The Sabre Awards Africa finalists have been announced, with local agency, Flow Communications, announced as the outright winner in the industry sectors: associations category for the campaign Marine Protected Areas Day 2024.
The South African agencies with the most finalists are Retroviral and Ogilvy boasting seven finalists each.
Magna Carta Reputation Management, Clockwork and FleishmanHillardSA have five finalists each.
Razor PR, Tribeca and Irvine Partners each have four.
Accenture PR and Levergy have three finalists each.
The 2025 Africa Sabre Awards shortlist includes more than 120 campaigns, selected from over 500 entries in this year’s competition.
The 2025 Africa Sabre Awards take place on June 12 in Mombasa, Kenya at the PrideInn Paradise Beach Resort & Spa Mombasa.
The Awards recognise superior achievement in branding, reputation and engagement and the campaigns were evaluated by a jury of industry leaders.
Diamond Sabre Awards
Company of the year
Winner: #Indomie HeroesAward — Indomie Noodles with Chain Reactions Africa
The Sabre Award for superior achievement in brand-building
– Dove 20 years of Real Beauty — Unilever (Dove) with Edelman Africa- Get Ready With Music — Spotify with Irvine Partners- GITEX Africa 2024 — Dubai World Trade Centre with APO Group- National Geographic – Endurance — The Walt Disney Company Africa with Jenny Griesel Communications, and ChilliEngine Experiential Events- Nelson Mandela Foundation Round the Clock 2024 — Nelson Mandela Foundation
The Sabre Award for superior achievement in Reputation Management
– Communicating with confidence in a future we need — Sanlam Investments Communications and Public Relations team with Accenture Song – PR- Epson Champions Education — Epson South Africa with Tribeca Public Relations- Life Healthcare Always-On Campaign — Life Healthcare with Ogilvy South Africa- Now More People Can Premium — Nedbank with Levergy- SANBI: Biodiversity champion for the people — South African National Biodiversity Institute with Flow Communications
The Sabre Award for superior achievement in Research and Planning
– #Odourpandemic — Nivea with Chain Reactions Africa- A Christmas #LikeNoOther — Spar with Magna Carta Reputation Management Consultants- ‘What’s your Legacy’ — Sanlam Legacy with Accenture Song
The Sabre Award for superior achievement in Measurement and Evaluation
Winner: All Hair and All You (Tresemme) — Unilever (Tresemme) with Edelman Africa
Geographic
Northern Africa
Winner: World Unseen – Experience at GITEX Africa — Canon Central and North Africa with APO Group
Western Africa
– Basketball Africa League Sahara Conference, Playoffs & Final has context menu — Basketball Africa League with APO Group- #Indomie HeroesAward — Indomie Noodles with Chain Reactions Africa- Iwaju — The Walt Disney Company Africa with Bobby Taylor, Openfield Marketing, and with FilmOne- Striking Gold — with Federal Ministry of Art, Culture and Creative Economy (FMACCE) with Chain Reactions Africa- Viva Clean Hearts, Clean Clothes — Viva Detergent with Blanche Aigle Communications
Eastern Africa
– MKWC@20 – Saving The Mountain Bongo — Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy- Sambaza Furaha — Safaricom with Oxygene Marketing Communications- Shika Showmax — MultiChoice Kenya- Tujiamini Campaign — SportPesa with Winne Gor Communications Africa- Winds of Change – LTWP 2023 Sustainability Report Launch — Lake Turkana Wind Power with Hill & Knowlton/Burson East Africa
Southern Africa
– Bullet Proof Park — Gun Free South Africa with Razor with M&C Saatchi Abel (members of the Up & Up Group)- Get Ready With Music — Spotify with Irvine Partners- Lite Side of the Court — Castle Lite with Retroviral, Capacity Relations, Ogilvy, Dentsu, draftline- Microsoft Africa AI Journalist Academy — Microsoft Africa with FleishmanHillard SA- – The #ForeverWena Campaign — Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with Ogilvy South Africa
Practice areas
Business-To-Business Marketing
