M&C SAATCHI Group South Africa was the only agency in South Africa to be shortlisted as Top 3 finalists for six award categories – and to win two – at the 2021 FM AdFocus Awards on 24 November. The awards serve to benchmark award-winning quality within the South African marketing and communications landscape.
The group, which has offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town, was nominated for six of the 16 awards. It is the only agency in the country to be shortlisted for so many award categories, and in many cases, this was the second or the third year in a row that it was shortlisted for the same award.
‘This speaks volumes about the fact that we keep showing up among the best of the best across the industry – particularly during a time when we’ve had to push harder to maintain the same level of striving for excellence that is ingrained in the fibre of our entire group,’ said Mike Abel, Chief Executive Partner at M&C SAATCHI ABEL and M&C SAATCHI Group South Africa.
‘These award nominations and wins help us to measure not only our outputs, but also our inputs, which we define through embracing a brave approach, being audacious about going against the grain, and the obsession that drives our creativity and strategic thinking,’ he continued.
M&C SAATCHI ABEL was a Top 3 Finalist in the Large Agency of the Year category for a second year running, after having won it in 2019. It also took home the Partnership of the Year Awards alongside long-standing client Nando’s in 2019, and Takealot in 2020. M&C SAATCHI Connect was shortlisted in the Media Agency of the Year Award.
Meanwhile, Levergy was a finalist in the Specialised Agency of the Year and the Transformation award categories. The Sports Sponsorship Agency took home the Adaptability Award for pivoting their business offerings in the face of the global pandemic and rising above the challenges the agency – and its clients – were faced with along the way.
‘The true test of a successful agency in these times, is one that is willing to roll with the punches, stand up, dust itself off and say ‘Okay, that didn’t work, but what can we do differently when we try again?’ and then seeing this not as a failure, but rather as a step towards a solution in the never-ending process of shapeshifting in the face of change,’ said Ray Langa, Managing Director at Levergy.
Langa and his team were also shortlisted as finalists in the Agency of the Year Award at the 2021 Hollard Sport Industry Awards, which took place on 25 November. Levergy had scooped the award for the past two years.
Congratulations also go to Faheem Chaudhry, Partner and Managing Director at M&C SAATCHI ABEL Johannesburg, who was asked to Chair the AdFocus Jury for 2022 as recognition to his contribution to the industry.
M&C SAATCHI GROUP SOUTH AFRICA
www.mcsaatchigroup.co.za
