SA’s Ogilvy excels in global digital storytelling contest

Ogilvy Johannesburg’s Michelle McKenna, Taryn Scher and Philippa Heal emerged as the Middle East and Africa brand category winners of the , a creative storytelling contest.

Howzit MSN, the local Microsoft Advertising MSN partner and a subsidiary of Kagiso Media, recently hosted a breakfast to hand this award over to the Ogilvy team. The team went on to compete against winning entries from all markets participating in the contest.

The competition asked digital marketers from some 30 countries to submit a hypothetical digital media plan and creative idea for a brand or non-profit of their choice, using Microsoft Advertising’s storytelling platforms (MSN, Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live, Skype, XBOX Live, Kinect and Bing).

Entries were judged by a multinational panel of client and agency figureheads according to the following criteria: strength of the overall campaign idea; innovative use of Microsoft Advertising solutions; creative impact; and the probability that KPIs would be attained.

Says Marcus Stephens, general manager at Howzit MSN: “Ogilvy Johannesburg’s strong performance in this contest is testimony to the fantastic strategic thinking and creativity of South Africa’s digital agencies. We are proud of their inventive work and excellent results in this competition.”

“Microsoft is pushing boundaries in every direction and enabling campaigns to tell great stories in ways that were not possible before. Knowing that there are platforms available to bring big brand ideas to life is incredibly inspiring,” says award winner Michelle McKenna.