The Loeries 2012 Official Rankings were announced last week and Black River FC is proud to have achieved top spot in the Small Agency division as well as fifth spot overall.

“The 2012 Loeries Awards has been such a highlight for us and this ranking is a further honor for us, testament to the hard work and commitment our team has shown this year. What makes it really special is that our approach to our work has remained unchanged since Black River FC's inception” says Ahmed Tilly, Executive Creative Director at Black River FC.

The agency secured the prestigious Grand Prix, a Gold Loerie and a Gold Pendoring for the Nando’s Last Dictator Standing advert in the TV and Film Communication category. It also took home Campaign Gold for the Nando’s vs Santam advert and a Silver Pendoring and Bronze Loerie for the Nando’s Diversity advert.

The Top Small Agency Ranking announcement comes barely two weeks after the agency was awarded the prestigious Black Eagle at the Eagle Print Awards for its 1stfor Women Insurance campaign, ‘That’s why we insure women’. Awarded only eight times since 1996, the Black Eagle is a rare and sought after award, making this a major coup for the agency.

“It’s been a whirlwind few months and it’s an honor to have our work recognised by the industry,” says Tilly. “The most satisfying aspect though, is that the award-winning work was work created to answer real world problems for our clients, it wasn’t created simply to win awards. In fact, we have never entered a piece of scam work - and we never will"

Earlier this year, Black River FC was also awarded the Creative Circle’s Ad of the Year for Nando’s Dictator.

Advertising agency Black River FC has been awarded the prestigious Black Eagle at this week’s Eagle Print Awards. Awarded only eight times since 1996, the Black Eagle is a rare and sought after award, making this a major coup for the agency.

The winning campaign? Six print adverts for the 1st for Women Insurance campaign, “That’s why we insure women”.

The campaign, which consists of these six award winning print adverts, as well as three television ads and a campaign of radio spots, shows men in various predicaments fuelled by bravado and testosterone-driven curiosity. Eagle Print Awards judges Matthew Bull and Eugene Cheong said the campaign offered a fun, fresh look at stereotypes and men’s sense of adventure, one that men would relate to and women would agree with.

“The category of insurance seems to be trying to bore us to death. This campaign is great fun with a strong promise – and it’s a reminder to everyone that our job as advertisers is to entertain and inform,” Bull told advertising blog Adlip.

The team behind the print campaign was Elena Ronca, account director; Suhana Gordhan, creative director; and creative team, Avish Gordhan and Mandie van der Merwe.

“We are pleased to be ending the year on such a high note with 1st for Women Insurance, particularly since they were our first client almost eight years ago,” says Ahmed Tilly, Executive Creative Director as Black River FC. “I’m a firm believer that agencies are only as good as their clients allow them to be and we are lucky to have clients that allow us to push boundaries.”

The future of advertising depends on marketers, the brand managers, the clients. “Trust your agency and trust that if a piece of work surprises you, makes you feel a little uncomfortable and makes you sit up and pay attention, it will do the same for your consumer,” says Tilly.

Black River FC clearly has the trust of its clients and this year’s success clearly illustrates it. In addition to the Black Eagle, the team also won a Bronze Eagle for the Nando’s Diversity advert, which has been well received this year, winning a Loeries Grand Prix, a Gold Loerie and a Gold Pendoring for the Nando’s Last Dictator Standing advert in the TV and Film Communication category. It also took home Campaign Gold for the Nando’s vs Santam advert and a Silver Pendoring and Bronze Loerie for the Nando’s Diversity advert. Earlier this year, Black River FC was also awarded the Creative Circle’s Ad of the Year for Nando’s Dictator.

Black River FC recently presented Nando’s co-founder Robbie Brozin with the Marketing Leadership and Innovation Award he was honored with at this year’s Loeries.

Brozin was unable to attend the prestigious Loeries ceremony, so Ahmed Tilly, Executive Creative Director at Black River FC, accepted the award on his behalf. Black River FC gave Brozin the award in a low-key gathering that was attended by a handful of Brozin’s closest friends and colleagues, including Andrew Human, CEO of the Loeries Awards, and John Hunt, Worldwide Creative Director at TBWA\Worldwide.

Tilly congratulated Brozin on this outstanding achievement. “We are inspired by you as a human being, an ad man and a marketer, which is why this award is so fitting,” he said. “Although Nando’s is already 25 years into it’s journey, it does feel as though we are really just at the beginning.”

Brozin agreed, saying he was honored to receive the award. “It’s not what we’ve done, it’s what we’re going to do.” He went on to thank the team for their dedication to delivering creative, cutting edge work.

It looks like Brozin and his team have pioneered a winning formula. Nando’s and Black River FC received a number of other top awards at this year’s Loeries, including the prestigious Grand Prix, a Gold Loerie and a Gold Pendoring for the Nando’s Last Dictator Standing advert in the TV and Film Communication category. They also took home Campaign Gold for the Nando’s vs Santam advert and a Silver Pendoring and Bronze Loerie for the Nando’s Diversity advert.

We’ve all giggled and/or gasped at the various outrageous Nando’s adverts throughout the year, and this no holds barred approach has seen Black River FC walk away from the 2012 Loeries with top honours in the TV and Film Category.

The agency secured the prestigious Grand Prix, a Gold Loerie and a Gold Pendoring for the Nando’s Last Dictator Standing advert in the TV and Film Communication category. It also took home Campaign Gold for the Nando’s vs Santam advert and a Silver Pendoring and Bronze Loerie for the Nando’s Diversity advert.

Black River FC’s sustained approach to creating irreverent adverts that have talkability but also attain real world results for client is paying off. The Nando’s Last Dictator Standing advert was created from a brief to create a campaign that would exceed the previous festive season’s sales. The result was a fully integrated campaign that not only received local and international acclaim and over two-million combined views on YouTube, but also the highest selling promotional meals during any festive season in Nando’s history.

“We create work that is worth talking about, work that weaves it’s way into every day life and we are lucky enough to partner with clients who are willing to push the boundaries with us,” says Ahmed Tilly, Executive Creative Director at Black River FC.

“We chose the more difficult path in terms of winning awards, i.e. we will not do any scam work or "proactive" ads. By "proactive" we mean create self-indulgent ads that were designed to win awards. These usually require little to no investment from client, are paid for by agency awards budgets and are placed in media only to qualify for the award shows. As a result, winning this Grand Pix has been even sweeter. It is for the same reason that we admire Ogilvy's Carling ‘Be the Coach" Grand Prix so much.”

Tilly continues to say that growing a brand is an act of love, patience, sacrifice and assassin-like determination and these awards are testament to Black River FC’s strong relationships with client as well as the huge emphasis placed on creativity that pushes boundaries.