Strepsils Wins Ad Of The Month

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.

Top Tip! How using dramatic sound techniques can make your radio message stand out


Close your eyes as you listen to the following Redefine Property Group radio ads. Think about the images they evoke…

 

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All too often in radio, a great concept loses merit due to poor production. It’s refreshing to see a client who understands how using clever sound techniques and entertaining scripts can convey advertising messages in an unforgettable way – proving that when advertisers aren’t concerned with slashing voice overs or special effects, radio ads can generate tangible impact

Chris Marrington
Charlie Bravo Advertising

The Big Idea
Redefine Properties wanted to rapidly gain awareness of their brand and its promise; ‘We’re not landlords. We’re people’. Redefine is #2 in the product category and had rarely advertised so their level of awareness was low.

Why Radio
Chris Marrington of Charlie Bravo Advertising says; “The power of radio to build awareness within a tightly defined target market, in our case senior executives of medium to large organisations, is probably unequalled even by television where wastage can be huge. One of the common mistakes advertisers make on radio is to try to run audio versions of their print or TV ads which usually fails dismally. Great radio advertising understands the importance of sparking the listener’s imagination by using relevant dramatic techniques to convey the message in a rewarding and unforgettable way”.

How it worked
Our intention was to create a high impact radio campaign that would stand out from the clutter and drive home the brand promise by highlighting the disadvantages of landlords who don’t care about their tenants. We made the commercials entertaining and memorable and, chose channels (KFM, 567 Cape Talk, TalkRadio702, 94.7 Highveld, East Coast Radio) and time slots that most effectively reached our target market.

What the client thought
“There’s no doubt that this has been a wonderfully successful campaign. We have created two new executions and slightly modified the schedule but essentially all the fundamentals remain in place and we have every confidence that the results will continue to impress. While no baseline research was conducted before the campaign, there’s overwhelming evidence demonstrating that we have raised the brand’s profile to the highest in the property industry. Several competitors have tried to emulate certain aspects of our campaign and that’s always an indicator of success. Impressions on Redefine’s website increased by 500% during the first few months of the campaign, which is ample proof that the media mix – of which radio was a key component – and the message were perfectly targeted”, says Marrington.

CASE STUDIES: RADIO & ONLINE

In light of the increased number of advertisersexecuting campaigns that utilise radio with various digital platforms, we’ve scoured the air-waves for case studies that best demonstrate how radio’samplifies their communication.Here’s a peek!

1. Using radio to promote an online brand:kalahari.com&Alex Jay’s Christmas stocking

The challenge:

kalahari.com is one of the pioneers of online trading in South Africa. Originally sellers of books, kalahari has morphed into a one stop shop for all manner of entertainment. As part of a multi-media above the line campaign, throughout the Spring of 2011, the objective was to promote the range of products available through kalahari.com as well as the ease of ordering and delivery.

Why Radio:

The promotion needed to integrate with the greater above-the-line campaign but it also needed to engage listeners on the key product messages, namely ‘range of products’ and ‘ease of ordering and delivery.’

Implementation:

The solution was a combined on-air/ online campaign fronted by 94.7 Highveld 09h00-12h00 weekday presenter Alex Jay in November 2011.  It was called ‘Alex’s Christmas Stocking with kalahari.com’.

A series of live reads were booked on Alex’s show viaPrimedia talent management agency, Prime Talent. In each of the daily live reads Alex would highlight a different product and benefit he had found on kalahari.com. There were a total of 14 live reads within the week which directed listeners to the 94.7 Highveld website where they could create their own Christmas stocking.

A range of products were featured on the website and listeners could customise their own stocking and then enter it into the draw. The 94.7 Highveld website also carried a hyperlink to kalahari.com, whilst Alex would announce the winning listener who had won the contents of their customised Christmas stocking.

The Results:

Highveld handed over the details of a few thousand listeners who had opted in to be contacted by kalahari.com with further promotional offers.

