“The success of this evening’s event and the calibre of the 2011 entries and winners is a clear indication that the digital industry is growing from strength to strength,” says Nikki Cockcroft, Chairperson of the DMMA and Bookmarks Chair.

The 2011 winners are:

Jason-Xenopoulos-(Best-Individual-Contribution)

Geoff Cohen - GM of 24.com (Best Publishing House)

Quirk - Best Agency

Quirk - Best Agency

Quirk celebrates prestigious Best in Show award

The 2011 categories were, for the first time, not divided into those relevant to publishers and agencies. Instead the 52 categories were broken down into clusters that were open to all. The reasoning behind the enhanced category system was to extend the awards to a wider range of digital publisher, agencies and brands and to ensure that submissions were evaluated by judges with relevant experience and expertise.

Says Cockcroft: “our restructuring of the category system definitely worked in terms of the number, calibre and variety of entries. We are looking forward to having even more new entrants next year.”

The 2011 Bookmarks were powered by FNB. Says Stephen Claassen, FNB’s Provincial Chairman of the Western Cape: “FNB celebrates innovation and we support the digital industry because we love the innovation coming out of it.”

The winners were chosen from over 450 entries and were judged by top industry professionals.

View the other finalists

• Individual & Team Awards
• Craft Awards
• Product Awards

View the other finalists

• Achievements & special honours
• Craft Awards
• Product Awards

View the other finalists

• Individual & Team Awards
• Achievements & special honours
• Product Awards

websites / microsites / mobisites

PRODUCT AWARDS

Advertising & Search

PRODUCT AWARDS

Email marketing

PRODUCT AWARDS

Community & PR

PRODUCT AWARDS

Applications & tools

PRODUCT AWARDS

Games

PRODUCT AWARDS

Online video & audio

PRODUCT AWARDS

Online video & audio

View the other finalists

• Individual & Team Awards
• Achievements & special honours
• Craft Awards

Clarke re-launched Africa.com in February 2010 after resigning from her position as a managing director in the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs & Co. Her goals for Africa.com are to change the way the world engages online with Africa and to be the platform for those changes. The growth of Africa.com has been phenomenal and in a recent interview Clarke had this to say about the digital space in Africa: “International interest in investment in Africa has been on the rise, but in the African internet space, things have picked up even faster, and growth will be explosive over the next decade. There is a feeling that you are part of something phenomenal happening.”
As Technical Director, Kupila is the creative technologist who oversees all the technical aspects of the interactive projects at Sid Lee in Amsterdam. Sid Lee is a multidisciplinary agency with offices in Montreal, Amsterdam, Paris, Toronto and Austin. Kupila describes himself as a creative developer that works with all elements of design, technology and innovation.

The industry will have the opportunity to interact with the judges at the Bookmarks workshops taking place in Johannesburg and Cape Town. They will give feedback from an international perspective on both the agency and publisher entries, plus they will participate in the panel discussions. Members of the local judging panel will also speak about how the entries were evaluated and what stood out for them. The workshops will close off with industry stalwarts Renee Silverstone (Cape Town) and Luke McKend (Johannesburg) who will talk about the state of digital media and marketing in South Africa.

The workshops take place at 20 West Executive Hotel in Johannesburg on the 8th November and The Commodore Legacy Hotel in Cape Town on the 9th November. Both events are from 8.30am to 1.00pm. Tickets cost R450.00 and bookings can be made at www.thebookmarks.co.za

Thanks go to the confirmed sponsors (as at 19th October): My Broadband, Effective Measure, Dash of Lime, BrandsEye, DStv Online, 24.com, Nokia, IOL, Click2Customers, 365 Digital, Prezence, M&C Saatchi Abel, Ads24 and Vodacom who are category sponsors; Advantage, The Media Online and Marketing Web, Marketing Mix, Memeburn, BizCommunity, www.bandwidthblog.com, www.iafrica.com, www.marklives.com and the Digital Edge who are all media partners and Hertz, Fairlawns Boutique Hotel and Spa, Colourtone, RSAWeb, Commodore Hotel, Quirk Education, Strike Media, Social Code, Prefix, Hello Computer, Native, New Media Publishing and Distell who are all service sponsors.

For more information on The Bookmarks please contact: Theresa Vitale on 011 454 3534, tvitale@dmma.co.za or Steph Powell on 072 197 1843, spowell@dmma.co.za or use Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheBookmarks (please use #Bookmarks2011) or Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheBookmarks

“We have responded to industry demand and extended the entry deadline by a week,” said Nikki Cockcroft, Bookmarks Chairperson and DMMA Chair. “We are encouraging companies, brands and individuals to get their entries in next week as our judging process will not allow for a second extension,” she added.

