It was Ogilvy who walked away with the main prize for the evening, pipping the likes of last year's winner NATIVE VML for the prized Digital Agency of the Year award at the 2017 Bookmark Awards.

The night's big winners included: 

  • Best Publisher: News24 & News24.com, a division of Media24;
  • Best Individual Contribution to Digital: Matthew Buckland of Creative Spark;
  • Pixel for Purpose: Joe Public/NATIVE VML for Nedbank's #GoSandile campaign;
  • Best Contribution to Transformation in the Digital Industry: Livity Africa;
  • Best Marketer: Vanessa Singh of Nedbank; 
  • Brand of the Year: KFC; and 
  • Best Digital Youngster: Katlego Phatlane.

Gold winners on the night included:

  • Content Strategy: FoxP2 for Ster-Kinekor (#OpenEyes);
  • Mobile Campaign: Ogilvy for Yum Brands (Shakin Shakin);
  • Mobile Campaign: Net#workBBDO for Diageo (Team Kenya);
  • Branded Content: NATIVE VML for Pernod Ricard South Africa (Absolut One Source);
  • Innovative use of Mobile Media: Net#workBBDO for Diageo (Team Kenya);
  • Craft - News or Feature Writing: 24.com, a division of Media24 for King Hlaudi's rise to power;
  • Craft - Organic Search Marketing: Rogerwilco;
  • Digital Installations and Activations: Nona Creative for Did You Even Dev? Digital Installation;
  • Customer Experience Design: Absa for its website, Absa.co.za;
  • Microsites: Ogilvy for Yum Brands (Fill Ups);
  • Microsites: Liquorice for Distell (#NameThemSaveThem);
  • Public Service and NPO platforms: Project Isizwe for TshWi-Fi.co.za;
  • Mobile Apps: King James Group for Sendr (Sendr);
  • Games: INJOZI and Net#workBBDO for Chicken Licken (Kung Fu);
  • Publisher sites: 24.com, a division of Media24 for News24.com;
  • Mobile Publications: 24.com, a division of Media24 for News24 Elections 2016;
  • Special Features: KFM, a division of Primedia for Eyewitness News (The untold story of Mbuyisa); and
  • Best Digital Student: Vega School for Bernard Cloete, Julia Smith and De Wet Cilliers.

While these were the most prestigious awards earned over the course of the evening, many an award was given out for the excellent work South Africa's digital adverting industry had supplied over the last year.

For more information, visit thebookmarks.co.za. 

The IAB Digital Summit preceded the Awards. Read more in our article, 2017 IAB Digital Summit broadens the digital mind.