The Footprint Awards are run annually by the South African Council of Shopping Centres, with the aim to recognise excellence in retail marketing. EBM’s 58 Footprint Awards this year include 11 Gold, 20 Silver and 26 Bronze Awards. Additionally, the group won the highly coveted Spectrum Award for work done on Gateway Theatre of Shopping’s “Stronger Together” project in the Community Relations category. This initiative saw over 31 tons of food supplies being distributed to affected communities in KwaZulu-Natal following the devastating riots in July 2021.
EBM is no stranger to awards. Over the past two years, the agency has won 2 Spectrums, 23 Gold, 42 Silver Award and 56 Bronze Awards, totalling a whopping 122 Footprint Awards. Additionally, various centres marketed by the group, such as Sandton City, for instance, have won the Spectrum Award in 2021 and Best of Johannesburg award in 2022.
The awards won in 2022 were split across two main property portfolios marketed by EBM. The co-owned malls of Liberty Two Degrees won 29 awards, for projects executed across Eastgate, Liberty Midlands Mall, Liberty Promenade Mall, Nelson Mandela Square and Sandton City. An additional 29 awards were won for initiatives at various Old Mutual Property centres which include Gateway, Bedford Centre, Cavendish Square, Kagiso, Phumlani, Riverside Mall, Vincent Park and The Zone @ Rosebank.
Based in Johannesburg, EBM is a specialised agency boasting a team of creative, free-thinking individuals, marketers, sales, designers, innovators and ideologists, driven by the passion to make a difference in the retail property space.
“One of the major goals the agency has set itself is enhancing integration across marketing and non-GLA (gross lettable area) management through carefully defined brand strategies for each individual property, and as a result, improving efficiencies and increasing revenue streams for the property owners” said Darren Katz, managing director of Excellerate Brand Management.
“Everything we do is driven by our philosophy “to be unsame,” meaning our aim is always to find a single minded proposition for every project that differentiates it from any others in its category. No duplication, no copycats. This allows us to own something that will completely disrupt the category and leave our customers with a lasting memorable journey that results in talk-ability and constant engagement. We are proud to house a team of experts, who deliver their best” he added.
