The DMASA’s Assegai Integrated Marketing Awards sponsored by the South African Post Office has produced a record year in terms of entry numbers. Just hours before the cut-off time, 265 campaigns had been registered and worked on for submission.
The ‘call for entries’ campaign was designed and executed by 5th Dimension, a direct marketing specialist agency. 
, the founder and MD of 5th Dimension, a DMA Hall of Fame and recipient of the Direct Marketer of the Year award, was the perfect candidate to drive this year’s creative campaign for the Assegai Awards.
“We opted to take the theme for this year’s event out of the realm of left brain, rational thinking where direct marketing usually sits, and to focus on the one key element of why agencies and companies enter any type of awards programme – the joy of winning,” explains Keith. “We decided to focus on the one thing that all direct marketers aim for in a campaign – an emotional bond with the customer!
“We borrowed a quote from Vince Lombardy, the highly successful manager of the Greenbay Packers – “Winning isn’t everything … it’s the only thing” became our theme for the awards and it seems it was the exact spark needed to ignite the highly competitive spirit that exists in the marketing and advertising industry. With a target of 250 entries for 2011, we had our work cut out for us in achieving these numbers as we were well aware of the fact that locally and globally the industry was only just beginning to haul its way out of one of the worst economic recessions in decades,” says Keith. “Advertising and marketing always takes a great big slap in depressed economies.
“The campaign was entirely electronic, using e-mail and the website to drive entries and awareness of the event. Launch mails were followed up with segmented mailers about the 30 categories that campaigns could be entered into – a spin-off of this was a great educational exercise in demonstrating just how diverse the direct marketing space is.
“A subtle tweak was made to include the word ‘integrated’ into the awards title and logo. The evolution of marketing and advertising is showing a distinct move towards integrating traditionally above-the-line campaigns with a call to action or response mechanism – a trend which the recession certainly gave impetus to as marketers came under massive pressure to show measurable ROI. Secondly, it also refers to the growing trend of channel integration and the use of multiple media across marketing campaigns to drive response,” explains Keith.
“And finally, we overhauled the entire entry website, making it is as simple and straightforward as possible for users to register, download their entry forms and then upload the completed forms along with the creative material for submission. It’s our view that supreme excellence lies in simplicity, and it’s paid off!” adds Keith.
Brian Mdluli, CEO of the DMASA says the response has been phenomenal and rewarding despite an incredibly challenging year on both the business and legislative fronts. “We are delighted to have exceeded our target on entry numbers as we had set a very high standard for this year’s event. Each year the Assegai Awards has grown in terms of entry numbers. The 2010 Assegai Awards increased entry numbers by 17% on 2009, a year which also saw a massive increase of 42% up on entry numbers in 2008. And this year’s entries look set to close on a significant year-on-year increase once again.”
The DMA attributes this growth to the fact that direct marketing uptake is increasing rapidly as businesses come under increasing pressure to measure the ROI on campaigns and also seek closer relationships with and insights into their customer base. “The Consumer Protection Act has in fact forced marketers to become more adept and scientific when it comes to leads generation and customer engagement within the confines of the law. This in itself can only be a good thing as it demands of marketers to raise the bar in terms of quality and creativity,” says Brian. Consumers are growing increasingly sophisticated in their requirements for marketing information, as well as the channels through which they want to be communicated with.
The 2011 Assegai Integrated Assegai Awards are once again sponsored by a host of sponsors who are kings in the direct space including:
- The South African Post Office – presenting sponsor for the fifth consecutive year.
- African Bank – category sponsor
- Computer Facilities – Category sponsor
- Nedbank – category sponsor
- MTN – multiple category sponsor
- Standard Bank – category sponsor
- 5th Dimension – category, website and creative campaign sponsor
- SAS – sponsor of the judging facilities
- List Perfect – database sponsor
The Direct Marketing Association’s Assegai Awards are the independent, premier awards wholly dedicated to the multi-billion Rand direct marketing industry, recognising and rewarding excellence in multi-channel direct response marketing. The gala awards event takes place on 17 November 2011 at Emperor’s Palace.
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