Storytelling in South Africa is about self-definition, cultural exploration and shared experiences. Which is why advertising in this country has never been just about selling, and why local agencies have consistently won international awards. There have even been periods where South Africa has won more global advertising awards per capita than any other nation. The campaigns that shape the nation have been memorable, captured a taste of home, and many have become part of local narratives and lingo. Whether the ads are heard through car windows in peak hour traffic or streamed through a mobile phone, the best ones carry that unmistakable tone: cheeky, familiar, sharp, funny and real.
This year, that tone carried all the way to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, arguably the world’s most influential celebration of advertising, and brought home a Bronze Lion for Hansa Pilsener, a brand of the South African Breweries (SAB). The series of audio campaigns for Hansa Pilsner - ‘What’s Gucci?’, ‘OKRRR’, and ‘Spill the Tea’ – were recognised for creative excellence in the Radio & Audio, Script category. The scripts were rooted in vernac, internet sass and meme-able rhythm. They didn’t just speak to their audiences; they came from them.
This wasn’t just about a good joke or a well-placed punchline, however; it was a showcase of what happens when creativity is grounded in lived experience and executed with precision. The work cut through on a global stage because it brought something unique to radio and blended both humour and precision perfectly.
Back home, the wins were also showing up in hard numbers and local benchmarks. The 2025 Effie Index, the South African edition of the global scoreboard for marketing effectiveness, told a similar story with creativity and strategy delivering results. According to the Effies’, the country’s Most Effective Marketer and one of the Most Effective Brands was AB InBev, the parent company of SAB. Among the ten most effective agency networks, offices and holding groups, Joe Public United, SAB’s agency, was also in the top ten best in the country.
These rankings track clarity, rigour and impact, and in 2025, SAB and its brands achieved these criteria. From pop-culture infused audio sketches to deeply local campaigns, the work set a standard for marketing with expressive, intentional and enduring messaging and creativity. Importantly, they showed the strength of ecosystem thinking where an idea isn’t a once-off moment of brilliance or a single brand breakthrough, but a collective effort across brand, agency, and media.
It's tempting to view award wins and rankings as industry navel-gazing, but in a world where attention is currency and trust is hard-earned, effective storytelling is essential. It is also a form of economic participation, it’s jobs, confidence, and creative industries cementing their place in a data-obsessed world. And the most enduring campaigns go beyond entertainment to capture or create a moment of zeitgeist, reflecting current themes and narratives in a fresh way. They normalise new voices, challenge outdated codes and build new ways of thinking and seeing.
For SAB, in a year that marked 130 years of brewing, it’s a reminder that legacy isn’t what’s behind you, but what you do next.
South African marketing has become the gold standard for effective communication, originality and outcomes. Humour wins awards, and cultural fluency connects different people. SAB has built on this potential and created a legacy with local specificity, and the awards that the company has won reflect more than Bronze Lions and index rankings; they remind South Africans that our work is being seen, heard, measured and remembered. DM