"This year the quality of creative work is particularly high, and there has been positive feedback on advertisements and campaigns,” said Ludi Koekemoer, the Randburg campus MD and principal.
One of the highlights of the evening was the announcement of the first Advertising Benevolent Fund (ABF) Bursary award, which went to marketing communications student Monique Pienaar.
An excited Monique said, "This really comes at a good time for me. I have several jobs that I have been working at in order to pay for my studies and this money is a welcome breather. Now I can focus on paying back my student loans for my first year.”
ABF president Giles Shepherd spoke about the institution's dedication to the industry and to nurturing the talent of the youth: "Hopefully next year we can include two bursary awards in our budget. 2009 has been a tough year from the recession point of view with more and more industry people calling on the ABF for assistance. We, however, feel that it is very important to grow young talent and ensure that the future of the industry is in good hands."
Opening the showcase, Odette Roper CEO of ACA, said that during tough times brand and marketing people should leverage off their competitors who mistakenly cut their budgets by maintaining or increasing their budgets to gain market share.
She said that the school was founded 20 years ago for the industry to feed the industry with talent and she called on industry to look to the school for fresh, young, first class talent. Her final words to students were, "Now is the time for creative, out-of-the box thinking instead of panic, fear and mayhem."
