[Orchids & Onions] Salt-of-the-earth ad is real deal

Sadly, a lot of them around these days are little more than recycled, and sometimes garbled, clichés like “exceeding your vision”; “going the extra mile”, “the customer is king”.

A line I really like though, is the current one for Isuzu, the maker of bakkies and double cabs, which is involved in a serious tussle with the big players, Ford and Toyota. In this country, a bakkie can be many things to many people: from a workhorse to a weekend Sandton shopping cart. And, both Ford and Toyota’s offerings – the Ranger and Hilux respectively – have in recent years been including more creature comforts in their bakkies. Yet, at the heart of the marketing for the two sector leaders is that old playground muscle-struggle.

Ford’s Ranger, with its macho looks and brawn, dares you to challenge it when it says it is “Built Tough!” The Hilux, as we saw recently in its new ad, has legions of fans across South Africa and is part of the lives of many families – hence its claim (through the mouths of young boys in the TV ad) that it is “Tougher-er” than everyone else. Against this background of the elephants fighting, the somewhat less popular but just-as-rugged Isuzu has, therefore, to avoid becoming, as the African proverb says, the grass which gets crushed.

And Isuzu has chosen the simple line: “Made from Real”. It sums up the bakkie and the people who buy it: honest, salt of the earth and not given to posing like some Ranger and Hilux owners who adorn their vehicles with all sorts of accessories in their attempt to become Caveman Lite. The TV ad for Isuzu’s KB bakkie also reminds prospective buyers that most of them buy a bakkie to work.

Against a musical variation of the Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ “Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, it’s off to work we go”, we see the gritty Isuzus helping their owners with all manner of macho tasks – from fighting fires, to blowing up bridges, to pulling tractors out of farms. At the end of the day, the okes are all tired, sweaty and dirty and, instead of grabbing a Carling Black Label beer – as they might have done in the TV ads of the 1980s – they get into their bakkies, thankful for the help. The nod to Carling may or may not be intentional, but it does not detract from the simple, back-to-basics message of the Isuzu KB. An Orchid to Isuzu.

© Stills from the Isuzu ad

Nice surprises can remain in the memory for a long time. And a few of us got one this week as we finished up our coffees at a business meeting at Fournos Bakery in Dunkeld. A staff member came around to all patrons and offered them a free loaf of ciabatta bread. I was surprised – pleasantly so… and that feeling of pleasure deepened later when I got home and couldn’t resist slicing off the end of the bread (I love that part of the crust) and slathering on butter. Heaven…

I know that we South Africans can be pathetically grateful for anything we get for free from a business – because normally they are arguing with us, refusing to pay, overcharging or telling us bad customer service or product quality is somehow our fault. I admit that gratitude does play a part even in my mostly practical purchase decisions, but Fournos, in doing this, also took the opportunity of exposing people to its products. Would I buy ciabatta bread there in future? Would I go there again to meet people? You bet… So an Orchid to Fournos Bakery for simple, old-fashioned, and wholesome, marketing.

A reader phoned me this week, irritated immensely by the fact that, on some radio stations, insurance company Santam’s ad for its holiday insurance special cover – valid from the beginning of December to the end of January – is still running.

Not good enough. As I always say, if you’re sloppy about your advertising, then can I rely on you to be professional in your business? And, don’t tell me some Santam staff haven’t heard this – so why was it not pulled off the air? Onion to Santam for not paying attention.

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