The Advertising Association of Ghana (AAG) has honoured 44 outstanding advertising agencies and creative professionals for excellence in advertising at the 18th Gong Gong Awards in Accra.
Those awarded at the weekend included 11 in the gold category, 15 for silver and 18 in the bronze category.
The awards, held last Saturday (August 22) on the theme “The Creative Convergence: AI and Human Craft in Advertising,” brought together players in the advertising, media and creative industries to celebrate campaigns that demonstrated creativity, innovation and impact.
The ceremony, dubbed “Code X Craft: Festival of Creativity and Awards,” also explored the growing influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on advertising and how it could complement rather than replace human creativity.
Publicis West Africa emerged the biggest winner of the night, taking gold in six categories for campaigns produced for major brands.
Among its top wins were Best Film for Maggi Taste of Christmas, Influencer and Content Economy for Nescafe Ramadan, Best Use of AI and Creative Technology for Maggi Mama, Best Use of Digital for The Real Nigerian Prince, done with Leo Singapore, and Best Use of Social Media for Tales of Ramadan Season 2.
Other gold winners included EchoHouse, which won Brand Experience and Activation for Tidal Rave Festival; Insel, which won Best Radio for Looks Can Be Deceiving; Carat, which took gold for Best OOH with Club Beer Kwahu Mountain Top and Campaign Effectiveness with GTP e-commerce; and ReZultz Advertising, which won Best Integrated Campaign for Responsible Lending.
The awards also recognised the contribution of industry partners, sponsors and creative agencies to the growth and development of Ghana's advertising industry.
The President of AAG, Andrew Ackah, urged advertising companies and professionals to use AI to enhance their work rather than replacing it with human ingenuity and judgement.
He said that it was crucial to preserve the human creativity that drove the industry while utilising AI effectively.
“As we continue to debate the role of AI and its impact on our craft, it is important to appreciate what we stand to lose.
Technology cannot replace our humanity and what makes us who we are.
At best, it should enhance what we do,” he said.
The AAG president said the awards also provided an opportunity to promote excellence and high standards in the advertising industry, and added that Ghanaian creatives were capable of producing work that could compete internationally.
Expansion
Mr Ackah said the AAG planned to expand the Gong Gong Awards to include entries from other African countries such as Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire in future editions.
He said the current edition focused on Ghanaian entries because the association wanted to test the market after a two-year break from the awards.
He said opening the competition to agencies from other countries would expose Ghanaian creatives to stronger competition and encourage them to produce work capable of competing on the international stage.
Bill
Mr Ackah, who is expected to hand over the leadership of the AAG in November, said the association had made progress in strengthening the industry but the Advertising Council Bill remained outstanding.
He said the AAG was engaging the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Agribusiness and other stakeholders to facilitate the passage of the Bill, with the expectation that it would reach Parliament before the end of the year.
For his part, the Executive Director of the AAG, Isaac Cudjoe, said the Bill had been under discussion for about 16 years and that it was necessary to streamline the industry and strengthen regulation.
He said the ministry had adopted the Bill as government policy and expressed optimism that it would progress to Cabinet and Parliament.
Mr Cudjoe said the advertising industry employed thousands of people directly and indirectly but often received little recognition for the creative work behind successful brands.
