The Advertisers Association of Ghana is set to host a new edition of its flagship industry awards, the Gong-Gong awards to acknowledge creative advertising works that have been produced by industry players in the past years.

Having been put on hold for about five years, the 8th edition of the event is slated for September 27, 2014 at the State Banquet Hall on the theme, “Creative Advertising: Catalyst for Economic Growth.”

Categories for the awards include adverts produced on radio, television, print and online, for alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, food and confectionary, insurance and financial institutions, among others.

Executive Director of the Association, Francis Dadzie, in a presentation at the media launch of the awards on Tuesday in Accra, noted that a number of innovations have been introduced to reflect global trends in industry events.

“The Gong Gong 2014 Awards is a strategic industry event, the first in over five years so it’s dubbed ‘The Rebirth. Innovative changes have been made to the event format to reflect global trends in industry event,” the director said.

He said the event will award adverts that were produced between 2008 and 2012, known as the Sankofa awards, as well as that which were produced in the year 2013.

According to him, jurors on the award panel would sign a code of conduct to protect the integrity and standards of the award and also to refrain from influencing votes negatively.

“Each commercial would be judged on the scale of its creative thought, how well it communicates the desired marketing proposition, and how well the commercial has been put together,” he added.

This year’s award is opened to members and non-members of the association, with non-members expected to pay an entry fee of GH¢2000 and GH¢1000.00. Outgoing president of the advertising body, Norkor Duah expressed commitment in continuing to offer expertise to enhance the work of the association.

She said the association managed to survive in 2013 due to the introduction of innovative ideas in the wake of economic challenges in Ghana.

According to her, although the association was unable to attain the objective of constructing the proposed ultra-modern office under her tenure, other arrangements would be finalized towards the execution of the project.

Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Kabral Blay Amihire, in a special remark to officially launch the award, acknowledged the importance of advertising to the development of a nation and called on government to liaise with advertisers in the country to market Ghana on the international scene.

He however urged practitioners to exhibit high level professionalism and ethical principles in the discharge of their duties.