Advertiser: JHHESA
Agency: JOE PUBLIC
Category: Best Use of Print
Advertising campaign: STATE OF THE NATION
Creative Director: Adam Weber (Joe Public)
Art Director: Monique Kaplan (Joe Public)
Account Management: Samantha Samuels (Joe Public)
Media: Suraya Pillay (Joe Public)
Executive Creative Director: Xolisa Dyeshana (Joe Public)
Copywriter: Amy Claire Auret (Joe Public)
Account Management: Samantha Tame (Joe Public)
Art Director: Thandolwethu Silimela (Joe Public)
Chief Creative Director: Pepe Marias (Joe Public)
Effectiveness
Social networks, like Twitter and Facebook, blogs and other media exploded in support of the campaign. It was featured on various high-profile blogs and received airtime on 702 Talk Radio, a commercial FM radio station that reaches 794 000 people. The campaign generated over R100, 000 of free PR for Brothers for Life and got the nation talking about the issue of rape.
Strategy
In South Africa, a woman is raped every four minutes and the rate of sexual violence is amongst the highest in the world. Brothers for Life is a national campaign aimed at men, that encourages positive life choices and behaviour. The communication objective of this piece was to put South Africa's rape crisis into perspective and encourage the nation's men to unite against it. The annual 'State of The Nation' address by South African president, Jacob Zuma, is a significant event in the country's calendar. The challenge was to tactically leverage the publicity generated by the address and make a powerful statement about one of the biggest issues affecting the country, on an overnight deadline.
Execution
To put the country's rape crisis into perspective, the president's address was timed and the words '1 woman' were inserted into the transcript at 4-minute intervals. The messaging called upon the nation's men to unite against rape. The media team placed the amended speech, with the Brothers For Life plea, into the Sunday Times, South Africa's largest national weekend newspaper. With an audited circulation of 504,000 and a weekly readership of 3.2 million - and considering the speech was top of mind during that period - it gave the issue maximum exposure.