#BehindtheCampaign: Touch, pause... engage with MTN's Springbok TVC

Source: Screengrab/MTN MTN’s latest TVC for its 5G network with Springbok captain, Siya Kolisi and the Springboks

The brief

“These days people are looking for an internet connection that gives them faster speeds, reduced latency, and better coverage. We were tasked with highlighting how 5G on the MTN network delivers on all those attributes,” explains Nomsa Mazibuko, general manager: brand and communications.

The insight

The most common use case to demonstrate that is streaming. “Anyone who streams content, especially sports, can relate to the panic you feel when your stream goes down at the worst possible moment of a big game. We used that insight to develop our ad,” she explains.

Creating the TVC

The ad recreates a rugby match. Mazibuko says it was easy for the Boks to perform –“because nobody does rugby better than them. Nobody”.

But there's still much to consider when filming with South Africa’s most loved team. “ They're world-class athletes, not actors. We always consider this when scripting scenes that involve them. We try not to put them in situations that require too much acting,” she says.

That said, she adds that while you’d expect them to be nervous, they weren’t at all. “They're used to being on set. They find ways to make it fun for themselves.”

The team are also given clear instructions so that they know exactly what we need from them. But overall, she says, they’re easy to direct. “The Boks easily followed Peter Pohorsky’s direction. He is good and knows how to pull performances out of anyone, especially if they’re not seasoned actors,” she says.

The shoot took place at Loftus Versveld in Pretoria over two days (23 and 24 June). Of that only three hours were with the Boks.

“This time limit meant we had to meticulously plan every second of every shot so that we maximised the time we were allocated. There was no room to play,” says Mazibuko.

Those three hours were the most stressful of the two-day shoot. “Shooting at night in the freezing cold didn't help either. We had to keep our cast warm during takes and amped up to keep performing,” she adds.

Overall, she says the shooting with the champions was amazing. “It was cool to see how much time the Bokke had for everyone on set. They understand and appreciate how much people love them and were willing to take pics and have quick chats with everyone.”

The cast who made up the team that the Boks were playing against were players from an actual local rugby club. “They had a blast. You could tell that this was a dream come true even though they stood no chance of holding back the Bok maul,” she says.

“And as for the stadium – while it looked full, we only had 100 extras. We had to add a lot of people in during post-production,” she adds.

Credits

MTN South Africa

• Nomsa Mazibuko, general manager: brand and communications
  
• Pondo Belot, senior manager: go to market operations
• Pratiksha Jekison Singh, senior manager: brand and communications
  
• Bongani Ntshingila, senior manager: sponsorship and events
  
• Banele Sibunzi, manager: brand and communications

Agency: TBWA \ Hunt Lascaris

• CCO: Peter Khoury
  
• ECD: Keith Manning
  
• CD: Jeff Tyser
  
• CD: Nikki Taylor Garrett
  
• Producer: Rachel Andreotti
• MTN Lead: Karen Ballenden
• SA Lead: Paul Binikos
  
• BUD: Qaqamba Jacobs
  
• PM: Sharika Abrahams
  
• Strategy: Demi-lee Jacobs

Producer: Plank Films

• Director: Peter Pohorsky
  
• Producer: Seamus Bax
  
• DOP: Willie Nel
• Editor: Xander Van Der Westhuizen

Audio: Audio Militia

Sound engineer: Garrick Jones

VFX: Chocolate Tribe

• VFX Supervisor: Rob van den Bragt
  
• VFX Technical Director: Tiaan Franken
  
• VFX Producer: Corlia Ohlson de Fine
  
• Online Artist: Johan Wentzel

Composers:

Johan Wentzel and Jean du Plessis

Animators:

Mpho Vukea, Tanaka Musewe, Taija Hartwig, Tegan Theron, Nkosana Kyle Sibanda, Taryn Jordan, Michael Howard