Toyota once again leads the way with Pendoring sponsorship

Pieter Klerck, senior manager: planning and advertising at Toyota South Africa... “any marketer who knows which side his bread is buttered, ought to fish in the Afrikaans pond”.

With its considerable sponsorship support, Toyota is leading the way among the gold sponsors for the third successive year.

Klerck points out that statistics show there are approximately 4.5 million Afrikaans-speaking citizens in the country half of whom are in the top income groups. “Any marketer who knows which side his bread is buttered, ought to fish in this pond,” Klerck stresses.

“Afrikaans is a fine language: it started as a kitchen language, then gained official status and subsequently became the ‘language of the heart'. Today it holds its own as a 'language for life'. Moreover, Afrikaans is an expressive language that offers marketers and advertisers a golden opportunity to gain access to a lucrative segment of the consumer market through sharp expressions and effective language use,” he reckons.

Advertising excellence has always been an integral ingredient of Toyota's winning recipe. Time after time the company's advertisements garner awards at advertising awards, with its new Buddy campaign a firm favourite among consumers, as proven by a recent Millward Brown AdTrack study.

According to Klerck, it's important that Afrikaans is promoted by the entire language community by supporting projects like Pendoring. “If we all don't join forces, chances are slim that the next generations will have a colourful and ‘variegated' Afrikaans.

“If you want to prevent the extinction of the black rhino, you need to turn it into a ‘milk cow'. Utility animals never run the risk of becoming extinct. Serve an economic purpose, and people are interested in you. Be marketable and you'll most probably survive. And Afrikaans definitely is marketable!”

Japie Gouws, chairman of the Pendoring board, lauds Toyota as one of the most loyal Afrikaans advertisers. “The group has never been just an onlooker from the sidelines, but always does more than its bit to keep the wheels of Afrikaans running.”

Toyota's ongoing support is extremely valuable, he adds: “An investment in Pendoring reaches far and wide. On the one hand, it's an investment in promoting and rewarding excellent Afrikaans advertising. On the other, it's an investment in the language and all its speakers.”

• More information about this year's entries, categories and prizes will be available soon at www.pendoring.co.za. Entries open 24 May 2010 and the entry deadline is 13 August 2010. The glittering awards event takes place on 29 October 2010 at Vodaworld, Midrand.