by Herman Manson (@marklives) Since joining LIVE+ mid-2016, managing director Mpange Chapeshamano has been working hard to change the market’s perception of the agency to that of an integrated offering with a significant footprint across Africa, thanks to its links with Group Africa Marketing. Traditionally positioned as a specialist brand-activation business, this experience is a distinct competitive advantage that sets the agency apart as competes with integrated rivals.
The agency forms part of Group Africa Marketing, which includes EXP South Africa, The Grind PR, Turnkey Logistics Solutions and New Era Agency. LIVE+ employs 15 people and its biggest clients include SABMiller (Castle Lager), Kimberly Clark (Huggies), Intel, Mondelēz South Africa and, most recently, the National Film and Video Foundation (as its full-service agency). Previously, Chapeshamano had spent time at SAB, as well as a number of agencies including Lowe Bull (now MullenLowe), Joe Public, Dashboard Africa and Africa Red (part of Ogilvy & Mather South Africa).
Back to basics
So far the realignment has been proving successful, says Chapeshamano. The business has gone back to basics by getting back into client diaries. Having done experiential and brand activation work as well as it has — which provides a track record of quick turnarounds, experience with big budgets and a focus upon measurement — means client trust has already been gained; this opens doors to gaining more integrated work. Clients are re-engaging with the agency as a result of the change, he says.
Access to various key African markets through Group Africa Marketing offices is an important selling point for the agency, which also prides itself in taking a Pan African view to marketing communications. The group has 20 owned offices in 17 counties, which cover most of the southern, eastern and western parts of the continent.
LIVE+ functions as the brand custodian for clients in markets where the group is active, working with local agencies. Clients only brief LIVE+ and it makes the work happen with partner agencies in other markets, says Chapeshamano.
The agency has a “can-do” culture and Chapeshamano believes that ideas may come from anyone on the team, with the creative team acting as curators. The plus sign in its name signifies that more are better than one, and collaboration is a cornerstone of agency culture. Content creation, curation and development are a key focus for the agency and its objective lies in creating connections between brands and consumers through meaningful interaction between the two.
Client case study: Intel
Info supplied by agency
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izkY-qIkN_4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6aPH80sKqM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3DFUOXvs2A
Context
Mobile continues to scale across the African continent and therefore technological devices such as computers, tablets, cellphones or even phablets have become a part of our everyday lives. We are truly living in a digital era where we often require some of these tools to work, play and live. With every consumer switching between two-to-three devices during a typical day, it sometimes becomes impractical to carry on a day particularly with the power challenges we experience on the continent.
Intel, through its revolutionary Core M processor, saw the opportunity to innovate in the two-in-one device category. How would a company known more for powering clunky business computers demonstrate innovation to South Africans and Nigerians? Its ability to power the dual functions of a laptop and tablet all in one, thereby making our lives easier.
Creative execution
A storytelling platform, driven by influential creative entrepreneurs, was used to educate consumers on the features and benefits of the partner devices, and the power that Core M processor has to sustain their dual functionality. The influencers tapped into the consumer’s emotional need to weave between productivity and recreation to show that Intel allows you to experience the “Best of Both Worlds”.
Through the hashtag #INSIDEOUT, a parallel was drawn between the creatives’ internal search for inspiration and how it would be brought to life through the power of Intel’s tiny processors, found inside the devices. The campaign was seeded across various social media platforms, and included a series of branded content videos.
Results
The campaign was driven on social media platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, as well as traditional media such as radio, print, billboards and outdoor media. Intel was leveraged Intel, plus the influencers’ social media platforms, achieving a total campaign reach to date of 20 318 230.
YouTube: 9 211 655 impressions and 421 556 views
Social media: 1 004 936 people reached and 70 424 engagements
Radio reach: 7 968 000 (SA)
Google display: 4 600 000 impressions (SA)
Print: 360 000 (SA)
Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com. He was the founding editor of media.toolbox (1998–2006) and Mobile.Works, and the co-founder of Brand magazine. He has served on the editorial boards of The Journal for Convergence, as well as of Fast Company South Africa. Winner of the 2011 Vodacom Social Media Journalist of the Year award, he was also a finalist twice in the Highway Africa Award for the Innovative Use of New Media in Africa (2003 and 2004). Over his 20-year-plus career, Herman has contributed to numerous journals and websites in South Africa and abroad, including the Mail & Guardian, .net, Intelligence, AdVantage, Men’s Health, Computer World and African Communications. He has consulted on web architecture to several financial institutions.
— Sign up now for the MarkLives email newsletter every Monday and Thursday, now including headlines from the Ramify.biz company newsroom service!