Entries can be submitted via the website at www.thebookmarks.co.za.

The Awards will be held at Pigalle in Cape Town on the 10th of November 2011, with workshops taking place on the 8th and 9th of November in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively. Tickets for both the awards evening and the workshops can be booked via the Bookmarks website.

Thanks go to the confirmed sponsors (as at 14 October): My Broadband, Effective Measure, Dash of Lime, BrandsEye, DStv Online, 24.com, Nokia, IOL, Click2Customers, 365 Digital, Prezence, M&C Saatchi Abel and Ads24 who are category sponsors; Advantage, The Media Online and Marketing Web, Marketing Mix, Memeburn, BizCommunity, www.bandwidthblog.com, www.iafrica.com, www.marklives.com and the Digital Edge who are all media partners and Hertz, Fairlawns Boutique Hotel and Spa, Colourtone, RSAWeb, Commodore Hotel, Quirk Education, Strike Media, Social Code, Prefix, Hello Computer, Native and New Media Publishing who are all service sponsors.

Various sponsorship opportunities are still available for this year’s event, contact Steph Powell on 072 197 1843 or spowell@dmma.co.za.

For more information on The Bookmarks please contact: Theresa Vitale on 011 454 3534, tvitale@dmma.co.za or Steph Powell on 072 197 1843, spowell@dmma.co.za or use Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheBookmarks (please use #Bookmarks2011) or Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheBookmarks

Says Nikki Cockcroft, Chairperson of the Bookmarks and Chair of the DMMA: “With the change to the category system and the shift towards one set of awards that services both publishers and agencies it was vital that the judges of each category would bring the best possible expertise to the process.”

The 2011 Bookmarks judges are:

• Local generic: Jason Xenopolous (Native), Brent Shahim (Aqua Online) and Nic Wittenberg (Ogilvy)
• Local publishing: Bridget Pringle (iafrica.com) and Alistair Fairweather (Mail & Guardian)
• Tech developers: Sophia Raw (Quirk)
• Usability and interactivity (Craft awards): Rian van de Merwe (Kalahari.com)
• Search and display: Adriaan Strydom (Clicks2Customers) and Andrea Mitchell (DigiVOX)
• Interns and students: Alex Rees (Quirk)
• Mobile: Jason Probert (Vodacom) and Vincent Maher (Motribe)
• Community and PR: Simon Dingle (5FM) and Suzanne Stokes (MWEB)
• Senior industry: Luke McKend (Google) and Renee Silverstone.

“A credible judging process is essential for an industry awards to succeed and the 2011 Bookmarks judging panel will provide this and more. We have an exemplary panel of highly experienced industry players that is going to ensure that all entries are accurately and fairly judged. We are very excited about the support we have received from them and we are looking forward to their results,” says Cockcroft.

The international agency and publisher judges will be announced soon.

The enhanced category system no longer splits the categories into publisher and agency awards. Instead, they have been divided into clusters, which are open to all entrants. The clusters are: Websites and Microsites, Advertising and Search, Email Marketing, Community and PR, Applications and Tools, Games, Online Video and Audio, Intergrated or Mixed Media (all Product Awards); as well as Achievement and Special Honours; Individual and Team Awards and Craft Awards.

There is a limited time left for entry submissions, as the closing date is the end of the week. Entries can be submitted via the website at www.thebookmarks.co.za.

The Awards will be held in Cape Town on the 10th of November 2011, with workshops taking place on the 8th and 9th of November in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively.

Thanks go to our confirmed sponsors (as at 10th October): My Broadband, Effective Measure, Dash of Lime, BrandsEye, DStv Online, 24.com, Nokia, IOL, Click2Customers, 365 Digital, Prezence, M&C Saatchi Abel and Ads24 who are category sponsors; Advantage, The Media Online and Marketing Web, Marketing Mix, Memeburn, BizCommunity, Bandwith Blog, iafrica.com, marklives.com and the Digital Edge who are all media partners and Hertz, Fairlawns Boutique Hotel and Spa, Colourtone, RSAWeb, Commodore Hotel, Quirk Education, Strike Media, Social Code, Prefix, Hello Computer, Native and New Media Publishing who are all service sponsors.

Various sponsorship opportunities are still available for this year’s event, contact Steph Powell on 072 197 1843 or spowell@dmma.co.za.

