Ed’s NotE: oN thE rEcord

INDEPENDENT INDUSTRY INTELLIGENCE

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EDITORIAL Editor: Glenda Nevill glenda.nevill@cybersmart.co.za Content Manager: Raina Julies rainaj@picasso.co.za Sub-Editor: Anthony Sharpe Content Co-ordinator: Vanessa Payne

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On the record...

year without the MOST Awards was one that certainly gave all of us involved time to reflect on the event and how the media space has changed since that first survey back in 2009. A decade of the MOST Awards culminated in a huge event at Imperial Wanderers Stadium in 2019, when more than 600 representatives from media owners and agencies gathered to celebrate the successes of the media sector, and the strong and vital relationships that are our lifeblood.

Cut to 2020 … well, we all know how that played out. Yet here we are a year later, holding the awards (even with a hybrid live component) and celebrating our resilience in the face of the toughest and scariest time most of us have ever had to face.

How we operated during the first phase of the pandemic was the subject of much discussion when the judges met (virtually) to discuss nominations for individual awards as well as the categories. It was also why we introduced the special Virtually Perfect award to highlight a company that went beyond the call of duty.

As Celia Collins, general manager for Africa at Omnicom Media Group (and a Media Agency Legend herself), told me later, her focus was on nominees who inspired their teams and clients, took a holistic view of their offerings and communicated clearly with agencies.

Did they give back to the industry? Did they drive unique insights into what consumers were faced with and how to approach them differently? Did they encourage education and upliftment, work with industry bodies, or scale learnings into new research methodology or approaches? Did they write articles of benefit to the industry? Do they have a future-facing view of where we go from here?

For Gordon Muller (a winner of the Shepherd Award), an important discussion was around nominations and inclusivity. One of the challenges the judges face in terms of categories relating to long service is that the longer the service, the more the service record looks like the ‘old South Africa’. But, as he says, once the shortlist was settled, there was little debate about the quality of the candidates because they were all worthy of recognition.

I’m not going to paraphrase him, as his words say it all: “Each and every one of the candidates has had an impact on the industry that goes well beyond the executive positions they have occupied. Each one of these candidates and winners have in their own way put at least as much back into the industry as they have taken out, if not more.”

That said, congratulations to all our winners – agencies, owners and individuals.

The Media. Got to love it. Glenda

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