Nedbank bets its branding on horses

Net#work BBDO created the 60 second ad displaying everyday life with horses instead of cars. It also exposes Nedbank's new mantra "Make Things Happen" which taps into a mood of possibility and confidence that is South Africa today.

Positioning Nedbank Captial as a 'destiny creator' that financially supports companies in realising their vision, the agency challenged itself to find a visual execution to match.

According to Executive Creative Director Julian Watt: "Great ideas have changed the world. However, imagine if there wasn't any finance to support them? With this in mind, we had some fun presenting a slightly different post-millennium transportation reality."

Gary du Toit and Mariana O'Kelly, the creative heads behind it all were liberated by Nedbank Capital's directive to break away from the inclination of other high-browed specialised banks which usually opt for a highly intellectual execution

"We instead chose to bring it right down to earth, yet make it relevant to those who finance these big ideas."

A collaborative team worked with the entire equine population of Cape Town on a total of 17 staged scenes. One scene called for thirty-five horses (all skittish) to be corralled up on an unfinished Cape Town highway at night.

Added to this was the laying of hundreds of truckloads of sand for a realistic effect that took hours to sweep up afterwards and a horse that had to be retrieved after it bolted.

The commercial was shot in only three days under the stewardship of director Kim Geldenhuys, but pre-production took months.

Says Du Toit: "Chances are that any horse you see in Cape Town today is probably bending to the pressures of its new found stardom.

"Actually the horses were a nightmare. Not that they were badly behaved or anything. They are just very big, very sensitive animals with a lot of specific needs."