Some of the winners pose with their 2024 Silverback awards on Saturday. The awards were themed around Innovative Sustainable Marketing. PHOTO/ANDREW KAGGWA
On Saturday, at Kampala Serena’s Victoria Conference Center, the Uganda Advertisers Association in collaboration with Loeries and the Uganda Marketers Society celebrated the power of advertisement.
Known as the Silverback Awards, it is a platform that shines a light on the minds and agencies behind some of the cutthroat ideas and works that captivate Ugandans on streets, radio, television and the digital space.
This year, the theme of the awards was Innovative Sustainable Marketing: Harnessing Ethics, Impact and Profitability in the Digital Age.
Thus when it came to the digital category, it was easy to understand why marketing and advertising today need utmost and unapologetic creativity.
One of the big winners of the night was the Uganda Waragi Lemon and Ginger launch overall campaign.
The Uganda Breweries gin was launched in 2023 to capture the spirit of Nyege Nyege Festival which was happening in a weeks time. To grab the attention of both the media and general public, a campaign, Arrest the Influencer, was set in motion.
Sheila Gashumba, the influencer in question was arrested or caught at the airport trying to take a bottle of Uganda Waragi with her onto the plane.
It became viral and the bottle was later revealed.
The campaign ran over competition in many categories winning two design category awards, bronze and gold.
The design, aptly named the Label that binds Us, was designed by Natasha Karungi, alias Kashushu from The Collective.
The Collective had a good night with the Uganda Waragi Lemon and Ginger campaign picking up other awards such as Integrated campaign and Multi-media category.
The digital campaign too went to the disruptive, Arrest the Influencer, which was executed by Fireworks Advertising for Uganda Waragi Lemon and Ginger.
During the winning speech, Denise Kayiraba of Fireworks said that the campaign brought many agencies together which is proof that working together as opposed to competing can always yield results.
MTN’s Momo loans campaign which most Ugandans refer to as the Osmosis advert too walked away with a number of awards which also saw MTN being declared the Brand of the year and TBW Africa as the agency of the year.
Two lifetime achievement awards were given out in advertisement and marketing going to Jackie Namara and Caleb Owino respectively.
For continuity, the awards have also been recognizing trailblazers, junior silverbacks who they recognized in various capacities.
The awards also used the opportunity to honor the legacy of fallen marketer and Fireworks’ Frank Muthusi who died early this year.
The Silverback Awards are not just Uganda’s version of the Loeries but they are Uganda’s direct affiliation to the Loeries.
According to the CEO Loeries, Preetesh Sewraj, it’s important for Marketers to have an impact beyond merely selling a product.