Creative Circle Best of the Year awards: Honouring the Class of 76’ and 24’

The Creative Circle Best of the Year awards took place recently with TBWA\Hunt Lascaris taking Overall Agency of the Year (Image supplied)

The Creative Circle Best of the Year awards, which honour South Africa’s best advertising from 2024, took place recently in Johannesburg, and amongst the winners were Accidental Art for Lexus, and the hilarious Bedtime Stories for City Lodge, while the Open Chair and Blackboardinitiatives were celebrated for the steps they have taken to drive meaningful change in the industry.

This was my first year judging Best of Year, after sneaking my way into the Creative Circle Exco, and it was a different experience to the other juries I’ve sat on, due to the fact that we are judging everything.

It’s a truly holistic view of the industry’s state.

The heads of the industry all gathered at the Ster-Kinekor Cinema Prestige to judge, with decades of experience and inside info on all the work in contention. You are among the royals and rebels of advertising.

We laughed, debated, nodded with approval, and left with an inspired selection of pieces that reflected the best of 2024.
Work that stood out in categories stepped out of them.

A growing reality is that the work that stands out in the jury room is stepping out of its media spaces.

Lexus’ Accidental Art isn’t just a Print and OOH campaign, it’s an ambient art installation that turns every parking lot into a gallery.

City Lodge’s Bedtime Stories isn’t just radio or audio, it’s a hilarious play on the countless calming apps used by stressed CEOs.

KFC’s Diary Blocker isn’t just digital; it’s an ironic escape from digital and the Outlook calendar shackles that get in the way of enjoying KFC.
Classic human truths brought to life in the modern era.

In today’s climate, you just can’t afford to have an idea that doesn’t generate earned media and conversation. Great ideas travel, and the best pieces go where the consumer goes.

Radio is still adland’s playground

While some things change, others stay the same, and radio is still the place where Creatives are having all the fun.

The largest category to judge and the most enjoyable. The scripts are well-crafted, overflowing with local nuances and expertly executed. As they should. It’s kinda our thing.

That said, while South Africa has traditionally been strong at radio, this category has been the slowest to progress in terms of creating work that goes beyond the radio frequencies and into pop culture.

Riky Rick paved the way, injecting itself into social commentary. The shareability elevated it and gave it power.

This year Bedtime Stories followed suit by truly understanding who their audience is and the way that consumers are… well… consuming audio these days.

It’s all streaming platforms, podcasts, and wellness apps with whale sounds.

I first heard the campaign while scrolling through LinkedIn just before catching the red eye to another meeting that could have been an email. Needless to say, it struck home.

The writing, performances, relatable characters, and user experience are all so brilliantly considered.

Now, if we as an industry can carry the same energy and quality of scriptwriting into other categories, we’ll see a new wave of incredible work coming to the fore.

Honouring the craft

It takes more than a great idea to win. It takes craft, and Nedbank’s Honouring the class of ‘76 did just that.

A powerful topic that needed to be treated with respect, and the team delivered across categories.

The hauntingly beautiful The Signwriter directed by Zee Ntuli, took top spot in Film, with KFC’s Beyond the seahot on its heels, as another well-crafted jury favourite, earning Ogilvy SA the Crown of the 2024 Chicken Wars.

A key takeaway is that most of the winning work was a result of strong agency and client relationships.

AB InBev, KFC, Nedbank, City Lodge and Volkswagen can all attribute their consistent success to the relationships they have formed over the years.

A special thank you to all our clients, sponsors, and the many champions of creativity who continue to drive our industry forward.

From the junior writers hunting for that perfect voice to the marketing director giving the green light to that brave idea, we honour you.

Here’s to the next big idea and what magic the Class of ’25 has in store.

All the winners