Ricoh ad campaign imagines rhino paradise

"We've been sponsoring rhino relocation for anti-poaching reasons, as well as elephant research, at Veterinary Wildlife Services in South Africa for many years already," says Esti Kilian, head of marketing services at Ricoh SA. "This campaign was a natural choice for us, as it is pertinent to our long-standing CSR activities and associates our brand with positive aspects of society."

A place where rhinos roam free

The creative concept is the brainchild of Kevin Kleynhans, executive creative director at The Mouse That Roared (TMTR). "Following on the heels of the highly successful Helen and Juju advertising campaign, the client has chosen another - if not as controversial - at least as highly emotional a subject - rhinos.

"With a subject such as this, it would be easy to concentrate on the negative aspect of poaching, de-horning and so on. However, because the positioning line is "imagine.change." we decided to ask people to imagine a scenario where rhinos were allowed to roam freely and safely, without fear of slaughter and persecution.

"We have therefore created billboards and print ads with hundreds of Rhinos on a plain, and a radio spot where two people are watching the migration from a hot air balloon, not of Wildebeest, but of rhinos."

Spot the billboards

Three billboards will be erected, the first of which, along the R24 freeway outside OR Tambo International Airport, is already up. Two further billboards will follow, one in Cape Town on the N2 Settlers freeway, as drivers head east towards Cape Town International Airport and another in Durban, exiting King Shaka International Airport towards Boulevard Road.

The campaign will also include radio and print advertising. Print adverts will be placed in several financial and business publications in December and February as well as SANParks Times. Four radio stations will be included in the campaign. They are Talk Radio 702, KFM, Cape Talk and East Coast Radio.