Cheryl Hunter (shelflife at marklives.com)’s weekly pick of all things new — product, packaging, design, insight, food, décor and more!
- Woolworths’ star-studded Santa series
- Vega and Utopia call Generation V
- UK welcomes KWV’s Cruxland
’Tis the season to shop
Watching seasonal ads this year, it seems, for the most part, South Africa doesn’t go in for the sentimental messages that other countries adopt in December, preferring to focus upon flogging their wares, so here’s a reminder that giving, sharing, family and friends don’t have a shelf life — ‘use’ them today. That said, the Woolworths #findthemagic campaign in partnership with Shine Literacy is playful and upbeat, while still managing to sneak in a festive message.
The campaign finds Santa in a rut; nothing is going according to plan and he really needs to get excited about Christmas again, so he sets out to explore SA with his trusty dog, Jingle, to find the magic of Christmas. Hugh Masekela lends his star power to the series of animated ads as the voice of Santa, among many other well-known local personalities, including Olympic gold medallist Wayde van Niekerk, rapper Riky Rick, media personality Bonang Matheba and supermodel Katryn Kruger.
As Santa’s story unfolds, viewers are reminded that Christmas is a time for giving. Woolworths has partnered with Shine Literacy to help equip families and children across the country with better reading skills and learning capabilities, and will help create foundation-phase reading corners in under-resourced classrooms.
The ads also encourage viewers to “turn on annotations” and each element clicked on takes consumers to another scene, one of which is the Woolworths shopping cart.
The tone is light but meaningful and the message is woven into the story, creating an entertaining series that sends a clear call to action — buy your goodies at Woolies this season and do some good. It’s not a completely new message but the delivery is skillful and it works.
woolworths.co.za • Facebook • Twitter
Vega looks to 2017
Year end is a stressful time for many young people and Vega School’s new ad campaign from Utopia aims to show potential 2017 students how the institution may help them “Find Their Purpose” and create true value in society and, in turn, people’s lives.
At the core of the campaign is a video featuring real Vega students honouring the mindset of “Generation V” — the current generation of Vega students, alumni, employees and stakeholders — a positioning developed by Vega itself.
Says Shevon Lurie, managing director at Vega, “By branding it Generation V and articulating its identity, Vega has created a powerful hook upon which to hang the whole complex set of values, attitudes, beliefs and behavioural patterns that define this generation.”
The campaign, developed by Cape-based creative agency, Utopia, runs online and on social media, and shows a number of students talking about locating their purpose through finding a career and passion that suits them; and playing a part in bettering the world by finding new solutions to old problems through 2020’s most-sought-after skills — complex problem-solving, critical thinking and creativity.
“An idea has never been as powerful as it is today, and we believe that the students of tomorrow really do have the power to change the world.”
The campaign will roll out over digital and social media for the month of December and January.
vegaschool.com • Facebook • Twitter
utopia.agency • Facebook • Twitter
Coals to Newcastle
KWV recently tapped into the craft-spirit trend when it introduced its own handcrafted gin — Cruxland — to South Africa and now it’s taking the gin to international audiences, launching in the most ‘discerning’ gin-drinking market of them all: the UK.
Cruxland is infused with nine exotic botanicals, including Kalahari N’abbas (Kalahari truffles) indigenous to the Kalahari Desert and Namibia.
KWV Cruxland Gin’s introduction into the UK market is based upon its ‘distinctive point of appeal’, with experts saying the gin revival has been sparked by unusual flavours and launches of small batches, adding vitality to the category. This has been supported by the re-emergence of a cocktail culture, with the gin offering consumers something that is 100% unique and has a ‘taste of origin’.
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.
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