[Orchids & Onions] Liberty shows its Agile hand with Titan ad

I would add a corollary to that: in tough times, the retirement marketers get going. In probably the most uncertain time in South Africa's post-1994 history, we sometimes seem awash in financial institutions offering investment advice.

One of the latest TV commercials for Liberty's Agile product line is not only highly watchable, thanks to the efforts of director Adrian De Sa Garces of Velocity and the special effects technicians, but also makes a refreshing point about the global investment circus.

A screenshot from the Liberty ad, showing how world events affect your investments

The visuals are striking and revolve around the idea that when people sit down to discuss retirement savings options, they normally do so in the comfort of their homes. Outside, though, in the big bad world of international finance, any number of events can impact on someone's money - good or bad.

So we see the couple and their Liberty consultant at home while a different world swirls around them, just out of sight.

From an unexpected oil strike (a positive) to an invasion of that new oil-rich country (a negative) to a faraway presidential election (negative or positive), developments around the world impact on your retirement savings.

De Sa Garces, working to a brief from Fox P2 agency, imported a special rig to be flown from London to shoot the commercial, they tell me. The Titan arm is said to be the longest motion-controlled arm in the world and was extended to about 10m for the shoot.

Post-production house Lung co-ordinated the timing and exact movement of the Titan arm and everything was done with precision, which is why it took three months to produce the advert.

The second notable thing about the ad is the honesty on the part of Liberty - who are, after all, professional investor advisers - about what moves world markets and, as a result, impacts on the value of our rand, for example. When the rand goes down, local investors get poorer in terms of the real world currencies.

And, contrary to what many people think and say, the world couldn't care less about what happens in South Africa or what the ANC government says.

International investors move money around where they get the best return. At the moment, it looks as though US interest rates may be headed for a long-term rise, which means money leaves the country for the almighty buck. More people want dollars than the local currency, so the rand
collapses.

Not much, really, to do with Julius Malema, #FeesMustFall or President Jacob Zuma. Which is another reason the ad works: it shows Liberty is realistic and that the Agile product will have safeguards for the long-term investor.

A good ad and Orchids to all involved.

I know it's summer and that, normally, you can count on two things: rain and cellphone company special campaigns.

The less we say about the former the better and, as far as the latter is concerned, there is quite a bit of garish pumping and youthful material out there. But some of it is just downright silly to me.

A particular one which grates is the current TV spot for MTN, that features an animated heart (I think) wearing sunglasses and talking to "my babies" about the R5 million in vouchers, which the company is giving away each month.

It is intended for morons, I'm sure. Devoid of ideas, clearly.

And you can't even blame the Nigerian mega-fine either.

An Onion for MTN.

And, am I the only one who is by now heartily sick of the silly McDonald's "I'm lovin' it" jingle? It's bad enough in its normal form, but when they use it to celebrate two decades in South Africa, then I want to scream...

"20 years of... I'm lovin' it..." No I'm not. Mind you I've never been a big fan of the product.

At its launch, I remember dubbing it "The world's first all-meat Marie biscuit..."

The Onion I am awarding is probably bigger than those first beef patties.

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