The Shop! SA Shopper Marketing Awards gives brand manufacturers, retailers, creative agencies, and production houses the opportunity to showcase their work, motivate their marketing teams, build credibility in their trading community, and establish themselves as leaders in the market.
Shop South Africa, the local chapter of the global trade association, works to enhance retail environments and experiences, and further excellence in the marketing at retail industry.
“Our goals, as Shop! SA, are to upskill the entire shopper marketing value-chain, facilitate networking and collaboration, and recognise outstanding achievements,” says Di Wilson, Shop! SA founder and MD.
Speaking about this year’s awards, she says 2024 will build on learnings from their inaugural awards event held last year.
“A key judging criterion was the demonstration of insight-led shopper executions that delivered commercial results for brands and retailers.
“Stringent judging standards, combined with our judges’ experience, gave us a massive credibility boost as we set out to put shopper marketing on the map. This year, we’re building on our credibility to offer targeted categories and deliver a bigger event,” says Wilson.
Wilson notes that the judging panel for the 2024 awards is yet to be finalised.
The 2023 judging panel included Carl Willoughby, Mamapudi Nkgadima, Carla Gontier, John Clark, Andy Sutcliffe, Craig Lodge and Phil Day, and the sponsors were Barrows, H&A, Online, and Point.
Cecil W Ungerer of Smart Media, a 2023 winner, says that the Shop! SA awards inject a fresh perspective into the industry by recognising outstanding achievements – and a local win is a springboard to global recognition.
“It was incredibly gratifying to win awards in three different categories. Moreover, clinching gold paved the way for Smart Media to compete on the world stage and demonstrate to the world that we are a formidable presence to be acknowledged. The Shop! SA awards serve as a strong reminder that innovation yields rewards.”
The driving force behind the awards comprises industry stalwarts Janet Kirkbride, Chris Hewitt, Grant Hillary and Rashree Maharaj, along with Wilson.
Judging will be done in August, finalists will be announced in September, and the awards evening will be held in November.
Entries are online and close end-July 2024.
