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Picture: 123RF/mgunnouni
Picture: 123RF/mgunnouni

Yonder Media was the big winner at the 2021 Smarties Awards, announced on Wednesday night, winning six gold and four silver awards. 

The Smarties Awards are the gold standard of mobile marketing excellence. The judges commented that this year’s winning entries successfully demonstrated how marketers have had to change to make every cent count. The result has been truly innovative work that affects the business; the quality of work submitted far exceeded judges’ expectations, especially as marketing budgets across the board were cut due to ongoing Covid challenges.

“The impact of the pandemic was felt on brands’ pockets, and as we all know, among the first things to go is marketing spend,” points out Luisa Mazinter, MMA SA chair emeritus Smarties Awards. “This did not deter the Smarties Awards winners, who turned lemons into lemonade, producing work that was on-point and relevant to the times that we live in and when every cent counts.” 

Where the Smarties awards programme is distinct is that it places a weighting of 40% on business outcomes, while strategy, creativity and execution account for 20% each. “The reason for these splits is to ensure that the campaigns that are awarded are producing results that affect the business positively and are not only creative executions for the sake of it; there is no room for fluff,” says Mazinter.

All Smarties Award winners – gold, silver and bronze – will be entered into the global Mobile Marketing Associations’ Business Impact Index (BII) Awards. Launched in 2018, it is the first and only global mobile marketing index that identifies, ranks and awards top agencies, brands and technology enablers that drive significant business impact through mobile-first campaigns.

The 2021 Smarties Award winners can be viewed here.

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