Embracing African tradition and culture

The new campaign was created with the intention of revitalising the brand positioning and rejuvenating the brand personality.

Comments HerdBuoys McCann-Erickson Client Service Director, Helle Wagner, "King Korn is a traditional brand which is strongly associated with rural communities and cultural celebrations. We wanted to retain that heritage with our new campaign whilst at the same time providing it with a contemporary association and more modern feel."

Conceptualised by the creative team of copywriter, Sandile Mkhasibe and art-director Judith Mofutsanyana, the campaign was based upon the key research finding that whilst many Black South Africans live in urban areas and lead modern Westernised lives, the majority are still rooted in rural cultural traditions. These traditions are celebrated when they go home to visit their extended families to celebrate special occasions and King Korn home-brewed beer is an essential part of those cultural occasions.

'Dual nature of our culture'

Mkhasibe explains, "Wedding ceremonies are a good example of this dual nature of our culture - we might have a big, modern, white wedding but we will also go home to our families for the traditional African celebration. King Korn is a brand that is strongly associated with traditional African occasions and our campaign is aimed at encouraging people to celebrate and embrace who they are and be comfortable with their African heritage and traditions. This thinking ties in strongly with the new African Renaissance, celebrating all things African whether it is fashion, art, music etc."

Targeted at LSM's 4-6, each outdoor execution features a line of copy in one of five vernacular languages that puts across the fundamental message of "This is who I am" or "This is me." The one-liner is flanked by a visual that serves to incorporate the modern with the traditional, thus for instance a visual of a businessman in an expensive suit is depicted wearing "isiphandla", an African animal skin bracelet. Or, similarly a young man in a modern leather jacket is also wearing a traditional Sotho hat. Mofutsanyana explains, "The visuals all show the duality of our culture - the modern accompanied by the traditional, and the copy 'This is who I am" indicates the acceptance of both. In the same way King Korn is a brand that stems from the traditional and cultural but still has a place and is accepted amongst the modern and urbanised."

Each creative depiction is strongly African in its look and feel with bold colours juxtaposed on a background of woven grass. A strong cultural element is conveyed in every execution from "Isiqhaza" (the stretching of the earlobes with African ornaments) to traditional scarification of the face, to decorative face-painting or the adornment with a Sotho hat. "These are all traditions that in the recent past may have been overlooked or shunned in favour of Americanised or Western traditions but are now celebrated and accepted as part of who we are," elaborates the team.

Comments King Korn Marketing Manager, Richard Papo, "The new outdoor campaign is a really refreshing new depiction of the traditional King Korn brand and we are confident that the message contained within each execution will strongly resonate with our target audience."

The outdoor campaign is backed by a radio campaign also created in five of the vernacular languages and flighting on the African Language radio stations and Metro FM.