Operation Khanyisa, a national partnership initiative aiming to mobilise all sectors of South African society to stand for legal, safe and efficient power use, and stop electricity theft, is reaping awards worldwide with the assistance of Draftfcb Social Marketing.

On the back of winning Best Poster Presentation at the Global Social Marketing Conference in Canada earlier this month, the team at Draftfcb Social Marketing responsible for rolling out the campaign was informed that the work had been selected for the World Economic Forum/Cannes ‘Creative for Good’ website launching at the Cannes Film Festival in June.

The formal letter of notification from the coordinators of the project stated: “Our International Advisory Committee reviewed over 100 submissions from around the world and felt that yours was an excellent case study for others to learn about social issue campaigns.”

Draftfcb Social Marketing managing director, Pat Govender, praised his team saying the hard work in breaking new ground in the communications and marketing industry is paying off as the team is changing behaviours, and leading the world in this exciting field of communication.

Launched in October 2010, the ongoing Operation Khanyisa campaign has achieved high levels of awareness and mobilised South Africans with a constant flow of information via radio, print, online and outdoor advertising, as well as community outreach and education programmes.

The initiative’s practical success can be most easily measured by the number of tip-offs received about electricity theft. To date, over 6 700 tip-offs have been received, showing that South Africans are heeding to call to unite against the serious crime of electricity theft.

http://www.operationkhanyisa.co.za

http://www.weforum.org/best-practices/creative-good/what-creative-good

NetFlorist, South Africa’s leading flower and gifting service founded 14 years ago in 1999, has added another arrow to its quiver with the launch of a daily news service called #haroldsnews.

Or has it?

The answer, given by a grinning Netflorist Managing Director, Ryan Bacher, is ‘yes and no’. ‘Yes, Netflorist is providing followers on Twitter and Facebook with daily news updates’ but ‘no, the service is more tongue-in-cheek, more social commentary than strict breaking news’.

He explained: “#haroldsnews is the result of a brief we put in to our marketing partner, Draftfcb Johannesburg. We wanted a campaign that would create associations with everyday occasions and give people reasons to buy from NetFlorist.

“The agency’s solution was to continue to use Harold, who has featured in NetFlorist’s advertising before, on radio but to also give him a more socially-relevant voice by taking him to Facebook and Twitter.

“The creative team of Chief Executive Creative Officer Brett Morris, creative director James Cloete, copywriters Candice Hellens, Este De Beer and Lee Goodall and art directors Moira-Gene Sephton and Murray Sparg, created his social media presence ... and are responsible for crafting his news posts – with a twist.

“Everything Harold tweets or posts is done so in the witty – and sometimes below-the-belt – tone the public has come to expect from the character. You can just imagine what he has to say about the Gupta wedding, the meat scandal, Reese Witherspoon’s arrest and Gareth Cliff’s school-boy crush. It is great fun.”

The #haroldsnews campaign started on April 8 and will run indefinitely. The radio element, which includes a news show hosted by Harold during which he discusses some of the topics he is commenting on in social media, is being flighted mainly on 94.7, Highveld Stereo.

“As far as we are aware, no other floral brand has created a character and placed them in a social networking realm,” said Morris. “The content of the tweets and posts is also quite unique: although products may be mentioned every now and then, they largely deal with newsworthy stories in Harold’s irreverent style.

“Humour is the key, and we expect many consumers to subscribe to #haroldsnews in a bid to add some spice and alternative thinking to their day.”

Client Credits:

Client: NetFlorist

Managing Director: Ryan Bacher

Marketing Manager: Alison Kuhlmann

Agency Credits:

Creative agency: Draftfcb Johannesburg

Executive Business Director: Mike Di Terlizzi

Senior Account Director: Wendy Pringle

Account Executive: Nicole Combrinck

Chief Creative Officer: Brett Morris

Creative director: James Cloete

Copywriter: Candice Hellens, Este De Beer, Lee Goodall

Art director: Moira-Gene Sephton, Murray Sparg

Strategic planner: Ashleigh Albertyn, Rita Doherty

Radio production: Evelyn Bonase

Photographer: Amoret Botha

Radio production house: Freqncy

‘Team Ah Yeah!’ has won the first Hellocomputer/Draftfcb Hack-a-Thon of 2013 in a challenged dubbed ‘Hack4Kids’.

Briefed to meld tech and creative to engage children between the ages of 4 and 10, participants and their creations were judged by Danette Breitenbach (Advantage), Fran Luckin (Ogilvy), Brent Singer (Network), Brett Morris (Draftfcb), Theo Ferreira (Aqua) and 6-year old twin boys.

The winning entry was a hacked kids’ room which was converted into a gaming station. Sensors allowed kids to jump on the bed while being mirrored by their imaginary friend, pilot a rocket-propelled dinosaur through space as well as play a multiplayer pillow fight and – via a score counter – see who won (http://instagram.com/p/ZLSb8Ohjsb/).

It was developed by Team Ah Yeah! which comprised Eras Gous, Rory Macrobert, Munyaradzi Nyikavaranda, Chando Karidza, Dani Meneghin, Ryan Groenewald, Janine Kleinschmidt, Roelf Daling.