– From Green to Blue — NTT Data with Razor (a member of The Up & Up Group)- WE are Malan Scholes Attorneys — Malan Scholes Attorneys with Tribeca Public Relations- YES Top 35 Under 35 — Youth Employment Service (YES) with ByDesign Communications
Cause-Related Marketing
– Buy Me and BIC Will Donate A Pen — Bic East Africa with African Elite Group- Change Starts with One – BIC x Mpumelelo — Bic with Retroviral, Shaun James Film, and Integer- Winds of Change – LTWP 2023 Sustainability Report Launch — Lake Turkana Wind Power with Hill & Knowlton/Burson East Africa
Corporate Image
– From the inside out: building inclusive communities and lasting impact — KFC South Africa- Impactful PR in Customs Management — Nigeria Customs Service/NIPR with Image Merchants Promotion- Inner Drive Movie Documentary — inDrive with Integrated Indigo
Corporate Social Responsibility
– A Moment To Forget — Adasa with Clockwork- A Sandal More For A Better Tomorrow — Access Bank Ghana with Touchpoint Magna Carta- Climate Champions — Warner Bros. Discovery with Burson Africa- Indomie Show Some Love — Dufil Prima Foods with Chain Reactions Africa- MTN Made4U — MTN South Africa with Magna Carta Reputation Management Consultants
Crisis/Issues Management
– Emergency Response to Education Crisis in Kano — Kano State Government with Image Merchants Promotion- Navigating Turbulence: FlySafair’s Proactive Approach to Crisis Management — FlySafair with WE Communications- Turning Tides from Crisis to Credibility: Managing an oil spill response — Marine Biotechnology Products with Blast PR & Events (Blast Burson)
Digital Campaign
– #CarrefourBlackNovember — Carrefour Kenya with Engage Communications- Eric Cantona Stunt — Showmax with T+W, Retroviral, and Grid- Talk To Me Direct — Luminate with Winne Gor Communications Africa
Employee Communications
– Employee Communications Campaign — Telkom with Ogilvy South Africa- Pernod Ricard: 1000 Ways to Stay Safe — Pernod Ricard South Africa with Tribeca Public Relations- The Playground — Nedbank with Artifact
Financial Communications
– Dialing into the future: steering the IPO listing of Emtel — Emtel with Blast PR & Events (Blast Burson)- Join The Upside — Redefine Properties- NB Rights Issue Campaign — Nigerian Breweries with Integrated Indigo
Integrated Marketing
– Croctober 2024 — Crocs with Clockwork- Disney+ The Bear Joburg Experience — Disney+ with Clockwork- Nelson Mandela Foundation Round the Clock 2024 — Nelson Mandela Foundation- Turning 107 into impact: How Eskort transformed a milestone into a multi-pronged PR campaign — Eskort- Welcome Home! — Anambra State Government, Nigeria with TPT International
Marketing to Consumers (New Product)
– #MyMechanicMyHero — Hyde Energy with SKOT Communications- Coca-Cola Creations Wozzaah — The Coca-Cola Company with Tribeca PR- Now More People Can Premium — Nedbank with Levergy
Marketing to Consumers (Existing Product)
– #WinWinSummer — MTN South Africa with Magna Carta Reputation Management Consultants- All Hair and All You (Tresemme) — Unilever (Tresemme) with Edelman Africa- Back to Black — Audi South Africa with Razor (a part of The Up & Up Group)- Beatbox Baristas — Wimpy with Retroviral, Shaun James Film and Actorvate- Seara – Kwi. Partaze. Aprecie! — BrandActiv with Blast Burson
Media Relations
– BMW Art Car Retrospective — BMW Group South Africa with Clockwork- Change Starts with One – BIC x Mpumelelo — BIC with Retroviral, Shaun James Film, and Integer- National Geographic – Trafficked: Underworld with Mariana Van Zeller — The Walt Disney Company Africa with Jenny Griesel Communications, and ChilliEngine Experiential Events- Renovation of National Theatre — Sanef Creatives with Integrated Indigo- The Rite Nigerianess — Rite Foods with TPT International
Public Education
– Africa’s Business Heroes 2023 — Africa’s Business Heroes Prize Competition – Jack Ma Foundation with APO Group- All Hands on Deck — Unilever (LifeBouy) with Edelman Africa- Satisfying the taste, spotlighting science: the Marion Island expedition — KFC South Africa
Social Media Campaign