Learnings:

“What I liked most about the promotion in general was that it engaged listeners with our core product, and did so in an environment where it was incredibly easy for them to simply click through to the kalahari website”says; Liz Hillock, Head of Marketing, kalahari.com

*Campaign conceptualised by Ultimate Media

2.Using radio to grow a telecom brand’s social media fan base: Cell C

One of the more pervasive myths about social media is that brands can simply post company press releases on the platforms as a means of engagement with communities.

Not quite. Individuals tend to visit corporate sites for press releases and the formal news on your company/ brand. The social-media environment is not another platform for spreading official company lingo. It’s a privilege to take part in people’s everyday conversations and be there to provide useful information to your readers on their terms.

The challenge:

Social media is ‘realtime live’ media and users want to share and communicate with real people about real stuff. Advertising on the platforms, however, can be tricky, as users tend to move on if they feel they are being preached to by potential advertisers.Given the fact that radio stations are perceived as personalities, without an advertising agenda, Cell C wanted to create a campaign using Facebook and 94.7 Highveld Stereo / 94.5 Kfm, with the results aimed at encouraging users to engage with Cell C on its Facebook page and via the stations.

Why Radio:

Whilst radio is a traditional media, and the oldest electronic media, it is similar to social media in many aspects. Like these platforms, radio is real people listening to other real people and sharing in content. More recently stations are increasingly working hard at encouraging the audience to create the content.

So when you compare social media to radio one can draw the parallel quite easily. Social media is real people commenting and talking about events seen or witnessed by other real people. Conversations are generated in social media and very often leveraged in traditional media (radio).

Simon ParkinsonPrimedia Group Promotions manager says; “This is a first for our stations. We took the promotion to where our current listeners and potential new listeners are engaging in social media. This is a new strategic way of thinking for traditional radio media”.

Implementation:

The promotion commenced with a teaser week, using live and recorded promos to drive awareness around the competition, encourage listeners to tune in during the 3 week campaign duration, ‘like’ the Cell C, KfmBreakfast and Breakfast Xpress Facebook pages and tell their ‘friends’ about the competition.

During the 3 weeks, live and recorded promos drove listeners online to participate in the campaign for a chance to win great prizes including iPods, tablets, cameras, laptops and phones.

The Results:

The campaign generated over 9000 new ‘likes’ on the 94.5 Kfm page and over 13,000 new ‘likes’ on 94.7 Highveld Stereo over the 3 week campaign.The campaign yielded an increase in Cell C’s Facebook following.

Both Cell C and Primedia Broadcasting realise that listeners and customers want to be engaged, and have conversations with each other in social media. With this in mind the campaign was deemed a success as a brand awareness campaign around the H+900 network, in addition to the increased number of Cell C Facebook fans which is part of the ongoing Cell C social media strategy to acquire fans.

Learnings:

“Facebook provides us with an important platform to interact with our customers. It is also a great opportunity to join forces with Primedia and to introduce more people to the wonderful world of social media whilst elevating our page to one of the country’s biggest Fan pages”, says; Simon Camerer, Cell C Executive Head: Marketing.

3. Using radio to grow a brand’s social media following:

Nescafe 3-in-1 soars with awesome threesome: Radio, Online & Live Activation

The challenge:

Nescafe wanted to encourage young people aged between 24 – 36 to participate in an interactive synergistic platform by communicating, sharing and uploading their thoughts and feelings via the Nescafe 3-in-1 experience.

Why Radio:

“We used radio to drive the market to the website, which then drove them to the gigs, and finally back to the on-air competition. This was done by including the Facebook address in the promo spots on air. How could we tell that the one medium assists the other? The spike on Facebook immediately after a call to action spot or an actual broadcast was unmistakable”, says Lynn Joffe, Executive Creative Director at radio specialist agency, Creatrix.

Implementation:

The ‘Awesome Threesome’ campaign was driven by an interactive radio element using YFM, Metro, 5FM, Lotus and GHFM. The campaign was supported by Facebook as well as sampling and on-the-ground activations from August to September 2011.

The first week on each station was a call for entry and awareness and during the second week the live program flighted, featuring listeners who had entered via the Facebook page.

