avatar
Virginia Hollis Managing Director Magnetic-Connection

The 2017 APEX awards is proudly hosted by the ACA with sponsors Kantar Millward Brown, Liberty Life and Unilever.

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