– #CarrefourBlackNovember — Carrefour Kenya with Engage Communications- Eric Cantona Stunt — Showmax with T+W, Retroviral, and Grid- GABI — Global Africa Business Initiative with APO Group
Special Event/Sponsorship
– Event Of the Year – Champagne Day 2024 — Moet and Chandon with African Elite Group- PRNigeria Fellowship: Empowering Next-Gen Communicators — Wole Soyinka Centre/NADIR with Image Merchants Promotion- Safaricom Chapa Dimba — Safaricom with Oxygene Marketing Communications- Soaring together: FlySafair’s commitment to South African sports — FlySafair with WE Communications- Ya Rona House — Nedbank with Levergy
Industry sectors
Associations
Winner: Marine Protected Areas Day 2024 — MPA Alliance with Flow Communications
Consumer Products/Services
– A Christmas #LikeNoOther — Spar with Magna Carta Reputation Management Consultants- Amapiano Tour: A decade of Amapiano — Spotify with Irvine Partners- Give Gogo Mzansi — Uber with Irvine Partners
Fashion & Beauty
– Express yourself in 100 colours — Unilever (Dove) with Edelman Africa- Maybelline New York x Femme Fest 2024 — Maybelline New York with Redrick PR, Vie By Neni- Re.Bag.Re.Use — Re.Bag.Re.Use
Financial & Professional Services
– #UpYourFinancialGame — Experian with Burson Africa- Stewards of your fortune, legacy and freedom — Stewards Investment Capital with Contentify- Tax Education — Xero with FleishmanHillard SA
Food & Beverage
– #TheLunchBarMan — Mondelēz South Africa with Accenture Song South Africa- Coca-Cola Food Fest Moris — Coca-Cola Indian Ocean Islands (CCIOI) with Zethical with CCIOI Marketing Team- Lite Side of the Court — Castle Lite with Retroviral, Capacity Relations, Ogilvy, Dentsu, draftline
Healthcare
– #Odourpandemic — Nivea with Chain Reactions Africa- Life Healthcare Always-On Campaign — Life Healthcare with Ogilvy South Africa- NHI Thought Leadership Campaign — Momentum Health with FleishmanHillard SA
Industrial/Manufacturing
– From Grassroots to greatness — DP World with Edelman Africa- Mission Nine-Zero — Nigerian Breweries with Integrated Indigo- Unilever Nigeria Centenary Campaign — Unilever Nigeria with Integrated Indigo
Media, Arts & Entertainment
– Discovery Shark Week — Warner Bros. Discovery with Burson Africa- Disney Quiz Night — The Walt Disney Company Africa with Capacity Relations, and ChilliEngine Experiential Events- Iwaju — The Walt Disney Company Africa with Bobby Taylor, Openfield Marketing, and with FilmOne
Mining and Extractive Industries
– Understanding the Pulse of Mining Communities in an Industry Under Pressure — Anglo American with ByDesign Communications
Not for Profit/Charities
– 30 Years of Democracy Through Young Eyes — Of Soul and Joy with Razor (a member of the Up & Up Group)- African Youth Survey 2024 — Ichikowitz Family Foundation with Burson Africa- The #ForeverWena Campaign — Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with Ogilvy South Africa
Public Sector/Government
– Striking Gold — with Federal Ministry of Art, Culture and Creative Economy (FMACCE) with Chain Reactions Africa- Update Token Meter Yako — Kenya Power with Inter Management Group (IMG) Kenya- Windfall Tax — Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) with Chain Reactions Africa
Technology
– 10 Years of Miraisha: A Decade of Empowerment — Canon Central and North Africa with APO Group- Axis Intersec Dubai 2024 — Axis Communications with Clockwork- Microsoft Africa AI Journalist Academy — Microsoft Africa with FleishmanHillard SA- MTN Pulse – Youth Hustle Hub — MTN South Africa with Magna Carta Reputation Management Consultants- Xero State of Small Business Report — Xero with FleishmanHillard SA
Travel & Leisure
Winner: #GalaxyintheSky — Samsung and Jambojet with Engage Communications
As part of the annual Apra conference, anyone who registers for the Apra 2025 conference automatically gains access to the Sabre Awards ceremony.
However, for those who wish to attend only the Sabre Awards and not the full conference, there will be a special registration desk at the venue of the Sabre Awards Africa. The entry fee for the Sabre-only attendance is $150.
