The New Generation Awards represent the pinnacle of achievement in South Africa, for social and digital media, integrated marketing and the online tech sectors. This year’s 12th edition attracted over 500 submissions, from 100 corporates and agencies, with the winners announced at a packed banquet awards ceremony in Sandton, on Thursday 26 September. Modern Marketing is the proud media partner of these prestigious awards.

Stephen Paxton, founder of the awards, remarked on the exceptional quality of this year’s submissions, highlighting the innovative and engaging work displayed by many new agencies and corporates, representing hundreds of South Africa’s best-loved brands.

The analysis of numerous submissions indicates an increasing prevalence of Influencer Marketing, Technical Innovation and strategic employment of Content Marketing. The pivotal role of virality in numerous campaigns is notable, particularly in the success of low-budget executions. Additionally, a growing number of brands are venturing into the realm of Podcasting.

Paxton expressed gratitude to all the participants for their remarkable campaigns and the 24 esteemed judges for their hard work and valuable insights, during the past three weeks. Special thanks were extended to the Bronze sponsor, Helm – Africa’s CX Innovation Experts – Africa’s CX Innovation Experts, the Brand sponsor, Wimpy SA, the Category sponsor, DStv, and the official media partner, Modern Marketing.

The 2024 awards saw the unveiling of their newly redesigned New Gen Trophies and the rebranding of the Main Overall Awards to The Black Onyx Awards. Paxton commented that, winning one of these prestigious awards was an absolute triumph! The Black Onyx symbolises enhanced communication and self-expression, just like the winners of these top honours whose individual performances, and creative work, are sure to leave a lasting impression.

New Gen highlighted that if a campaign exceeded their three primary benchmarks by a significant margin, it will not receive a highly commended award. Instead, it will be given multiple Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards as appropriate.

To provide some context, some campaigns that were awarded Silver had achieved Gold status, and some that received Bronze had achieved Silver status. As a result, the top-scoring campaigns will be recognised in order of their ranking. New Gen also awards multiple Gold Silver, and Bronze awards to campaigns that have received the same overall score from the judges.

The big winners on the night included Dialogue, who were crowned the Black Onyx Small Agency of the Year, Clockwork, who walked away with the Black Onyx Med-Large Agency of the Year, and SA Rugby, who stole the show, winning multiple awards including the Black Onyx Award for Digital Brand of the Year, Online Strategy of the Year, and Overall Social and Digital Corporate of the year Awards, by Dialogue.

Congratulations To All Of This Year’s Deserving Winners:

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