 |
|
||||||||||||
 |
|
For Immediate Release Khuza Awards 20111,000 judges, 100 adverts: youth vote revealed Musician, Danny K receives an Award for SHOUT SA at the Khuza Awards 2011 from the event MCs and Craz-e presenters, Kriya and Mo. Since 2004, The Khuza Awards have identified which adverts and brand communication earn the thumbs up from youth (ages 8-23). Last night, [On 24 August], this year’s winners were honoured at the awards event hosted at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton. "This year's awards include kudos for some usual favourites: MINI, KFC, Axe, Nando's and BMW. But M-Net Series scooped an impressive three Golds in radio; and TV was dominated by tear-jerkers and epics. The Topsy Foundation's haunting, but uplifting HIV/ARVs commercial 'Selinah' took Silver in Teens and Gold in Young Adults even against the likes of Nike's (quoted) US$24m production spectacle: 'Write your Future', showing that a deep and important message, if brilliantly communicated, is heard and seen by young ears and eyes, so congratulations," concludes Jason Levin, MD of HDI Youth Mareketeers, who conduct the survey that culminates in the awards.  Wayne Burger from iShack with Simba from Koldproduk and MD at HDI Youth Marketeers Jason Levin One of the winners was South African celebs' crime-fighting initiative, SHOUT. “We are very honoured to receive this award. Our strategy is to use online as a strong tool to fight crime. This award shows that our efforts are working,” says musician and driving force behind the SHOUT campaign, Danny K, speaking at the event where he received an Award for SHOUT “Add your voice” in the Online category. SHOUT has recently launched a Twitter group “CrimeShouter” which aims to further increase its reach and impact. “It was a fantastic event. It was amazing to see that kids and [older] youth appreciated [our] radio ad,” says Koo Govender from M-NET who was equally impressed with their acknowledgement from under 23s. Advertising is finding an interesting place in the youth brand experience matrix. Young South Africans still love good advertising, and TV is still the most consumed above-the-line medium, but, increasingly it is just one face of a great brand. Winning adverts entertain and even excite, but they need a full marketing and engagement programme to really win kids, teens and young adults over," says Jason Levin, MD, HDI Youth Marketeers.  Swampfire and Scooby Doo pose with the Craze Presenters  Jessica Crozier and Monde Siphamla from Nando’s received awards for their spoof on Cell C’s campaign with Trevor Noah Motoring stole the show in the Outdoor category with Mercedes Benz, Lexus, MINI, BMW and Rolls-Royce coming out tops. MINI scored highly in the Print Category for their ads ‘Wear your heart on your mirror’ as well as for ‘Re Tswa Hole’ (‘We have come a long way’) which together earned the brand the Grand Prix Award in the Special Awards Category. Also in the print category, Nando’s received top ratings from 19-23 year olds for “The real CEO” which was a spoof on Cell C’s much publicised appointment of Trevor Noah as their ‘new CEO’.
 Lerato Phori and Karen Valle from MINI receive the Grand Prix Special Award for entries nominated across the different categories In 2010 under 23s were unanimous in their Top 3 TV Winners, but this year the Gold Awards in each age-group went to: Sprite for their collaboration with Drake in ‘Unleashed’ that won in the Kids category; Nike received top ratings from teens for their multi-million dollar ‘Write The Future’ ad. In contrast to the celebrity-laden winners for Kids and Teens, The Topsy Foundation made a big impact on 19-23 year olds for their ad ‘Selinah’, which drives the point home about HIV/Aids in this country.  Performing live at the Khuza Awards 2011: Koldproduk. “It is very encouraging to see that our advert [Selinah] is appreciated by young people,” says Sylvia De Jager from The Topsy Foundation. The reality is that young urbanites do not automatically tune into advertising because they’re inundated with an oversupply of media-rich stimuli and are too preoccupied with their BlackBerries to notice. “Through the years the quality of advertising gets better and better because it’s no longer about just being ‘on air’ but it’s about what you put out there because competition is very tight” says Themba Nobanda from Sprite. For a full listing (incl. video clips) of the Top 10 Winners across all categories and for more insights on youth media habits and appetite for advertising, visit: www.khuza.co.za.
For Immediate Release
However, what ends up on screen, paper, the internet and radio is frequently dismissed, ignored or overloooked It was for this reason that youth market specialists, HDI Youth Marketeers, developed the Khuza Awards in 2005.
2011 winners will be revealed during the Kid & Teen Republic Conference
For more information or to register for the Kid & Teen Republic Conference, visit www.kr.co.za or contact Debbie Atwell debbie@knowres.co.za or +27 83 651 1664 *Source: Sunday Times Generation Next 2011 |
|
Whose ads get the thumbs up from South African youth? Now in its seventh year, the Khuza Awards tells us. HDI Youth Marketeers conducts the study behind the awards and, in 2011, took 100 of the country’s top ads to 1,000 youth for judging. So, who came out smiling? BMW or Merc? Coke or Sprite? KFC or Chicken Licken? 
The annual awards are South Africa's only large-scale, audience-rated and research-based marketing communications awards. This year over 1,000 of South Africa’s sharpest critics, aged 8-22 from Joburg, Durban and Cape Town cast their votes on 100 ads in five categories (TV, print, radio, outdoor and online). The 
“Brand marketers should really do their research, especially when [trying to] appeal to the youth. Don’t assume that you know what we are about, because sometimes the adverts don’t turn out that way and we just can’t be asked...” says Daniella, 18. 