Cheryl Hunter (shelflife at marklives.com)’s weekly pick of all things new — product, packaging, design, insight, food, décor and more!
- Monopoly showcases SA
- Rummikub relaunch with Twiga
- Hippo expands into vehicle sales
Proudly SA Monopoly
South Africa’s own Monopoly boardgame version, Monopoly Mzansi has been launched into the local market by global game and entertainment company, Hasbro.
The popular boardgame, which showcases local attractions and city highlights, is 81 years old and numerous regional country versions have been produced recently; Monopoly Mzansi is the latest addition.
To create some excitement earlier this year, South Africans were encouraged to vote to get their favourite location, street attraction or destination on board to be part of Monopoly history. The SA edition features four transport hubs and 22 landmarks.
The newest transport hub to make it on board is the Sandton Gautrain station. V&A Waterfront and Table Mountain scooped the most-expensive spots, followed by Boulders Beach, Chapman’s Peak Drive and Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. There is also a strong link to Madiba’s legacy with the inclusion of Vilakazi Street and Robben Island.
Comments Siphiwe Thabethe, country marketing manager for Hasbro South Africa, “Monopoly Mzansi is a fantastic tourism product and an ideal keepsake as it proudly showcases all that South Africa has to offer to visitors across regions.”
Monopoly Mzansi is available in all leading toy stores from today, Tuesday 1 November.
Rummikub relaunched
It appears to be the month for boardgames as another old favourite is given a refresh: Rummikub with a Twist has been launched into the local market.
Rummikub has been around for decades so, to launch the latest version of the game, the team at Twiga Communications created a strategy that would impress consumers who were already regular players of the game and convince others to try it. With numerous boardgames available, the campaign had to make the game so desirable that it would be chosen over the others.
Says Franco D’Onofiro, Twiga Communications MD, “One of the key elements of the game is a Joker; and part of the campaign was to make him come alive, make him tangible and, in so doing, bring the game to life.”
Traditional PR and social media brought key influencers to the launch, where they played the game and some quirky twists, in line with the brand’s style and tone, were incorporated. “We incorporated a real live joker in the form of Napsta — a well-known personality on the comedy circuit — into the evenings proceedings. He was the ideal fit with the brand, the influencers and the end user. The result was a terrific noise on the social media airwaves and a significant spot on the trending grid.
“Over the past few years, we’ve seen a seismic shift in the way new products are launched. I’ve witnessed the merging of very powerful traditional PR with very powerful social media influence. In some ways the launching of new products has become easier — and in other ways a lot more challenging. [That] said, the challenge is a silver lining in that it pushes creativity and as such ensures that campaigns are streamlined, highly targeted and results-driven.”
twigacommunications.co.za • Facebook • Twitter
New platform for Hippo
When the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa recorded a 14.3% decrease in new vehicle sales in September 2016, with the trend likely to continue, online-insurance-and-financial-quote-comparison website, Hippo.co.za, saw an opportunity.
Hippo has launched a new car-listings-comparison platform to aid car dealerships and consumers.
Head of Hippo, Derek Wilson, says: “The new platform provides low-cost marketing, allows car dealerships to load unlimited inventory per branch and the site will feature fewer vehicles than larger online-vehicle-listing companies, which means dealerships are more likely to get noticed. Once consumers have found the car they are looking for, our technology puts them in touch with the dealer directly to purchase or find out more about their vehicle of choice.”
hippo.co.za • 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!