The Loeries
The Loeries® are Africa Middle East’s premiere initiative that recognise, reward, inspire and foster creative excellence in the brand communication industry.
As a non-profit organisation, the Loeries contribute to development within the brand communication industry by investing into programmes such as the creative industry's richest bursary – the Creative Future Scholarship. To maintain the integrity of their accolade, the entry fees are kept low, and their entry criteria is strict. Driven primarily by the Creative Circle, the Loeries is powered by industry the through a board and committee, making it an organisation by and for the industry.
The Loeries is recognised as the most prestigious creative festival in Africa Middle East,[1][2] and is also the most covered festival in the South African media.[3] As the highest accolade for creativity and innovation across the region, the Loeries promote and support creativity by helping marketers, agencies and consumers appreciate the value of ideas and fresh thinking.
Culminating in the biggest creative gathering in Africa Middle East, Loeries® Creative Week™ Durban brings together the best innovative minds from industry for a festival of networking, inspiring minds and recognising great work.
The Loeries believe that their region's creative economy is world-class and has great potential to grow and to offer employment both to talented youth. The growth occurring throughout Africa Middle East is very exciting, and a major focus of the Loeries is to increase the standard of brand communication in the region. The Loeries continues to grow each year, remaining the region’s primary measure of excellence.
Initiatives and activities include the Loeries Exhibition, the Creative Future Scholarship, Official Rankings, Migrate magazine and Loeries® Creative Week™ Durban; which hosts Judging Week, the DStv Seminar of Creativity, award ceremonies and MasterClasses.
The Loeries are internationally recognised, included in the Gunn Report and are the only award endorsed by the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA), the Brand Council South Africa (BCSA), the Creative Circle (CC), the Commercial Producers Association (CPA), IAB South Africa, the Exhibition Association of Southern Africa (EXSA), the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA), the South African Institute of the Interior Design Professions (IID), and the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA).
History
The Loeries were first held in 1978, as a mechanism to support and grow television advertising.[4] Since then, the Loeries have become the most prestigious award in Africa Middle East and have expanded to reward & inspire both innovation and relevance across all spheres of brand communication.
In 2013, the Effective Creativity Award was introduced to recognise great ideas that have delivered business results. Entries into this category must have won a Loerie in the past two years. The Shared Value category, aims to recognise sustainable marketing – by rewarding brands that do good while doing good business. In 2015, Service Design and Music Videos were added as new categories.
Creative Week
It has been estimated that Loeries Creative Week is worth ZAR100 million (approximately US$10 million).[5]
Creative Week is a week long festival that begins with the judging of all the work. Over 160 judges from across the region as well as international jury chairmen assess the work. Finalists are announced every day and judging is concluded with a recently introduced "Seminar of Creativity." The winning work is announced on the Saturday and Sunday evenings at the end of the week.
References
- ↑ "Motive: Will work that’s won internationally do well at Loeries?". Marklives.com.
- ↑ "The Loeries: why SA’s top ad awards are still relevant in a digital world". memeburn.com.
- ↑ http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/423/122689.html
- ↑ "Start of daily television transmissions - South African History Online". sahistory.org.za.
- ↑ "Loerie awards move to Durban". Independent Online.