'Sima and Shakes'-ing up Cremora's ads - not inside, still on top?

Cremora's one of South Africa's best-known brands, with many in their late-twenties onwards often citing the tagline "It's not inside, it's onnn top!" But Cremora decided to shake things up when it launched its 'creamiest recipe yet' by going with a whole new strategy, as simply reworking the ad a few years ago was met with mixed reactions, as it had vastly different characters playing the parts we could recite in our sleep. Even so, it went over the heads of many...

Youre drunk RT @ShanduMul: Guys. Mara why did Thandi's husband think the Cremora was in the fridge? ??

- Piano Man (@KMalatji) August 9, 2014

In my eyes, that's proof that a completely new ad brief was a good idea to target the intended audience. I had a Skype chat with Nestlé Category Marketing Manager Yovini Moodley to find out more about the new line of Cremora TVCs. Simply click here to watch Moodley talk through my questions.

If you clicked on the link, you now know why Nestle felt the need to revive such a South African favourite, which launched in 1966 and has since become part of South Africa's culture and history.

In fact, back in 2011, Chris Moerdyk called it "a wonderful example of excellent acting and production values.''

If all that praise and talk of 'it's not inside...' has left you with a yearning to see the original, you're in luck as I've embedded it below for you... apologies for the low-res-ness, that's old school TV advertising for you:

I actually find it bittersweet to watch, as it's such a well-loved classic... but it definitely looks dated. Moodley agrees that the brief to the agency was based on this understanding of Cremora's brand heritage, as reviving the line had to make this golden nugget of South African advertising history seem fresh and modern again.

It was a challenging brief, and Moodley notes it's always scary asking an agency to refresh a brand. Luckily they went for a sitcom format, which lets you introduce humour and specific characters that can be followed across the different 'episodes'.

Get to know Cremora's Sima and Shakes, as you'll be seeing more of them soon...

Is there any greater frustration as a couple than being part of a team playing '30 Seconds'? You know each other so well yet each have different lingual short cuts that serve as reminders of your shared history. It's hard enough without an hourglass quickly filling up as you frantically wave your hands around, trying to pull out the right phrase that'll light a spark of memory in your partner's brain.

This real-life moment resonates with many forms our introduction to 'Sima and Shakes Tshabalala', the couple we'll follow across the rest of the three-parter.

Moodley gave us a bit of a teaser by hinting that in the next episode we'll see what happens when the couple attend a live soccer match but are supporting opposing teams, and in the final episode we see them sit through that typical South African relationship stalemate, the Eskom blackout. Of course, each is turned into a Cremora coffee moment.

That's why Moodley says Sima and Shakes' casting was crucial in terms of looks and a tangible chemistry for the director to work with.

"It tells a story, unites us and looks to enhance the simple pleasures in life such as sitting down with a good friend and a rich, smooth and creamy cup of coffee. This is what we hope to put across in our new ad campaign" explains Moodley.

Did they succeed in honouring the old, much-loved favourite? View the first ad featuring Sima and Shakes below and come to your own conclusion...