Here’s a situation: Your client gives you a brief. But it’s not just any brief. It’s a 30 second radio brief. For Strepsils. And their stronger alternative, Strepsils Intensive. But that’s not all. The product must also be mentioned six times. Each. That’s 12 product mentions in a 30 second spot! Quite a tall order in a category known for dry, boring, medically-endorsed FMCG advertising. Not much room for creativity there. Their agency, HAVAS Worldwide Johannesburg (HWJ) however, chose to disagree and wrote two. And they both got 1st place at this month’s Creative Circle Ad of the Month Awards.
Jonathan Deeb, Executive Creative Director at HWJ says that historically, the Strepsils brand has been known for the way it soothes throats as a result of illness. The client wanted to highlight that there is a product in this range to relieve any throat occasion that may give rise to the possibility of one being silenced, hence the platform ‘Let your voice be heard’.
“Our aim was to breathe life into these products and establish their personality as one that you resonate with. The campaign is therefore very much based on real human behavioural insights, dramatising the benefits of two of the Strepsils variants”.
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Please outline the production, crafting and timing process involved in the making of the ad and key features that made it work?
“Too often radio ads are treated like the ugly sister with not enough time, preparation, planning, crafting and love given to the process. Because it is possible to write and produce a radio ad in less than a day, that too often ends up being the case – and is evident in the quality of the output. To combat this, Havas has been working closely with John Culverwell of Sonovision studios in ensuring that that they are included straight after client approval of the script. This allows for valuable collaboration between the writer and sound engineer as to how to bring the script to life. Careful selection of voice over artists, giving the actors sufficient time to bring their interpretation of character to the script, piloting of voices where necessary – and then of course sufficient time in studio to craft”, says Deeb.




“For a brand like ours that doesn’t have the luxury of a huge media budget, we don’t believe that integrated is flavour of the month. Radio is great for expressing humor and there’s always a call to action – all great ingredients because we can always tie this in beautifully with the overall campaign idea and our objectives.