The Bookmarks have revamped their structure and this year there are 52 different categories and an enhanced judging system. While the awards still recognise excellence at a publisher or agency, team, and individual level, the new category approach will open up The Bookmarks to an even wider range of entries while still ensuring that submissions are compared to relevant competitors during the judging process.

The biggest change for 2011 is that the categories are no longer split into publisher and agency awards. Instead, they have been divided into clusters, which are open to all entrants. The clusters are: Websites and Microsites, Advertising and Search, Email Marketing, Community and PR, Applications and Tools, Games, Online Video and Audio, Intergrated or Mixed Media (all Product Awards); as well as Achievement and Special Honours; Individual and Team Awards and Craft Awards.

“We believe the enhanced category and judging system will allow for a greater diversity of entries,” says Nikki Cockcroft Chairperson of the Bookmarks and Chair of the DMMA. “As well as submissions from the industry stalwarts we are also looking forward to entries from companies, brands and individuals who have not previously entered the awards. For example, we believe that retail is going to play a bigger role this year plus we have included new awards for Civil Society and Government/Public service” she adds.
Another interesting change to the entries this year is the addition of extra mobile categories. “We have extended mobile to 5 categories this year from only 2 last year,” says Cockcroft. “We recognize the developments within the industry and growth and importance of the platform.”

The Bookmarks Awards were initiated by the DMMA in 2008 to strengthen the profile of the digital industry in South Africa and benchmark local talent against international standards. Entries are open to the whole industry and not just DMMA members. Top local and international judges will be confirmed later this month.

The Bookmarks’ entries close on the 15th October. The Awards will be held in Cape Town on the 10th of November 2011, with workshops taking place on the 8th and 9th of November in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively.

Thanks go to our confirmed sponsors (as at 12th September): Effective Measure, Dash of Lime, BrandsEye, DStv Online, 24.com, Nokia, IOL and Click2Customers who are category sponsors; The Media Online and Marketing Web, Marketing Mix, Memeburn, BizCommunity, Bandwith Blog, iafrica.com and marklives.com who are all media partners and Hertz, Fairlawns Boutique Hotel and Spa, Colourtone, RSAWeb, Commodore Hotel and Quirk Education who are all service sponsors.

Various sponsorship opportunities are still available for this year’s prestigious event, contact Steph Powell on 072 197 1843 or spowell@dmma.co.za.

For more information on The Bookmarks please contact: Theresa Vitale on 011 454 3534, tvitale@dmma.co.za or Steph Powell on 072 197 1843, spowell@dmma.co.za or use Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheBookmarks (please use #Bookmarks2011) or Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheBookmarks

“We are very excited about the category structure we have put in place for The 2011 Bookmarks Awards,” says Nikki Cockcroft, Chairperson of the Bookmarks and Chair of the DMMA. “Our aim when adapting this year’s categories was to open The Bookmarks up to an even wider range of digital publishers, agencies and brands, and to ensure that all submissions were compared to relevant competitors, and evaluated by judges with significant experience and expertise”.

The clusters for the new 2011 Bookmarks categories are: Websites and Microsites, Advertising and Search, Email Marketing, Community and PR, Applications and Tools, Games, Online Video and Audio, Intergrated or Mixed Media (all Product Awards); as well as Achievement and Special Honours; Individual and Team Awards and Craft Awards.

The Bookmarks was initiated by the DMMA in 2008 to strengthen the profile of the digital industry in South Africa and benchmark local talent against international standards. Top local and international judges will be confirmed in September.

The Bookmarks’ entries will open in early September and close on the 21st of October. The Awards will be held in Cape Town on the 10th of November 2011, with the workshops taking place on the 8th and 9th of November in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively.

Thanks go to our confirmed sponsors (as at 6th September): Effective Measure, Dash of Lime, BrandsEye, DStv Online, 24.com, Nokia, IOL and Click2Customers who are category sponsors; The Media Online and Marketing Web, Marketing Mix, Memeburn, BizCommunity, Bandwith Blog, and iafrica.com who are all media partners and Hertz, Fairlawns Boutique Hotel and Spa, Colourtone, RSAWeb, Commodore Hotel and Quirk Education who are all service sponsors. Various sponsorship opportunities are still available for this year’s prestigious event, contact Steph Powell on 072 197 1843 or spowell@dmma.co.za.

For more information on The Bookmarks please contact: Theresa Vitale on 011 454 3534, tvitale@dmma.co.za or Steph Powell on 072 197 1843, spowell@dmma.co.za or use Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheBookmarks (please use #Bookmarks2011) or Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheBookmarks