2014 Big Reads: The creative work you made time to read about in 2014 •

The creative work you made time to read about in 2014.

1. Ad of the Week: Where’s my name? #ShareACokeZA*

by Oresti Patricios. Coca-Cola is the global brand that proves time and again that it knows its market well. But, more so, it really understands how to connect with that market. Just in time for summer, when the pressure to grow market-share is on, Coca-Cola has launched an astute, bright campaign that makes its customers the hero of its marketing.

Since the beginning of November 2013, South Africans have been able to buy cans and bottles that have the wording “Coca-Cola” replaced with 600 of the country’s most common names. Produced by Draftfcb with Velocity Films, the television commercial (TVC) that goes with this #ShareACokeZA campaign is called “Share a Coke with Bobby”, featuring a gorgeous black-and-white border-collie-cross-pit-bull.

*We know this story ran in late 2013. Tracking only reader page views during the course of 2014, it remained the most-read campaign story last year.

Tweets about “#ShareACokeZA”

2. Loeries 2014 Winners: Saturday evening #loeries

The winners’ list for the first evening of the 2014 Loerie Awards (held on Saturday, 20 September 2014).

3. Hilarious response from Cell C to MTN’s “We’re Guilty”

Cell C has responded to MTN’s ‘We’re Guilty’ open letter that was published in the Sunday Times.

4. Cannes Lions 2014: First Grand Prix winners

The International Festival of Creativity, Cannes Lions, has held the first of its four awards nights, announcing this year’s winners in the Creative Effectiveness, Direct, Promo & Activation and PR categories. Here are the Grand Prix winners.

McCann Melbourne took the Grand Prix for ‘Guilt Trips’ created for V/Line.

adam&eveDDB were presented with the Grand Prix for its entry for Harvey Nichols, ‘Sorry I Spent it on Myself’.

OgilvyOne London received a Grand Prix for its entry for British Airways, ‘Magic of Flying’.

The Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles and Edelman New York jointly collected the Grand Prix trophy for its campaign for Chipotle Mexican Grill, ‘The Scarecrow’.

5. WeChat, Gareth Cliff’s CliffCentral.com launches TV ad

CliffCentral is launching with its own WeChat account and the app is launching a marketing campaign to celebrate the tie-in.

6. #AdoftheYear: Best South African Ad of 2014 — #getmeto21

by Oresti Patricios. I’m a big fan of digital, social media and viral campaigns that work well. That’s why I’ve decided to award this year’s #AdoftheYear to a campaign that has already made a tremendous impact upon people’s lives, and promises to do more as it continues gathering momentum.

Asking for a donation is a hard sell. Asking people for organ donation is even harder. There’s nothing in it for the donor, apart from the knowledge that — in the tiny eventuality that you are involved in a fatal accident — your body will be harvested for the ‘spare parts’ that will make someone else’s life better.

7. Ad of the Week: Fighting apathy with empathy

by Oresti Patricios. This week I am nominating a digital/social media campaign for #AdoftheWeek. It’s called “Get Me to 21” and it’s an unusual concept in terms of marketing and publicity. The appeal is for organ donors to sign up, because Jenna Lowe needs lung-replacement surgery, and there are currently no donors available.

Yes, it’s a good cause, and what makes it special is not just the way in which the campaign is centred on a smart, young girl; while her face personalises the plight of people awaiting replacement organs, this campaign is about much more than this.

8. Ad of the Week: Flights of imagination

by Oresti Patricios. It’s time for Ad of the Week and, this week, prepare to have a good belly laugh, thanks to the new campaign created for Student Flights by the specialist travel company’s advertising partners, TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris.

The more I watch these ads, the more I reckon these are the kind of commercial that could get a lot of traction on YouTube.

9. Ad of the Week: I see a different Brand Soweto

by Oresti Patricios. Three Soweto residents named Vuyo Mpanthsa, Justice Mukheli and his twin brother Innocent, decided to do something about the unfair image Soweto has accrued with a project they call, “I See a Different You”. This isn’t, strictly speaking, an advertising campaign, but it has so much to teach marketers that it is worth looking at.

10. Ad of the Week: More than a jersey

by Oresti Patricios. The oldest soccer club in South Africa, this team is known by many monikers. Some people call the home-grown Ibhola players the Buccaneers or the Bucs; others call them Ezikamagebhula, the Sea Robbers, the Ghosts, the Happy People, Amabhakabhaka, or Ezimnyama Ngenkani (which means the black ones — because this team plays home games in black kit).

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