Joe Public and Joey Rasdien launch 'selling' on kalahari.net

The selling platform was launched as part of the kalahari.net website in February this year. It already boasts more than 600 000 products for sale and the company expects this number to double by the end of the year.

"Our sole mission at kalahari.net is to constantly find ways to add value to the customer experience online, and the selling platform is another step towards enhancing this value proposition. The online second-hand market in South Africa has been growing steadily over the past few years. Everyone has a book, CD, DVD or game that they have already used or that they don't really need anymore, so it made perfect sense to create a safe, reputable place for them to sell, and make some money, online," says Liz Hillock, kalahari.net's Head of Marketing - Marketplace and Price Comparison.

Joe Public, kalahari.net's communication partner, was responsible for conveying this offer to the general public. Liz notes that, although it was very important for the communication to build the brand, it also needed to build an emotional relationship with the public and do its job to attract sellers. Joe Public created two television ads and a radio execution to communicate the functional, emotional and experiential aspects of the selling proposition.

The first television commercial casts comedians Joey Rasdien and Darren Maule as friends sitting on a couch watching the romantic epic, Titanic. Maule is wearing a t-shirt with a picture of the Titanic sinking and the words, 'FAIL'. They know the words to every scene verbatim. The two heavyweight's comedic abilities are put into action as one turns to the other - so wrapped up in the movie scene - and leans in for a kiss. What he receives in return is a hard slap in the face and the payoff line, 'Time to sell your old DVDs?'.

"Since the previous ads featuring Joey were so well received it felt only natural to cast him again. Joey's humour is quirky and is a perfect fit for the kalahari.net brand," says Trevallyn Hall, Creative Director at Joe Public.

The Titanic television ad is supported by a, 10-second television sting which focuses on driving the retail message home by reinforcing kalahari.net's reasons to believe, namely: 'Easy and safe to sell your stuff with thousands of shoppers ready to buy'.

The 30-second and 10-second TV commercials will be flighted respectively on DStv channels from 26 July to 15 August, and on Supersport HD and Mnet HD from 27 July to 10 August. The 30-second radio ad will be aired on Highveld and 5FM, and the campaign will also have a promotional angle featuring two competitions on 5FM.

The director is Morgan Dingle and the production house is Hammer Smith and Elephant.

About Joe Public:

Joe Public is an independently owned, Johannesburg-based advertising and design agency with a deep-rooted love for South Africa. We are an agency for people, by people and it is this philosophy that inspires us to win the hearts and minds of the South African public in everything we do. For more information about Joe Public go to our website at www.joepublic.co.za