If there’s one thing of which visitors to the Madex 2017 (Africa’s brand spanking new marketing, advertising, design, social media, eventing and all that good stuff) expo can be assured, it’s that this will be an event with a difference!
Case in point, the introduction of a Cinema Theatre, which will feature the best in local advertising campaigns, as well as bringing in industry experts to discuss critical topics. There’s no doubt that video is playing an increasingly important role in the future of content marketing, and where better to experience this than during one of the Cinema Theatre sessions?
Madex 2017, which is co-located with legendary marketing expo, Markex 2017, will take place at the Sandton Convention Centre on 7 and 8 June, and promises to help local marketeers to embrace new school marketing while avoiding traditional marketing errors. The Cinema Theatre seminars play a pivotal educational role from an additional visual perspective, as inspired by local and international advertising campaigns.
“Let’s face it, our attention spans are getting shorter and we live in a world of short immediate gratification mindsets, ” explains Nick Sarnadas, event director at Specialised Events Montgomery. “Video can engage with your audience. It can make them laugh, cry and understand your brand. Essentially, it can make them want to live and be your brand. But, it needs to be done right, and Madex is here to show you how.”
One of the highlights of the Cinema Theatre is the session focusing on the international Cannes Lions Awards, dubbed the ‘Oscars’ of the global advertising and creative industry. The Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival is an annual global festival for those working in advertising and related fields, which incorporates the awarding of the Lions Awards, generally acknowledged to celebrate the best creative work in the world. In South Africa, the Cannes Lions festival’s local representative is Cinemark, the advertising sales company that represents Ster-Kinekor and selected independent cinemas.
Leslie Adams, head of sales for Ster-Kinekor, says, “During the Madex session, we’ll be looking at what works in cinema and television advertising, using last year’s Cannes Lions Ad Reel Showcase winners to illustrate the very best of excellent film and TV advertising from around the world.”
In a real coup for the show, Madex has been selected to give audiences a sneak peak of the winning South African entries of the Cannes Young Lions competition 2017, targeting advertising creatives under the age of 30, announced earlier this month.
Adams clarifies, “The South African winners of the 2017 Cannes Young Lions have only just been announced, and we are thrilled to be able to share this with our Madex audience! The task set was to create a 60-second commercial for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) South Africa, in response to its current campaign on bullying, but more specifically looking at the current social media focus on cyber-bullying. The local winning commercial will also be shown on Ster-Kinekor screens around the country.”
In South Africa, Cinemark is sponsoring the Film category, in partnership with Air France, and the local winners are being flown to France to compete against teams from around the world in a global event.
The Cannes Young Lions Competition reel can be viewed at the Madex Cinema Theatre 2017 on Wednesday 7 June at 12:30 and at 10:30 on Thursday 8 June.
But that’s not all! Another highlight to look out for at the Madex Cinema Theatre comes from the acclaimed independent advertising and marketing website, MarkLives.com, which offers an ongoing investigative view of southern Africa’s changing communications landscape. MarkLives will team up with respected media mogul, Oresti Patricios, CEO of the Ornico Group, to bring Madex visitors a countdown of the 10 best local ads of 2016 and the MarkLives.com Ad of the Year 2016. These sessions take place 10:30 on 7 June and 12:30 on 8 June and are not-to-be-missed!
And even more…. Look out for Kantar Millward Brown’s Best Liked ads of the past three decades seminar, during which the winner of the Best Liked ads of 2016 – in South Africa – from 1984 to 2016 – will be announced. Kantar Millward Brown will present across both days of Madex at 14:30.
So, grab your popcorn and come to the Madex Cinema Theatre. Attendance is free and visitors can register online by visiting www.madex.co.za.
