Best of Reel awarded to Sanlam ‘100 Years’ by Ian Gabriel from Giant Films

Taking time out from her fitness regime of getting in formation and collecting awards like No. 1 ECD in SA for the last 2 years, Mariana O’Kelly, Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy JHB, judges this month’s iDidTht Craft Awards. Mariana, we are not worthy🙏 Congratulations to all the winners.

BEST OF REEL

BEST OF REEL: Sanlam ‘100 Years’
Giant Films | Ian Gabriel
(Direction Craft)

SPECIAL MENTIONS

SPECIAL MENTION: Coronation ‘Trust Every Day’
Deliverance Post | David Oosthuizen & Gordon Midgely
(Editing & Online Craft)

SPECIAL MENTION: Puma ‘Outperform’
0307 | Paul Ward
(Direction Craft)

Judges comments by Mariana O’Kelly, Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy JHB.

Craft is not a word that gets used a lot these days. It was decided by someone somewhere that words like data, funnels and conversion should be used instead. They count for more points and make more money apparently. So it was quite a pleasure to judge something this month purely for the craft of it. However, just a word of caution for the analysts – no social media listening tools were used to measure effectiveness or sentiment. The results cannot be analysed, measured or quantified at all. It was purely formed by my own personal ‘watching tools’ used on this particular Tuesday afternoon. Nothing fancy. Nothing expensive. And please, if anyone sees anything here they absolutely love and I didn’t mention it, please phone the director/editor/sound engineer/musician and say well done to him/her. Because a real-life well done from a real person is the best kind of ROI anyone in this game can ever receive.

BEST OF REEL: Sanlam ‘100 Years’ by Ian Gabriel from Giant Films – Direction Craft
In order to select my favourite spot, I also asked myself which commercial had the biggest executional risk attached to it. Like…which one had the biggest potential for failure if it wasn’t for the director? And I have to say its hands down the Sanlam spot. Getting a 9 year old girl to carry an entire brand message and to deliver it with such confidence, humility and a touch of innocence deserves a bloody well done. Nice one. The cinematography is also exquisite.

SPECIAL MENTION: Coronation ‘Trust Everyday’ by Gordon Midgely & David Oosthuizen from Deliverance Post – Online & Editing Craft
Special Mention goes to Coronation for the craft in telling a story that unfolds over time. Always hard to get right.

SPECIAL MENTION: Puma ‘Outperform’ by Paul Ward from 0307 – Direction Craft
A Special Mention also goes to Paul Ward’s Puma spot for making me feel guilty for not running like a real gangster.

About Our Judge

iDidTht Craft Awards Guest Judge: Mariana O’Kelly, Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy JHB.
As a family-first mom of two, Mariana currently co-leads the largest Integrated studio in SA. She holds many an accolade including most recently being appointed as one of only 12 members of the Ogilvy Worldwide Creative Council. Kicking off her career in 1995, Mariana rode the beautiful creative wave through the South African Advertising Industry. The 17-year haul led to her being appointed to ECD of Ogilvy Jhb in 2014, where she has been instrumental in making history by bringing home the first-ever Cannes Radio Grand Prix for Ogilvy Worldwide. Under her creative stewardship, Ogilvy Jhb has won 2 additional Radio Grand Prix’s, as well as 62 globally recognized awards which makes her the most awarded female in the Ogilvy network. She’s a member of the Creative Circle Exco and has helped OJ win Best Individual agency of the year since 2015, Bookmarks Digital agency of the year for the last 2 years as well as Mark Lives Most Integrated Agency for 2017. She was also featured in Big Won’s 14th spot overall for best ECD’s in the world in 2017 and has been ranked by the Loeries as the no.1 SA ECD for the last 2 years.
As a valued member of the O&M SA family her continued success has not slowed down at all, she is at the forefront of driving O&M’s gender transformation agenda which has seen her creative department being the home of the highest number of female creatives within the WPP network. She believes that mothers don’t have to choose between rocking the cradle or rocking the boardroom, but that they can do both successfully. The best insights and stories will come from those creatives living real lives, understanding real challenges and solving real problems.