DAR-ES-SALAAM—Seventeen agencies across the continent of Africa have been awarded 35 Diamond and Gold trophies in the 2020 African SABRE Awards competition, which PRovoke Media manages in partnership with the African Public Relations Association. The winners were selected from among more than 150 entries from across the region.

 

Ogilvy once again lead the way with five awards for five different campaigns across the region.

There were multiple successes for several other agencies, including BCW and Edelman (four each); Tribeca Public Relations (three); and FleishmanHillard, Image Merchants, Joe Public, LSF, Modion Communications and WE Communications.

 

In addition, five campaigns have been selected as finalists for the Platinum SABRE, presented to the best campaign in this year’s competition:

  • #BiogenJourney: The world's first unfluencer campaign—Biogen with Retroactive
  • #ClearThe Stigma—Jet with Joe Public Relations
  • African migrations: Changing global perceptions—Mo Ibrahim Foundation
  • Shield - Sbonis’IDiski—Unilever South Africa-Shield with Edelman
  • Wings To Fly—Equity Group PLC with Ogilvy Africa

The trophies were originally scheduled to be presented at the African Public Relations Association Congress is Dar-es-Salaam in May, which has been postponed due to concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic. PRovoke Media and APRA are exploring other options for both the Congress and the awards presentation.

“The theme of ‘Africa Rising’ has come to the fore in recent years, and nowhere is it more true than in the public relations world, where the quantity of work has been increasing and the quality has been improving for the past few years,” said Paul Holmes, chair of the SABRE jury. “What we saw this year was a really encouraging blend of winning campaigns by multinationals and local agencies, not only in South Africa but across the region.”

A complete list of the winners and honorees can be found here.