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Three representatives from Y&R South Africa have been invited to sit on the judging panels of key advertising industry awards this year, namely; Apex, D&AD and the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. This is a first on these juries for the South African agency, which was founded more than 40 years ago and more recently started to gain strong industry recognition.
In mid-2011, Y&R SA appointed a new leadership team in Andrew Welch and Graham Lang, the CEO and CCO respectively. They relooked the agency’s positioning, shifting the focus to build on Y&R’s inherent philosophy based on insight, ideas and impact.
Since then, the Johannesburg agency’s managing director, Melanie Behan and its executive creative director, Rui Alves have been invited to judge Apex 2012 - the only awards programme in the South African advertising and communications sector that honours effectiveness. Winning campaigns are recognised for having succeeded in developing a creative solution from insightful, strategic thinking, which then led to a direct and measurable impact. Participating in this jury underpins Y&R’s new focus and its strategically creative expertise.
In the meantime, Graham Lang was invited to be a member of the Integrated and Earned Media Jury for the 50th D&AD Awards. He was the first South African judge to join this respected awards’ jury in 2001. What’s more, he was also one of the country’s first-ever Silver Pencil winners.
Additionally, this month Rui Alves was confirmed to judge the Outdoor and Ambient category at Cannes. When commenting on this news, Alves said, “I’ve had a long-time infatuation with this flexible, versatile channel. I think its still one of the most creative spaces to work in and continues to evolve and break new ground - sometimes literally. There are always incredible innovations and surprises every year, and I'm looking forward to seeing this years’ best.”
Lindsay Leppan, the MD of Y&R Durban has followed suit by being invited to judge the new on-pack promotional and informational labels at the 2012 Pyro Inspiration Awards. These awards recognise innovative and exceptional on-pack devices and aim to establish on-pack as a rightful stand-alone media category. | 
