The initial phase involves the completion of a 'fotoverhaal' or an Afrikaans graphic novel. The first part of this retro black and white cowboy story, with girls included, was told and it is up to the entrants to complete it.
Every two weeks there are two spreads (a DPS) - to complete by filling in the speech bubbles and some picture props. The winner of the best pages that are selected to continue the story for the next two weeks gets R1000, runners-up will receive R500. There is only one more round of the 'fotoverhaal' to go.
Once the picture novel is complete, entrants will be invited to design a suitable front cover for the 'fotoverhaal' as part of the Ads24 annual T-shirt design competition. This leg of the competition has some fantastic prizes on offer, including an Apple MacBook Pro, Apple iPhone 5 and Apple iPad. The final winners will be announced at the Pendoring Awards in September.
The company has specifically designed the annual Think Afrikaans campaign to celebrate Afrikaans and to give creative professionals opportunity to hone their skills in producing quality Afrikaans advertising.
"Afrikaans newspapers play an important role in the market when it comes to the dissemination of important information, which includes commercial messages. These newspapers are top quality products that have to satisfy the editorial needs of a very specific market. Advertisements in these newspapers must therefore satisfy the opportunities that are created in this niche market and add value to the existing editorial work," says Tim du Plessis, executive editor of Afrikaans newspapers at Media24.
"A bad or weak advertisement doesn't just cripple the product, service or brand being advertised, but also affects the overall quality of the publication in which it appears. Beeld has nearly 513 000 daily readers and Rapport has more than 1 million weekly readers which proves that there is demand for the editorial content of these newspapers."
On the subject of mother-tongue advertising, he says, "Everywhere in the world the value of mother-tongue advertising is respected and appreciated. However, a benevolent ignorance exists in South Africa, as there is a docile assumption that all South Africans understand English. Understanding is one thing, but appreciating it is something completely different. People appreciate it more when they are addressed in the language of their hearts. It can also increase the chances of attaining commercial success."
Think Afrikaans and you will think of a descriptive language with a colourful tradition of storytelling. Before die 'kassie' (TV) and die 'wêreldwye web' (internet), there was die 'draadloos' (radio), 'spotprente' (comics) and the 'pièce de Afrikaans résistance, fotoverhale (photo novels). They were cool then and, in something of a cult revival, they are now retro-cool. The inspiration comes from Afrikaans comics such as Bittercomix.
To enter, go to www.ads24.co.za/thinkafrikaans, to view winning entries, go to www.ads24.co.za/thinkafrikaans/view_entries and Bittercomix on www.oulitnet.co.za/komix/.
