Margate, the South Coast community that will host The Loerie Awards for the first time in mid-October this year, intends convincing the advertising community that the sea-side town should become the permanent home of the Awards.
This is clearly evident in the fact that both the Ugu District Municipality and Tourism KwaZulu-Natal have come on board as sponsors, and in a poster campaign devised by King James to generate excitement and anticipation for the event.
Jenny Ehlers, Creative Director of King James RSVP, explains: "The idea behind this year's poster campaign is that Margate locals have become incredibly ad savvy in preparation for the arrival of The Loeries.
"Visuals were therefore shot on location in Margate, using members of the local community as models. For example, we have two real-life cops talking about award shows, a local fisherman and his wife discussing kerning, and two young girls - one of which is the daughter of local police chief, Victor Chetty - at the local swimming pool, talking about fonts.
"One thing is for sure, the ad industry is ready for Margate - and Margate is certainly ready for The Loeries."
Commenting on TKZN's decision to partner with South Africa's premier advertising, communication and design awards, TKZN CEO Miller Matola said his organisation regarded the move to the South Coast from decade-long venue Sun City as a major tourism and business coup for KwaZulu-Natal: "TKZN is delighted that The Loerie Awards has chosen Margate as the venue for this year's awards weekend extravaganza in October, and are excited about the tourism and revenue-earning opportunities the event promises South Coast businessmen in and around Margate.
"Firstly, let's recognise this for what it is - a chance to make Margate the advertising capital of the country. Obviously, not in a sense that all the agencies are based in Margate but in the way that Grahamstown is the hub of the cultural scene thanks to the Grahamstown Arts & Culture Festival, and Oudtshoorn has become synonymous with Afrikaans 'kultuur', thanks to the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees."
About 2 500 people are expected to converge on Margate for the awards, and most will be high-fliers and high-earners from the advertising and design industries. This is not only an opportunity for people within the traditional hospitality sectors of accommodation, food and beverages to get involved but for local visual artists and crafters to sell their wares, for those with the ability to offer cleaning services to help out at the self-catering facilities and, of course, there'll be a large work force helping with the event.
Major sponsors for this year's event are M-Net, Media24, The Direct Mail Centre and The South African Breweries Limited. Other sponsors are Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, Kulula.com, brandhouse, YFM, Cell C, Beith Digital, OpenAd, Sappi, Lithotech, Lightworks, Ugu District Municipality, Hetzner Internet Hosting, Paygate Internet payment gateway, King James RSVP, Six Million Dollar, and the Ornico Group. The Design Indaba is a partner of The Loerie Awards in the newly formed Creative Alliance.
