by Oresti Patricios (@orestaki) Have you ever dreamed of winning millions? The campaign for the new national lottery operator — Ithuba Holdings — is an absolute delight as it reminds us of the power of daydreaming, and of letting our imagination roam in that playful state of expansive fantasy.
Ithuba became the operator of South Africa’s lottery in June 2015, but this was not without contest. A legal battle was fought by Gidani, the previous lottery operator, to try and keep the lottery contract, which is said to be worth R40bn and which runs for eight years. Now that the legal dust has been settled, the big marketing job is to promote the lottery and get people to buy tickets. As part of its mandate, Ithuba has committed to “reinvigorate the National Lottery through optimising the consumer experience, restoring faith and trust in the National Lottery, and showcasing its positive social contribution to our society”.
#DreamCensus
To this end, Ithuba has guaranteed the rollout of 9 000 terminals across the country, and now we get to see the lottery’s first television campaign — which is about the power of daydreaming. Part of a campaign called #DreamCensus 2015, this ad asks South Africans to dream big and stand a chance of winning R50 000 in cash.
The television ad that supports this awareness campaign is a beautifully crafted montage, set to an uplifting piece of copy. The voiceover asks, “What is a dream?” and the visuals are brief closeups of movement: sparks from a fire, sea running over feet, the wind catching a young girl’s hair.
“It isn’t the air you breathe. Or the blood in your veins,” continues the narration, over moody visuals of a boxer training, a woman looking out over the city at dusk. “Maybe it’s all the things we’ll do when we draw the next breath,” with images of a young man watching a soccer team training in a dusty field.
People of all shapes, ages and types
The montage continues, featuring people of all shapes, ages and types — some sharing moments together, and some facing the world alone, with just their dreams to guide them: a fisherman looking out to sea, a young man studying in university, an old chap with a guitar slung over his shoulders traveling down a dusty road.
The end of the ad comes full circle to some of the people seen at the beginning: the boxer, resting after his training session; the soccer players, this time posing for a photo in front of their goals. The narration concludes: “We’ve all got that one thing. One goal. One hope. One dream. Share yours.”
The text on the screen reads: “Dream Census 2015”. The ad is essentially a teaser for a larger campaign that Ithuba has undertaken, to generate awareness and interact with potential users.
Kicked off by roadshow
#DreamCensus 2015 kicked off in August 2015, and saw Ithuba travelling across SA with a roadshow that stopped off at malls and taxi ranks; people captured their dreams while crowds were entertained by DJs from local radio stations. Dreamers were also encouraged to enter their dreams on a Google Map-enabled website using iPads that were made available during the roadshow. The roadshow ended at the beginning of September 2015 and, to date, more than 65 000 have inputted their dreams.
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So what do we locals daydream about? What would we buy if we won a couple of million or more in the National Lottery?
- Anna Moetsela, who is 24, writes: “I had been financially excluded from university. My dream is to complete my final year and graduate.”
- Forty-six-year-old Christoline Hodgson, who hails from Kimberley, writes: “I’d like to visit my sister in Bermuda. I’ve never been able to afford this and only get to see her once every [eight] years when she comes to SA.”
- Mbalenhle Cubeni, who is 18 and comes from East London, writes: “My dream is to start a clothing line that will revamp and make a mark in the South African fashion industry.”
Well done to Net#work BBDO and Darling director Ross Garrett for a dreamy ad that evokes a sense of wonder, aspiration and possibility. Dreaming, after all, is good for us.
Credits
Agency: Net#work BBDO
ECD: Brad Reilly
Copywriter: Suhana Gordhan, Chad Goddard
Art director: Juliet Honey, Coenie Grebe
Account director: Roxanne Singh
Strategist: Tebogo Koena
Agency producer: Linda Hauser
Animation: Wicked Pixels
Production company: Darling
Director: Ross Garrett
Producer: Lindsay-Jane Barnard
Executive producer: Lorraine Smit
Editor: Saki Bergh
Ad of the Week, published on MarkLives every Wednesday, is penned by Oresti Patricios (@orestaki), the CEO of Ornico, a Brand Intelligence® firm that focuses on media, reputation and brand research. If you are involved in making advertising that is smart, funny and/or engaging, please let Oresti know about it at info@ornicogroup.co.za.
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