Cheryl Hunter (shelflife at marklives.com)’s weekly pick of all things new — product, packaging, design, insight, food, décor and more!
- Consol and Grey preserve memories
- Real-life DebtBusters with Duke and Carbon Films
- Shazam launches Azzaro Wanted in South Africa
Creating connections
Consol Glass’s recent campaigns have aimed constantly to change the perception of the company as a “vessel brand” and position it as a recognisable part of the consumer’s everyday lifestyle where the “best things come in glass”. Its latest campaign successfully delivers on that positioning.
https://youtu.be/4hDMLMcpn40
Consol wanted to find a way to create an emotional connection with consumers and convince them that glass is special. To achieve this, it decided not to limit glass to its ordinary uses but instead to take viewers on a journey of magic, intrigue and imagination and capture the essence of glass in a way that would grab attention and draw in viewers.
The new Consol ad, conceptualised by Grey Advertising, tells the charming story of a six-year old girl and her grandmother, with Consol’s iconic preserve jar as the hero. While the young girl is playing in the park, she purposefully empties her Consol preserve jar of its treats, taking her now-empty jar with her through the park, holding it to capture the sounds of the park — from the flicker of a playing card on bicycle spokes to the infectious laughing of children on swings and merry-go-rounds. By doing so, she fills her jar with memories and is able to share the highlights of her outing with her blind grandmother, who awaits her granddaughter’s return.
Directed by Dean Blumberg from Bouffant films, the ad introduces the idea of the memories, precious moments and good feelings that Consol preserves. The brand’s message is: “The best things come in glass”, because only glass can store precious things while protecting and preserving them — whatever is stored in glass will not be contaminated because glass contains no chemicals and is completely inert.
While the mother-grundies out there will surely complain about how unsafe it is to have a child running aound the park with a glass jar, Consol did consider the safety aspect of the advert and tested it extensively with parents. The overwhelming majority loved the story and understood that Consol’s intention is not that the ad be taken literally but to allow consumers to suspend reality for a few seconds.
The advert is refreshing and hits the right note; not too emotional but touching and memorable. consol.co.za • Facebook • Twitter
grey.com/southafrica • Facebook • Twitter • Ramify
bouffant.tv • Facebook • Twitter
Duking it out with DebtBusters
Debt-counselling business DebtBusters’ new TVC portrays the burden of debt and the anxiety it invokes in people by looking at real stories of real people and how they have been affected by debt.
https://youtu.be/ClbSdtsWxiM
Launched this month, the hard-hitting campaign is a call for South Africans to get debt under control, demonstrating how easy it is to fall into debt — but also that it is possible to take control of the situation and get back on track.
Ian Wason, CEO of DebtBusters, says South Africans are currently more cash-strapped than ever, with statistics from the National Credit Regulator showing that up to 10m South Africans are severely in arrears on their debt and would greatly benefit from debt counseling. “According to a World Bank report in 2015, we live in the most-indebted country on the planet. And it doesn’t look like things are going to turn around any time soon. Millions of people are at the end of their rope. Enough is enough. As a nation, we are drowning in debt.”
Against this backdrop, Cape-based ad agency Duke conceptualised the ad, which was produced by Carbon Film and portrays the burden of debt and the anxiety it invokes in people. It shows that everyone, to some extent, suffers from debt, and that many people have debt that they hide from others; however, those that are smart about it can manage it.
“It is very easy to get into debt on your own, but almost impossible to get out of debt on your own. We are reaching out to South Africans to help them do something before it gets out of control. We want people to know that there is a way out; that we are here to help.”
debtbusters.co.za • Facebook • Twitter
duke.co.za • Ramify
carbonfilms.tv • Facebook • Twitter • Ramify
Shazam that scent
Shazam, one of the world’s most-popular apps with more than 1bn downloads, joined forces with fragrance brand, Azzaro, to launch “Wanted”, a new fragrance for men, in South Africa this weekend.
The first-ever Shazamable scent experience launched using Shazam’s beacon technology in Edgars Sandton City and Mall of Africa, where shoppers with Bluetooth and the Shazam app simply tapped the button when the new fragrance was sprayed in the air and the phone automatically identified the fragrance and offered them the opportunity to win prizes.
Hannes Prinsloo, country representative for Shazam, says, “Watching the Shazam application identify a track as seamlessly as it does still feels like magic. Wanting to Shazam something other than music, for instance a taste or a smell, is something that most people around the world have thought at some time or another but obviously that technology hasn’t been developed yet — although this campaign gives us a glimpse.”
Says Bronwen Olivier, group media manager for the Azzaro Brand, says, “This is an exciting collaboration between two powerful brands. The story of Azzaro ‘Wanted’ is the story of a ‘Wanted’ man. He takes chances, is rebellious and lives life as he pleases. It is with this spirit that we have challenged Shazam to take their sensory experiment to an exciting new encounter.”
wanted.azzaro.com • Facebook • Twitter
Shelf Life is MarkLives.com’s weekly column covering all things new. Notify us of yours at shelflife at marklives dot com. Want to sponsor Shelf Life? Contact us here.
Cheryl Hunter (@cherylhunter) has written for the South African media, marketing and advertising industries for more than 15 years. A former editor of M&M in Independent Newspapers and contributor to Bizcommunity, AdFocus, AdReview and the Ad Annual, she has also produced for various television networks and currently consults on communication strategy and media liaison.
— Sign up now for the MarkLives email newsletter every Monday and Thursday, now including headlines from the Ramify.biz company newsroom service!