Tip Africa Publishing has won five top-place trophies at the 2017 SA Publication Forum awards held to celebrate excellence in corporate journalism.
The Cape Town-based full-service communications, publishing and content marketing company walked off with Best External Magazine (category A) for South African National Parks’ Wild, a publication supporting SANParks’ Wild Card loyalty programme. Wild also scored top honours for Best Newsletter and was runner-up in the Best Corporate Publication category, runner-up in the Best Communication category and second runner-up in the Best Writing category.
The company also won Best External Magazine (category B) for Discover Heritage, the National Heritage Council magazine.
Tip Africa’s Stellenbosch Visio won the Best Communication Award, and was a runner up in Best External Magazine (category A) as well as Best Writing and Best Corporate Publication categories.
In addition, the company bagged the Best One-off Publication for Ackermans: Your Story. Our History. 1916 – 2016.
Igna Schneider, managing director at Tip Africa Publishing, says her team is honoured to have been recognised for their work on behalf of a range of clients.
“Corporate publications – whether digital or print – are a vital part of the marketing mix, and done well, demonstrate a company’s commitment to giving their customers relevant information delivered with journalistic flair and values,” she says. “As a vibrant, young company staffed with experienced and creative people, we pride ourselves on coming up with bright and strategic ideas that contribute to our clients’ achieving their objectives.”
The SA Publication Forum, in discussing this year’s awards, said worldwide trends “show that print is definitely not dead, but we appreciate that there is innovation in this industry that has revitalised the corporate journalism space”. The increased number of entries point to the important role corporate publishing plays.
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Judges lauded Discover Heritage: “What a fabulous, excellent magazine. The content is gripping and well presented, layout and photos are high quality, and yet it is personal and endearing too. It will be hard to unseat this magazine from its first position.”
Perennial favourite, Wild, is a “pleasure to read”, said a judge. “The writing is exciting, creative and well executed. The team knows its target market; the copy never talks down to the reader; in fact, it makes you feel like an expert, even if you aren’t one.”
The creative director at Tip Africa Publishing, Petro du Toit, believes the combination of strong journalism and inspirational and innovative design is a key element of the company’s success at the SAPF awards.
“Aligning creative work with strategic thinking and powerful writing means our teams create titles that draw readers’ attention and keep them engaged with the content, and help build connections with consumers. That’s what our clients want and need,” she says.
Judges, it seems, agree. Talking about Stellenbosch Visio, one judge called it “impressive”. “The writing flows and draws you in, it makes you feel at home in Stellenbosch even if you don’t live there. As a matter of fact, it makes me want to live there!”
Website: http://www.tipafrica.co.za/
