When it comes to giving good advice, they rate him simply the best, better than all the rest. These insights, the ad reveals, are all gleaned from the DStv movies, songs and documentaries he watches on his secret television.
The digital platform of this multifaceted, integrated campaign engages audiences even further through its interactive and innovative interfaces.
The microsite (askjavas.co.za) features him, seated in his hidden cave on his island, inviting viewers to select a question from "work", "family" and "love" categories. Once selected, he delivers back a video almost instantly with a witty solution to the dilemma, from how to ask your boss for a raise to dealing with jealousy. His responses are appropriated from popular culture, tying back to the overall thematic of the campaign - that with DStv you too can "be more betta."
Mimicking a live experience for the viewer, over 35 short videos were produced for the microsite, which links to the mobisite, Facebook and Twitter pages of the campaign.
"We wanted to create a digital component that would allow people to interact with Javas and benefit from his wisdom. Our aim was for viewers to feel like they were having a one-on one, exclusive moment with Javas," said Nimay Parekh, digital group account director at Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg.
There is also an option for viewers to share the site and their answers with their friends, so they can then visit the site and ask Javas their own question.
"Aiming to deliver the same experience across all devices, we created a version for the web, tablets, smartphones and WAP to reach a diverse audience. In addition, we incorporated standard flash and rich media banners that allow users to ask a question within the actual banner and standard mobile and rich media banners, driving awareness and leading people to the site," said Parekh.
An interesting feature on the site is the hidden "Easter eggs," so when viewers scroll over the parrot, for instance, it squawks. These elements encourage viewers to play with the interface and uncover surprises.
From a social media perspective, Javas is very active, available to chat with users, offer his wisdom on Facebook and Twitter (@javasnjongo).
Fans can tweet their questions to @AskJavas and he will fire back an answer in minutes. "We found a site with the top 500 words used on Twitter, and extracted the top nouns, verbs and adjectives. So if a user asks Javas a question containing one of these keywords (picked up by tweetbots), the relevant answer is given in under 140 characters," said Parekh.
"Through these social and digital platforms, we hope to generate conversations between fans and Javas and extend the campaign to multiple touch-points, communicating the message that watching television shows like those on DStv can expand and enrich your knowledge base, as it has done with the loveable character, Javas," said Simon Camerer, DStv chief marketing and sales officer.