The Awesome Threesome encouraged trios of good friends to reveal live on air ‘who the coffee, the creamer and the sugar were in their relationships’. Teams of friends went head to head live on-air to think up the funniest, cleverest, most fascinating combinations – much like the product itself. The winning trio won three Blackberry phones, whilst the on-air presenters tweeted the 3-in-1 message and connected via the Facebook page.

Awesome Threesome gigs were held across the country that were communicated via the website and re-tweeted by station presenters and fans of the site. YFM went all the way to broadcast live from the Nestle head office.

The results:

“The radio campaign drove awareness to the Facebook page which grew to more than 11 000 fans that continue to engage with the medium. Nescafe 3-in-1 became the embodiment of Awesomeness in a target market which took up the phrase on line, onto air and into real life. You don’t get more synergistic than that”, says Popimedia’s Liza Benson.

Learnings:

“The beauty of this campaign is that three quarters of the campaign content on radio was generated by the target market themselves. That’s truly on their terms and on their turf. Given the results, we can build on the success of 2011 and give the brand another huge burst of street-cred with fresh synergistic exposure and engagement”, says Joffe.

*Conceptualised and executed by Creatrix, Popimedia Innovations, The Creative Counsel, McCann and Zenith Optimedia.

Gareth Cliff on everything – radio!

Advertisers know there’s something exciting happening on social networking platforms, but many seldom know how to leverage this for their brands. 5FM DJ Gareth Cliff has some, dare we say, *sizzling* tips on how to get the on-air/ online balance just right!

RAB – Gareth Cliff: How to effectively execute a radio & online campaign – Gareth Cliff’s TOP TIPS.

 

 

RAB – Gareth Cliff: Priceless…

 

 

RAB – Gareth Cliff: Gareth’s Favorite radio campaign

 

 

RAB – Gareth Cliff: One thing advertisers need to hear …?

 

 

RAB – Gareth Cliff: The secret to effective advertising on radio…

 

 

RAB – Gareth Cliff: Successful On-air/On-line campaign…

 

RAB – Gareth Cliff: what must happen for an on-air/online campaign to work…?

 

RAB – Gareth Cliff: advertisers jumping the social media bandwagon…?

 

RAB – Gareth Cliff: Using radio together with online- what’ the benefit?

CASE STUDY: Carfind.co.za

Carfind.co.za MD Frank McDouall’s 8 year investment in radio is paying off in dividends. Find out why his radio spend has gone from R12 000 to more than a million rand a month – with double the rewards!

RAB: Carfind.co.za’s Frank McDouall on spending 8 years on radio and reaping the rewards…

RAB: Carfind.co.za- Frank McDouall’s thoughts on 30” ads vs going beyond the 30″ and more…

‘OUTTA THE MOUTHS OF 2 OR 3’…

One of the biggest trends emerging in 2012is radio’s continuing power to start, maintain and grow conversations. Because of its immediacy, it remains one of the best mass-reach media to boost awareness of brand presence on new media platforms. Bid or Buy, kulula.com Gumtree.co.za are just some of the big brands taking advantage of this and singing radio’s praises as a result…

 

“Online brands have the benefit of being able to answer that old ‘Does advertising work?’ adage as they can effectively measure traffic to their sites and drill down into very specific detail such as hourly, daily and weekly hits.This is great because it enables us to monitor the direct effect of all our advertising and use this information to inform future strategies and plans.  Radio has been working exceptionally well for Gumtree.

Take our recent Gumtree campaign on 5FM for example;the campaign was incredibly successful for us, indicating that the media choice was spot on. Good media alone cannot drive sales, however.  It’s a combination of the media selection and the creative element that contributes to the success of any campaign.  Our client wants traffic to his site, the currency in the online world is audience, and 5FM helped deliver and drive this for us”.

Anne Dearnaly, Page 3 Media Managing Director – for Gumtree

 

“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.

Listeners have told us anecdotally that they love hearing our ads so we not only have a commercial responsibility in using radio, but also a responsibility to lovers of the brand to be funny in a sophisticated way. We’ve always been a champion for the people and really encourage our agency, King James to help us continuously push the envelope in terms of offerings”.

