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02 September 2009 - Amicus, the employee magazine of Old Mutual South Africa, won the Best Writing category at the annual SA Publication Forum awards held at Gallagher Estate, Gauteng on Friday, 28 August 2009. Close on 130 corporate publications, electronic newsletters and DVDs were judged in various categories.
The Best Writing category includes internal and external (customer) magazines. According to the judges, ‘Amicus is a lively, vibrant publication that packs punch and gets some important messages across creatively. Excellent writing brings zest, humour and interest to a publication that everyone at Old Mutual must be exceptionally proud of.'
The judges also placed the magazine second in the overall Best Internal Magazine category and awarded its editor, Marianne Holtman, finalist status in the ‘Editor of the Year' category for ‘outstanding language usage'.
The magazine's print run is 20 000 and is distributed to all employees of Old Mutual South Africa countrywide. Copies are also sent to its retired employees and to the offices of the Old Mutual Group in, among other cities, London, Stockholm, Paris, Milan, Beijing and Mumbai.
The magazine's ‘big picture focus', says Phumlani Malinga, head of internal communications at Old Mutual South Africa, is to ‘help build a diverse workforce into a team that is energised by an inspiring vision, a clear strategy and a shared sense of purpose and community'.
The challenge, adds Marianne Holtman, is ‘to convey relevant company and financial services industry information in a lively, engaging way'.
‘That's why we aim for a warm, conversational tone and stick to language that's direct, crisp and easy to understand. Where possible and appropriate, we also incorporate a sense of fun and playfulness. We avoid jargon, repetition and formal business-speak, because the magazine's role is to help humanise corporate life and nurture Old Mutual's caring service culture.'
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