Loeries awards introduced to Ghana
This year’s Loeries creative awards has been introduced to Ghana following the arrival of the ‘Loeries African Roadshow in the country.
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The Loeries, Africa’s biggest showcase of the brand communications industry, is an annual event that projects Africa’s art and creative potential.
Instituted 30 years ago, the roadshow, which culminates in the launch of the creative award for the year, has been successfully held in five African cities, Harare, Dar es Salaam, Lagos and Nairobi.
The event in Ghana, the final destination for the Loeries African Roadshow, was initiated by Creative Trends Limited, a Ghanaian agency based in Accra.
Sponsors and supporters for the Accra edition of the Loeries African Roadshow are Unilever, La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, Graphic Communications Group Limited, Live Fm, Multi mix multimedia and Digimix Audio Company.
The award
All forms of creative work from Africa and the Middle East finished up before or on May 30, 2014 can be entered into this year’s Loeries awards.
Beyond traditional advertising, the Loeries also includes every touch point between a consumer and a brand– including digital media, architecture & interior design, package design, radio, television, print media, outdoor, communication design, public relations, live events, sponsorship and more.
The roadshow
Speaking at the roadshow, Colin Charles, Executive Creative Director at Publicis West Africa and a regional judge at this year's Loeries, said West Africa, Nigeria and Ghana in particular held an important key to sub-Saharan Africa's success and would soon be the biggest region in terms of both population and market growth.
He noted that digital media was growing and as with many sub-Saharan nations, it had leapfrogged, with increases being recorded in computer and mobile usage.
Other speakers included Naa Norkor Duah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lowe Lintas and President of the Advertising Association of Ghana; Nana Asihene, CEO of NKACC, a video production company; and Andrew Human, the CEO of the Loeries.
Naa Norkor Duah and Nana Asihene gave an overview of Ghana’s achievements in creative communications over the last few decades, with Nana Asihene highlighting artistes such as R2Bees and Sarkodie who have become cultural exports across the world.
Andrew Human expressed his excitement at the quality of work originating from Ghana and the hope that many Ghanaians would participate in the Loeries creativity week in South Africa this year.
“The Ghanaian media have a unique character and are evolving quickly,” said Clarence Nartey of Unilever Ghana.
A major challenge, he noted, was that “while digital is a fast-growing channel, there are few agencies with proven expertise or solid capabilities in this area.”
The CEO of Creative Trends, Yaw Asamoah, and the Ghanaian representative on the Loeries Africa Advisory Committee reiterated the lack of appropriate human capacity for the growing digital environment.
“Without exception, every business executive concludes that one of their biggest challenges is finding the right staff, retaining them and ensuring that they buy into the vision of the business,” he stated.