Heidi Brauer, Executive Manager: Group Marketing & Loyalty Comair-kulula, BA, SLOW

 

“Radio is the most targeted channel in terms of our campaign message as most motorists listen to the radio while driving.

It is therefore the key message driver for our campaign in terms of building awareness around the message we’re trying to convey i.e. promoting safer, friendlier driving.

Additionally, radio presenters have established relationships with their listeners and are often proactive online in a social sense, so it is this interactivity that we find highly useful in creating discussions around our roads and driving behaviour.

Radio’s helping us work towards achieving awareness and to drive pledges and engagement around a topic that should be close to all radio listeners’ hearts”.

Niki Cronje, Imperial Holdings (IPledge campaign)

 

“From an online campaign point of view, our aim is to attract as many potential users to the website as possible, with a view to converting them into registered transacting users, at as little a cost as possible.

The general public is rather cautious when it comes to online businesses especially when purchasing products online. We therefore use radio mostly to create that brand awareness and to remain top of mind when users go online to look for products to purchase or research.

We believe it helps in re-affirming the authenticity of an online brand when users need to make the decision to click on a link or visit your website directly.

That said, I believe that radio stations have a responsibility to educate the general public around online businesses, benefits and possible risk areas. Radio stations have a very powerful influence on listeners and asmore and more people access the Internet via their mobile phones or tablets, tech programmes on radio, featuring regular industry experts could go a long way in educating them on what’s on offer.

Jaco Jonker, Managing Director, Bid or Buy

 

 


CREATRIX EXPOSES LOCAL WORK TO GLOBAL ACCLAIM

South Africa glows as Lynn Joffe of Creatrix, returns from The EE5 conference in New Delhi armed with new insights in the arena of edutainment.  Invited to be part of a panel unpacking aspects of “Education Entertainment Embraces Global Challenges,” Lynn presented a convincing case study for the groundbreaking community feature, “Viva Street,” created for Eskom’s initiative to provide free solar hot water geysers for selected township communities.

“I was on the last slot of the last day and everyone was in info overload.” recounts Joffe. “We’d been hearing the same facts over and over, which is amazing actually, because it drove home the basic principles of EE, time and again. “  What emerges time and again, is that:

  • social change  is possible if information is communicated authentically and consistently in the native tongue of the target market
  • destination listening is a global phenomenon whereby the masses identify with characters that are ‘just like them’
  • radio is the medium globally to communicate with low-income communities in an intimate one-to-one manner
  • vernacular or native languages is the only way to effectively communicate to people for whom literacy is a challenge
  • EE (edutainment) can create cognitive, emotional and behavioral shifts in target markets
  • the social health sector is seeing the value in ‘branding’ adopting marketing principles to their causes
  • Social change cannot be experienced in thirty seconds
  • Social change and brand building have many aspects in common
  • Campaigns need to have synergistic touchpoints to have significant effects.

So what set Creatrix’s campaign apart?

Joffe explains.  “’Viva Street’ is the first radio edutainment campaign of its kind to successfully raise awareness of energy  efficiency  – in the form of solar water  heating geysers to disadvantaged communities in South African townships  on their terms, on their turf  … in their language

The Viva Solar Viva campaign  comprises three “media” or areas of activity that will each stand alone and also become part of a ‘gestalt’, touching people in the communities in which they live

  • Radio – Edutainment drama that characterizes the target  market, demonstrates  the offering and interacts with each community
  • Print –  Cartoon Style inserts with ongoing storyline, print targeted at the community
  •  Activation – On the ground engagement, demonstration, reassurance and  encouragement

The objective of the campaign was to announce, invite and enlighten  communities in LSM 1-4 regarding eligibility for a free solar low pressure water geyser that will change their lives

    • “Viva Street succeeded in entertaining, educating and explaining the criteria for and benefits  of  solar water  by ‘mirroring’  the psychographic qualities of the characters in the program with those of the  community creating credibility and empathy.
    • The interaction between the activities in the community and the radio program creates a synergy  between on the ground and in the air activities, allowing the medium of radio to ‘narrowcast’ to a specific community – allows community reciprocal  access and communication

