LOERIES ANNOUNCES REGIONAL HEAVYWEIGHTS FOR 2017 JURIES
The Loeries Africa Middle East has entries from over 20 countries and judges from across the region are included on the panels. Regional judges this year include a Cannes 2017 jury president, a giant of the production industry, and the founder of a music record label. Meet the eleven regional judges that have been announced.
DUBAI: AIMEN ALWAN, FREELANCE DESIGNER
Aimen has worked in the design field for more than 17 years and has been involved in branding projects for many international branding agencies where he specialises in brand identities and the Arabisation of English wordmarks.
DUBAI: ALOK MOHAN, CREATIVE DIRECTOR AT IMPACT BBDO
Alok has amassed a host of awards across D&AD, One Show, LIA, Clio, New York Festivals and Dubai Lynx, and he’s done it all in just nine years which explains why he is considered one of the Middle East’s most awarded creatives.
KENYA: JASON NARTEY, CREATIVE HEAD AT SCANAD, AFRICA
Jason is a truly African Creative having worked and led projects in over 10 African countries (including Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Senegal, Cameroun and South Africa) over the span of his 15-year career including leading his team to the status of “Most awarded Agency in Ghana” during his time at Origin8 Saatchi & Saatchi and as the most Awarded Agency in the country (7th & 8th Local Advertising Awards) as Creative Head of SCANAD Ghana.
KENYA: MARTIN KARANJA KIARE, CEO AT BLUETOOTHENABLED ADVERTISING NETWORKS (BEAN)
Martin founded Bean in 2009 and today it is Kenya’s largest independent digital agency, proving the success of the strong disruption ethos and family culture he has built. Named among Kenya’s Top 40 Men Under 40, Martin knew his disruption strategy was working when Bean Interactive won platinum at the AVA Digital Awards.
KENYA: MATHIEU PLASSARD, REGIONAL MANAGING DIRECTOR AT OGILVY AFRICA
A 20-year plus veteran, Mathieu started as a Strategic Planner with Y&R in Paris. He joined Ogilvy & Mather in 2000 and in 2014 Mathieu joined Ogilvy Africa as Regional Managing Director to accelerate the growth of the Group in Sub-Saharan Africa.
KENYA: WAITHERA KABIRU, DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER, COCA-COLA CENTRAL EAST & WEST AFRICA
For the past five years Waithera has led digital content and connections for Coca-Cola in Sub-Saharan Africa, taking the digital lead on successful marketing campaigns that include “A Billion Reasons to Believe in Africa”, 2014 FIFA World Cup, Coke Studio Africa, Share a Coke and Taste the Feeling.
Before this, she headed the Digital Media Unit of 98.4 Capital FM Kenya, where she was instrumental in establishing the radio station’s mobile and social platforms.
NAMIBIA: CHRISNA BASSON, HEAD OF STRATEGY AT WEATHERMEN & CO
Chrisna is judging the Loeries for the second consecutive year. A native Namibian, she has worked on a wide range of big and small brands for JWT in South Africa and Germany, and for King James in Cape Town. It was there that she was a key member of the team that helped create a strategy for the Johnnie Walker brand, which saw it, end a challenging period with the award-winning “Meet Your Match” and “Johnnie Walker Wager” campaigns.
NIGERIA: ADAORA ADHEKE, MANAGING DIRECTOR AT PEACOCK MEDIA
Adaora is Cannes Jury President/Chairperson for the 2017 Young Lions Media Award, having been a Cannes jurist from 2010 – 2016. But it is not just her Cannes experience that qualifies her to judge the Loeries 2017. Adaora was named Excellent Personality in Nigeria Women in Media in 2012. In 2015, she was nominated to several roles for Nigeria’s Media Independent Practitioners Association, including Chairperson of the Technical Committee.
NIGERIA: BOLAJI ALAUSA, EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR AT NOAH’S ARK
Noah’s Ark is the top agency outside South Africa in Sub-Saharan Africa according to the Loeries 2016 Agency Ranking. Bolaji knows what it feels like to win a Loerie and a Young Lion, which he did in 2009, leading to him representing Nigeria in Cannes.
NIGERIA: STEVE BABAEKO, CEO & CCO AT X3M IDEAS
In addition to his leadership roles at X3M Ideas, Steve is the founder of X3M Music, a record label focused primarily on developing young talent. And nurturing young talent in the art of self-reliance is one of his specialities. Driven by creativity and challenge, Steve is a writer, consumer behaviour analyst, and brand builder. With 20 years of industry experience (MC&A Saatchi & Saatchi, Prima Garnet Ogilvy and 141 Worldwide) he founded X3M Ideas in 2012.
ZAMBIA: FRED MUTHANDENI PHIRI, MANAGING DIRECTOR AT VERTICAL LIMIT PRODUCTIONS
A man with the Twitter handle @FreddyBanknotes is not going to be an ordinary man, is he? Fred Phiri is a multiple award-winning giant of the entertainment production industry, as well as a filmmaker who is equally at home in music, print, radio, TV, live events, marketing and communication. Aside from an extensive list of TV and music productions and collaborations, Fred’s body of work includes co-production of the Zambian Music Awards (2013, 2014 and 2016), co-founding the Hip Hop Foundation of Zambia, and member of the Parents Partnership for Children with Special Needs.
Loeries judging will be held at the Durban ICC during Creative Week (Monday 14 – Thursday 17 August 2017) preceding the awards ceremonies. The result of the judging showcases the best of brand communication from our region.
About Loeries® Africa Middle East
The Loeries®, a non-profit company, is Africa and the Middle East’s premiere initiative that recognises, rewards, inspires and fosters creative excellence in the brand communication industry. As the highest accolade for creativity and innovation across our region, the Loeries® promotes and supports creativity by helping marketers, agencies and consumers appreciate the value of ideas and fresh thinking.
Culminating in the biggest creative gathering in Africa and the Middle East, Loeries® Creative Week™ Durban brings together the best innovative minds from our industry for a festival of networking, inspiring minds and recognising great work.
Our region’s creative economy is world-class and has great potential to grow and to offer employment both to our talented youth. The growth occurring throughout Africa and the Middle East is very exciting, and a major focus of the Loeries® is to increase the standard of brand communication in the region.
Major Partners of the Loeries 2017
Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN), The Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, KwaZulu-Natal Province (EDTEA), eThekwini Municipality – Durban Tourism, DStv Media Sales
Category Partners
AB InBev, Accenture, Channel O, Facebook, Gagasi FM, Google, JCDecaux, SANBS, The Times, Unilever South Africa, Woolworths
Additional Partners and Official Suppliers
AAA School of Advertising, Antalis South Africa, Aon South Africa, Association of Practitioners in Advertising, Backsberg, BEE Online, Circus Circus Beach Café, DDB South Africa, First Source, Fresh RSVP Guest Logistics, Funk Productions, Gallo Images, Graphica, Grid Worldwide, HelloCrowd, Hetzner, Multiprint Litho, Lingo Communications, Newsclip, Paygate, Paul Shiakallis Photography, Rocketseed, Scan Display, Shift Social Development, South African Airways, Total Exposure, Tsogo Sun, Vega School, VQI
Official Media Partners
Between 10and5, Bizcommunity.com, Book of Swag, Campaign Middle East, CliffCentral.com, Coloribus Advertising Archive, Design Times, Film & Event Media, Goliath and Goliath, iDidTht.com, Leading Architecture and Design, Marketing Edge Nigeria, Marketing Africa, Media Update, The Redzone, YouTube.
