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Vodacom/FCB Johannesburg partnership keeps delivering the likeability goods with 15th 'Yebo Gogo' ad

It's been 10 years since Vodacom appointed FCB Johannesburg as its major marketing communication services partner and the result of that partnership burst on to our TV screens in the guise of bumbling, leopard-skin fanatic Michael de Pina and the serene, man-about-South-Africa Bankole Omotoso.

The latest in the 'Yebo Gogo' series (as they have come to be known) launched in June this year, and like the 14 commercials that preceded it, has performed above industry norms for Vodacom. Called 'Rugby Union' by its creator, executive creative director Francois de Villiers, the commercial brings together - in typical De Pina chaotic fashion - two unlikely groups of supporters: one group, rugby stalwarts and the other soccer die hards. But, sportingly, they band together to share the afternoon proving that South Africa is the team regardless of the sport. The ad closes with a traditional team 'pic' and the only voice-over of the entire commercial states 'Vodacom - the biggest supporter of South Africa's supporters'.

The commercial has its few detractors, as the comments mailed to industry platform www.bizcommunity.com show. But the same web site also received many positive comments, such as:

  • "The ad has really appealed to me. It's humorous and it depicts a deep level of unison!" - Nunu
  • "Typical SA ad with sportmadness humour. Ek lag each time I watch it. Good going gogo!" - Lazman
  • "There is a tendency to change anything that works in SA, just look our stupid rugby officials. Well done to both Vodacom and FCB for sticking to a winning formula and an idea that works, and will continue to do so with new executions." - Zimtim

    While it's gratifying for the agency that their work is positively regarded by their peers, they regard the public's response as most important. Vodacom has similar sentiments.

    Said Vodacom Marketing Director, Andre Beyers: "FCB consistently delivers the goods when it comes to winning the hearts & minds of South Africans. This is vital for a brand's long term sales success.

    "As advertisers, we acknowledge that most advertising is not primarily repaid by short term sales and that a lot of advertising involves building long term memories and associations which later lead to sales. This underpins our strategy at Vodacom."

    FCB Johannesburg Business Unit Director in charge of the Vodacom account, Pierre Suter added: "Millward Brown Impact's Link™ research highlights, among other things, the likelihood of an ad at generating short terms sales, as well as how well ads build longer term memories and associations. For Vodacom, we use Link™ to evaluate our communications' performance in two important target markets, developed and developing.

    "With respect to the 15th Yebo Gogo ad, Link™'s findings conclude that the commercial creates an exceptional opportunity to communicate with Group A in the name of the brand, with a predicted Awareness Index of 9. This is mainly as a result of high branding, enjoyment and engagement. De Pina and Bankole serve as key branding cues.

    "At an emotional level, the advert is very well liked, likes are high and dislikes are limited and scattered. The commercial enhances overall brand appeal to a significant degree. The tonal values of the commercial are in line with strategy, being inclusive and this resonates strongly with the developed target market.

    "The key messages that are extracted from the commercial revolve around Vodacom being the largest supporter of SA supporters and at a secondary level, network coverage is extracted. This is consistent across both the spontaneous and prompted communication measures. This is supported by the tone of the commercial revolving around the different cultures / races watching soccer and rugby together in a happy environment.

    "There is excellent consumer response, at both emotional and rational levels, with the ad managing to be both highly persuasive and to impact particularly positively on brand appeal.

    The combination of high Awareness Index and Persuasion means that the short-term sales prediction for this group is very good.

    "For the developing market, an equally important group for Vodacom's continued business success, the ad succeeds in generating above-average branded impact with a predicted Awareness Index of 10. Message takeout revolves mainly around Vodacom being the largest supporter of SA, with some mention of network coverage. The message of different cultures watching soccer and rugby together in a happy environment, is taken from the commercial. This message generates a desirable response from consumers - both emotionally and rationally.

    "We're exceptionally pleased with how this particular ad has perfomed and proud of our performance as Vodacom's marketing partner over the past 10 years."

    The industry norm's for noting in the cellular market are 12.2 in the developed market and 13.2 in the emerging market while the liking norms are 7.43 in the developed market and 6.68 in the emerging market.

    The following slide is just one example of how well the Yebo Gogo ads have performed over the past 10 years. (Note: it includes a handful of ads that do not fall under the Yebo Gogo banner - those that do are: Windmill, Life Saver, Olympics, Bee, Naartjie, Plain Sailing, Platform, Wave, Pretender, Yebo Sisters, Weight-lifter, Wedding, Jogging,and Rugby Union.)



  • Editorial contact

    C-Cubed Communications
    Petra Peacock
    (021) 852-7198

    16 Oct 2005 09:50

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