The campaign focused on

  • Educational Awareness
  •   Best practice usage
  •   Energy efficiency
  •   Communicate extrinsic and intrinsic benefits
  •   Solicit consume support from beneficiaries
  •   Evoke spirit of ‘ubuntu’ for non-receivers
  •   Clarify criteria by which beneficiaries are chosen
  •   Leapfrog 1st world solutions to 3rd world challenges

The campaign comprised the following elements:

  • Weekly drama series set in a small community with big characters
  •  Story driven by a ‘larger than life’ main character, ‘know all’ pensioner  Ntate Pitso is responsible for creating the buzz around the solar water offering and its affect on the community. As a result of his own conceptions and misconceptions, the community debates and is subtly educated about the solar product in the process.
  •   Each week the program focuses on a different character who embodies and personifies a specific qualifying criteria.
  •  The  dialogue demonstrates the effect the solar heated water has on this community; emotionally and functionally

The results

  • Community station, listeners and recipients state  awareness and enlightenment as a result of exposure  to the campaign
  •  SMS recipients were significant with several hundred responses during the  flighting periodCommunity station, listeners and recipients state  awareness and enlightenment as a result of exposure  to the campaign
  • Winners became brand ambassadors in their  community and spread the word about the solar offering as an alternative  energy source
  • Life changing experience as disadvantaged   communities receive ‘free hot water from the sun’
  •  The campaign was structured to be able to roll out to different communities as  the project required

The Viva Street campaign was awarded a Special Mention in the ETA Awards for Energy Efficiency.

 

 

 

USING RADIO TO ACCELERATE YOUR SHARE OF THE MOTORING MARKET

It’s a commonly held misconception by some car brands and their agencies that radio cannot be used to build car brands, simply because it’s not ‘visual’. They believe that consumers need to see a car in order to want it. (In 2012, nogal?!)

But, as singh&sons ECD Roger Paulse argues, for most people, cars are about something far more important; “For the young driver it’s about independence; going on a date without having to be driven there. For others it’s about getting to work safely in a country that doesn’t have the best public transport. For parents it’s the best way to keep their kids safe during a journey.

These are the emotions that drive our desires – and guess what – they’re perfect to dramatise on radio, because they’re personal”.

While widespread industry perceptions such as ‘visual media is more effective in the advertising of car brands’ have done nothing to quell the misperceptions, the reality is that more and more car brands are beginning to see radio become a viable option in building the brands of manufacturers and dealers alike.

Radio offers brands an opportunity to find a home in the hearts and minds of listeners.

As The Mediashop’s Richard Lord points out in our Burning Question this month; “The vehicle market is increasingly cluttered and manufacturers are constantly fighting for market share. This means that strategically top of mind recall is of paramount importance and radio is ideal for creating this – the main reason being that the majority of radio listening happens in the car – and what better place to try and sell someone a new car than when they are sitting in their old one”.

According to RadioGAUGE UK, Radio has been proven to improve brand perceptions of advertised motoring brands by more than 80%, with the strongest performing automotive campaigns being those that use recognisable audio cues, consistent music, voices and /or slogans.

With brands such as Lexus (see Hot New Radio Campaigns) already realising that radio is about as close to the point of purchase as it gets, 2012 should be a great year as more and more car brands get closer to the action through radio and make their brand campaigns AND sales hit home.

My car is my image

With more than 6-million loyal listeners tuning in daily, Ukhozi FM Portfolio Sales Manager, Lerato Letsoalo is more than qualified to share his thoughts on the changing voice of the African Language Station (ALS) listener and just why the vehicle industry isn’t actively targeting this consumer…

One of the questions that seems to come up a lot for me is;‘Why isn’t the vehicle industry not spending much on Ukhozi FM – don’t they know how many people they’ll reach?’

Often times than not, my response is that; “I am working on it”. Because indeed, I am.

If the truth be told, we still live in a country where our diverse cultures are still, sadly, deeply misunderstood. We have one of the most varied community groups and a splitting headache for the average Marketer.

Most Marketers still rely on secondary data for their planning. It is the easiest form of research as it is always readily available.