The kids’ choice was a very cool Scalextric set activated when they ate their veggies. The more they ate, the faster their cars went (pic.twitter.com/XflOWZmL3Z). This was developed by Team Deep-fried Netduino.

Other entries included an Oreo Launcher from Team fearandloathinginhackvegas

(http://instagram.com/p/ZLXzXXwhuX/),Thingking's Pancake Assist which automated pancake making (http://instagram.com/p/ZLWXGrwhsB/), and Team Borris the Animal's interactive bedtime story (http://pic.twitter.com/jLLhSbsH4z). ‘Team last min’ converted a shoebox into a cinema projector.

Said Hellocomputer’s executive creative director, Mark Tomlinson: “This was another awe-inspiring event resulting in incredible innovation. The theme – Hack4Kids – was very cool and all teams rose to the challenge, unleashing the power of their inner child to create some funky applications that had grown-ups and kids alike enthralled.

“Much respect to Hellocomputer’s executive creative director in Johannesburg, Kerry Friend, whose idea it was to initiate our Hack-a-Thon programme, and who has been critical to its successful incarnations in October last year and now in May. Her efforts and enthusiasm are contagious and we’re all already looking forward to the next hack.”

Judges concurred with Luckin tweeting “Enormous fun at #HCHack. Brilliant hacks - gold stars all round!” while participant Ben Fourie tweeted “Unforgettable! Looking forward the next merge between creative & tech.”

ends

Note to editors:

An intense 48-hour caffeine fuelled event pitting teams comprising sharp tech minds and top-shelf creatives, hack-a-thons involve bending, forcing or breaking old conventions to create something new and innovative out of the chaos.

Draftfcb Cape Town has played matchmaker and brought together two of South Africa’s most endearing brands, Engen 1-Stop and Wimpy, in a television commercial called ‘Love Story’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMrzvE6elT0)

Created to showcase that Engen 1-Stop and Wimpy’s wide range of offerings make sure that you’re in the right frame of mind to love the journey of your road trip, the TVC highlights that holiday isn't just about where you're going; its it's about the experiences you have along the way.

It features a young man filling up his petrol tank who dances on the forecourt to attract the attention of a beautiful girl sitting in the Wimpy and sipping on a milkshake. He’s dejected when she leaves the table, but there’s a happy ending as she returns with a second straw, clearly inviting him to join her.

The concept was conceived by Draftfcb Cape Town’s team of executive creative director Mike Barnwell, creative director Aaron Harris, copywriter Chris de Villiers and art director Scott Fowler, and brought to life by Egg Films’ director Jon Ronbeck and Black Ginger editor Gordon Midgley.

“Our insight was that long journeys on the road aren’t always enjoyable; most of the time you’re just focusing on the end destination and, as you get hungry, annoyed and tired, you start wishing the hours away,” said Harris.

“However, when you take the time to stop and refresh, the journey becomes part of your adventure, and you enjoy every experience on the way.”

Creative credits:

Client: Engen Petroleum and Wimpy

Agency: Draftfcb Cape Town

Key account management: Jonathan Chipps

Executive creative director: Mike Barnwell

Creative director: Aaron Harris

Copywriter: Chris de Villiers

Art director: Scott Fowler

Strategic planner: Robin Nixon

TV production: Caz Friedman

Media planners: MediaShop

Production company: Egg Films

Producer: Jon Ronbeck

Director: Kevin Fitzgerald

Editor: Gordon Midgley

Post-production: Black Ginger

Retail agency in the Draftfcb South Africa group, Swipe, has boosted its strategic capabilities with the appointment of a new director, Anoka Balram.

Durbanite Balram has more than 10 years’ of marketing and sales experience and 8 years’ management experience.

Her successful business development track record includes stints with Unilever, GSK, Beiersdorf, TBWA Durban, Reckitt Benckiser, Royal Metropole, Cadbury, Whalley & Associates, Tigerbrands and Magna Carta.

Over the years, she has contributed to the success of brands such as Axe, Knorr, Magnum, Cornetto, Shield, Lipton, Dove, Impulse, Sunsilk, Lux, Flora, Omo, Nivea, Milady’s, Illovo, Spar, Strepsils, Nurofen, Vanish, Veet, Simba, Tata, Coca Cola, Lucozade, Halls and Endearmints, L’Oreal, Beacon, Beacon Hot Chocolate, Nestle, iBurst, Clover Krush, Damelin, Hewlett Packard, Standard Bank and Eskom.

Relocating toJohannesburgto take up the position of Swipe Strategy Director, Balram’s speciality is sales promotion and below-the-line marketing using digital tools.

She says her passion for shopper insights and marketing began at Unilever, where she spent 9 foundation years gaining experience in various disciplines including quality assurance (development), supply chain (global sourcing and packaging buying) to customer development (trade and shopper marketing).

Before joining Swipe, Balram was responsible for leading new business development and shopper marketing strategies at Machine, and also started her own consultancy, Sublime Marketing.

In addition to working with like-minded retail enthusiasts at Swipe, she will be responsible for strategy development at 1886, a hot shop offering creative solutions to the fast-paced retail sector.