In October 2017, Retail Capital launched its summer campaign that showcases various entrepreneurs and their business vision.
“Our goal is to see the potential in promising small businesses and work with the owners in making their vision a reality,” says CEO of Retail Capital Karl Westvig. It speaks to the vision of Retail Capital when it first opened its doors, he says.
The campaign was developed in collaboration with businesses from independent, entrepreneurial, strategic (Dais); creative (Tag8); and digital (Social Media Now) fields. It was brought to fruition by a passion for supporting and driving the growth of small businesses.
“The creative campaign invites entrepreneurs to share their business visions and in turn inspires others to reach new heights. Our first video documents the inspiring story of how adventure enthusiasts Peter Silberbauer and Chad Gordon combined vision and action to build Africa’s first bike hotel,” says Andrew Franks, Creative Director of Tag8.
The campaign was designed to remind SME owners that Retail Capital offers alternative funding mechanisms that are specifically geared to support the local entrepreneur. Chief Strategy Officer and founder of Dais, Mark von Bentheim emphasises that the campaign needed to establish Retail Capital’s new brand positioning: “your true partner that enables and believes in you so that you can confidently grow and shape your future”. It also bought to life the brand's purpose of “Believing in people who believe in themselves” through the brand message of “Your vision. Our belief.” A statement that captures the true essence, and strategic direction, of the brand as well as the Retail Capital ethos.
Based on the brand message and positioning, it was important for the team that ‘real’ business owners were used in the campaign on both print and digital platforms. “We wanted to tell genuine stories about business owners dealing with challenges and ultimately achieving their vision,” says Mark.
The results show that this genuine messaging has caught the attention of South African SME owners, and has embedded with business owners the potential value of Retail Capital as a partner. Social Media Now founder Tacita McEvoy, who heads up digital strategy, describes it as a “3-month sprint to success”. The digital platforms included the Retail Capital website, social media, Google and YouTube.
“We have been overwhelmed by the feedback and engagement from entrepreneurs and SMEs across South Africa, and their willingness to share their vision for their business with the world,” says Tacita . A highly successful tool in the campaign has been the video, which was shared on social media, seeded on YouTube, and embedded on the Retail Capital website.
“If content is king, video is the crown jewel of any campaign,” says Tacita. The second the campaign video was posted on social media the engagement shot up and within a week we were at 40 000 views and counting." Lead generation, engagement and user-generated content also followed suit.
Our online Symmetry Business Toolkit launches in March, and look out for the print campaign in January’s edition of Entrepreneur Magazine.
“At Retail Capital, we’ve always been passionate about partnerships with entrepreneurs and building our country and economy one business owner at a time. It is about real stories and we don’t only want to tell them, we want to be a part of them…of leaving legacies. We share in their success and therefore it is more than just a product, campaign or service, it is about their visions and the belief that they will ultimately create the change.”
 TAG 8 MEDIA |  SOCIAL MEDIA NOW |  DAIS |