This of course brings us to the age-old LSM debate. I will say it again; LSMs are not applicable to the majority of people living in South Africa.

The reason: people are not machines! They adapt and change with the circumstances around them whilst remaining rooted to their culture and customs, probably the reasons why we have phenomena called ‘trends’.

To date, the vehicle industry has done fairly ok, but could have done better by selling their brands to the black consumer.

According to Econometrix’s Consumer Trends, October 2011, NAAMSA passenger cars sales were at 248 047 units between January to September 2011. This indicates a growth of 19.8%. Econometrix attributes this growth to the low interest rate as well asthe increasein sales of entry level passenger cars.

Telmar Research indicates that there are 7.273 -million radio listening households who own at least one vehicle South Africa. This figure is inclusive of all race groups. The graph below should illustrate my next point;

image

The picture above clearly shows that 60% of vehicles are purchased by black listeners. If this is a revelation to you – you’ve clearly been living in another country.

More than 2-million radio listeners between the ages of 25-34 own at least one vehicle, whilst the 15-24 age group comes in second with 1.904 -million vehicles owned.

The younger generation is spending their money on vehicles with radio listeners probably purchasing their vehicles within their first and second jobs (mostly 21-25 year olds).

Interestingly, Toyota is the most purchased brand in the black radio market with 700 000 listeners owning at least one vehicle in their households. The white radio market accounts for 571 000 Toyotas.

Looking at thepremium vehicle segment, 115 000 black radio listeners own at least one BMW while their white counterparts accounted for 116 000.

It remains interesting to see that Mercedes -Benz has not done well, when compared to the BMW brand.

BMW has convinced 275 000 radio listeners to purchase their vehicles while Mercedes -Benz, only 178 000. There are only 53 000 black households that own a Mercedes versus 103 000 white households who do.

image

I guess it’s those figures that might have persuaded Mercedes -Benz to launch its new C-Coupe to take on the ever popular BMW 3 series coupé.

BMW is by far the most popular premium vehicle in black neighborhoods. Both Toyota and BMW have at least one thing in common; they gained the trust of black communities decades ago. These brands have been tried and trusted which is evidenced by the nicknames they’ve been given in the townships.

Whilst some brands still battle to get the hang of it, some have come to the realisation that LSMs do not have a value in rands within the black community.

The issue here is not that these vehicle brands assume that black people don’t have money. Most car brands simply think that once a black person is educated and established enough to make a decent living, they change their lifestyle.

I’m not saying that this isn’t true, but it is vital to understand that they do not change their tradition or culture. The radio station they grew up listening to will remain a part of their tradition as it embraces their culture.

Before you pull out the race card debate, remember that what I’ve just pointed out is the obvious – every individual is unique but conforms or subscribes to a particular heritage or culture.

Ignoring a particular market segment will be ignoring your own future profits.

If you want to stay competitive within this ever-evolving market, you will have to market your vehicle brands to this economically active group, otherwise face the expensive risk of having to play catch-up.

IN THE HOT SEAT: DJ FRESH & MINI SA

One of the lesser known things about 5FM’s DJ Fresh is that he’s been driving sponsored cars for more than 9 years,more recently MINI – proving that when advertisers and stations collaborate, the result is presenters who know their sponsors and are committed to concepts and innovations that transform the potential of radio…

A WORD FROM THE SPONSORS…

MINI SA Marketing Manager Carmen Slade responds;

Q. What’s MINI’s strategy/ underlying rationale in your sponsorship of DJ Fresh?

Sponsorship is a very important part of our overall marketing plan and we make sure that we only sponsor activities that fit with the MINI brand. We look for sponsorship opportunities that are relevant to our target market and that also reflect the premium and aspirational nature of the brand. All our sponsorships are approved by our board and for this reason we need to highlight a clear return on investment for everything we do.

Q. Why the decision to go with Fresh?

We decided to use Fresh as a brand ambassador as he is a very well-known celebrity with a very strong social media following. His resonance with our target market as well as his cheeky and fun personality is aligned with the MINI brand. We look for brand ambassadors that are an extension of the brand and Fresh is one we can be proud of.