Showcasing young African talent through scalable content-generation #Hello2moro

Project #Hello2moro grew out of The Whalley Collective’s Youth Empowerment Sessions, this creative and insight-generation outreach programme (run in partnership with the University of Johannesburg’s School of Strategic Communication) identifies and involves emerging creative and entrepreneurial talent in a range of projects and activities.

The 2016 #Hello2moro Project followed the journeys of three creative individuals to the annual AfroVibes Festival in Amsterdam, a celebration of theatre, dance, music, film and design from urban cultural hotspots in Africa. Graphic designer, illustrator and street artist Lazi ‘Greiispaces’ Mathebula was invited to exhibit at the event. Soulful singer/songwriter Tumelo Moloto was invited to perform, while Silindokuhle Mahlangu, an Honours Communications student from the University of Johannesburg, would be attending AdNight alongside the creative gurus in Amsterdam.

The Whalley Collective’s Social Media team and project collaborator startup agency SkiniDigital amplified the #Hello2moro journey with live video and photographic content across digital and social media platforms.

A production team from Sugarstone Studios, The Whalley Collective’s production company, documented their stories and every step of their journey to the festival and the lead-up to their respective exhibition, performance and agency experience at AfroVibes. This was used to create fillers that are being flighted on local DStv channels during the month of December, and then used as engagement drivers on the social media channels of project sponsors and partners.

Project Coordinator Jacques Bezuidenhout had this to say: “Of course, 'content marketing' is very much the buzzword nowadays, but a scattergun ‘creating content for content’s sake’ approach is equally as ineffective as traditional advertising when it comes to reaching a Millennial market. For us, content strategy is about identifying the people they want to hear from, telling the stories they want to hear and effectively weaving the brand in as a support for the story we’re telling. Creating authentic scalable experiences like Project #Hello2moro is what creates the real connections and long-term engagement that deliver a measurable return on investment.”

The #Hello2moro project was a collaborative project between The Original Champion, Skini Digital (Startup), The Whalley Collective and Sugarstone Studios. 2016’s project partners include The University of Johannesburg’s School of Strategic Communication, UJ FM, AfroVibes, AdNight Amsterdam, DStv Media Sales and MultiChoice.