In its 11th year, the annual Sunday Times Generation Next Survey Awards in partnership with HDI Youth Marketers was held at the Sandton Convention Centre.
The survey, conducted by HDI, recognises South Africa’s most-loved brands, products and celebrities in 72 categories voted for by over 5 400 youth aged between 8 and 23. Popular South African comedian, Riaad Moosa, hosted the event with a live performance from local rapper, Cassper Nyovest, who was voted both Coolest Local Music Star and Coolest Local Celebrity of 2015.
Let’s have a look at the top brands in some of the categories:
The big winner of the night was Nike who went home with the coveted Coolest Brand Overall, Coolest Clothing Brand, Coolest Footwear Brand and Coolest Brand Slogan awards.
New winners this year include Mercedes Benz who won the Coolest Motor Vehicle award, Cape Town was voted Coolest Holiday Destination and KFC claimed Coolest Fast Food Place. Samsung took this year’s Coolest Cellphone category from the Apple iPhone and DStv was voted Coolest Company to work for beating last year’s winner, Google. Xbox moved into first place for Coolest Hi-Tech Gadget taking over from the Samsung Galaxy Tablet.
Minnie Dlamini scooped the Coolest Local Female TV Star for the third consecutive year while DJ Black Coffee once again dominated the Coolest Local DJ category. South African comedian and new Daily Show presenter, Trevor Noah, won the Coolest Male TV Star and Coolest Local Celebrity titles.
Whatsapp remained the leading Coolest Social Media Platform and Coolest Cellphone Application amongst the youth. Monster Energy won Coolest Energy Product/Drink for the second year running.
Brand winners who retained their number one position in the survey include: Metro FM (Coolest Radio Station); SAA (Coolest Domestic Airlines), FNB (Coolest Bank), Protea Hotels (Coolest Hotel Group),Vodacom (Coolest Telecomms Provider), Engen (Coolest Petrol Station), Spur (Coolest Eat-Out Place), Pick ‘n Pay (Coolest Grocery Store), Doritos (Coolest Snack) and Coca Cola (Coolest Cold Drink). The survey was conducted across seven regions including Eastern Cape, Free Sate, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, North West and Western Cape.