Oros markets fun and joy across South African townships!

Oros is a fun and joyful brand The young & forever young are those who see the bright side of life and chose to live life with a little lightness! Its symbolic Oros man with a bright smile and its pop-art, like font are evidence of this, and while the world continues to evolve and expand into more articulate and complex facets, Oros remains fun and playful. To continue in this light, it’s important to emphasise these elements to a newer and younger generation and where else could be a better place than the vibrant townships of South Africa!

Ekasi is where you would commonly find kids playing umshinxi/umGusha, black Toti, Diketo/Upuca, which are officially recognised as indigenous games due to their historical context. FromGugulethu to Soweto, these games are enjoyed by millions, and it was important for Oros to focus on this aspect for its outdoor campaign. The brand aimed to position itself on, unlocking the power of play and how play makes the world a better place. This would be emphasised by groups between the ages of 16-24, within major townships around the country, where the youth can be found playing outdoors. The most personal platform for this form of advertising is wall murals, a speciality for Owakhe Media.

Some important criteria for the wall murals were that they had to be near areas where joy and play can be found daily, along with being highly visible to the public eye. These sites also had to cover townships in the 3 major metropolitan regions with a mass reach. So, it was only fitting that these townships were Gugulethu, Umlazi, Kwa-Mashu, Tembisa, Alexandra, Mamelodi, Soshanguve and Soweto. Some iconic sites in these areas are those such, Gugulethu on NY1 as well as NY99. Both these sites encompass the Gugulethu Mall and are the most popular streets within this area, making them primed for mass visibility. In Kwa Mashu, a hybrid site, which is located at a children’s park with swings and roundabouts and overlooks the bustling motorists on Queen Nandi Drive, is an example of both play and visibility. In Alexandra, the most densely populated township per square meter, you can find a site that faces the locally renowned soccer grounds on a main interior road and iconic sites can be found throughout Soweto such as those on tourist attraction precinct of Vilakazi Street.

Mashupa Street, Orlando East – Soweto (Johannesburg)

The strategic importance of choosing wall murals for this campaign’s success is because of the mass reach that it presents, as nearly 25% of South Africa’s 60 million reside in townships, and historically these areas were deemed low-income areas, but that is swiftly changing. A recent study by Survey 54 finds that Soweto, which is the largest township in South Africa, has a purchasing power of over R5bn and is mainly exchanged in the form of cash at small convenient stores, commonly referred to as spaza shops. Collectively, there are over 150,000 of these stores nationwide and are responsible for as much as, 5% of a $419Bn national economy. Considering that Oros is amongst the brands stocked in these stores across the country, it makes for an effective campaign on the bottom line, whilst maintaining cost efficiency for its cost per reach.

Mural area & regions include:

• Soweto, Johannesburg
  
• Kagiso, Johannesburg
  
• Alexandra, Johannesburg
  
• Kathorus, Johannesburg
  
• Diepsloot, Johannesburg
  
• Tembisa, Johannesburg
  
• Soshanguve, Pretoria
  
• Mamelodi, Pretoria
  
• Mabopane, Pretoria
  
• Umlazi, Durban
  
• Kwa-Mashu, Durban
  
• Lamontville, Durban
  
• Gugulethu, Cape Town
  
• Khayelitsha, Cape Town
  
• Nyanga, Cape Town
  
• Mitchells Plain, Cape Town

Artwork for this campaign has a high level of, call to action alongside product placement. It features a dotted textured background using tones of primary blue with spheres that have a colourful array. The foreground is centred with a burst of Oros wave, featuring the headline copy, “FLAVOUR UP with SA’s Flavourite since 1899” and a span of colourful butterfly wings for a selfie section. The product placement supports this copy on the flanks with a staggered order of the 7 flavour offerings, including the all-time ‘favourite’, ORANGE! To capture the exact quality of this artwork, Owakhe Media prepares the production work by using a AUTOCAD software to translate the artwork detail for a powerful laser machine to cut precise and detailed painting stencils. Not only does this ensure we capture brand elements and artwork correctly, but it also ensures a faster turnaround time for this step of the production. Further to this, another use of software includes the colour matching process to crossmatch the digital colour into paint colours, otherwise known as PANTONES. This assists us in making sure that, what is presented on a digital art file is replicated precisely for reproduction onto a wall, using paints. Our very experienced team of artists then use an airbrushing technique that allows a flat surface to appear as 3D, which is especially important for product to appear life-like on the wall. Upon completion of this intricate process, a final layer of clear gloss paint is applied onto the wall to ensure it can withstand the natural elements such as, rain and sunshine, so that the paint does not crack or peel, whilst also repelling dust and dirt.

Production artist on site preparing the artwork

To showcase this exciting campaign, Owakhe Media recorded a highly engaging visual
production where a group of kids can be seen engaging with the mural by, connecting to the free Wi-Fi, taking selfies, and playing hopscotch. This is taken a step further by bringing the wall to life, using an innovative tool known as, Augmented Reality (AR). AR technology adds digital elements to the physical world by using a camera lens of a smartphone, allowing users to interact with their environment in new and exciting ways. The interactive and immersive nature of AR appeals to younger audiences who are accustomed to consuming media through their smartphones and other devices. This is a new and exciting way for brands to create memorable experiences for their audiences and a solid bridge between measuring the impact of OOH, through digital marketing.

Try out this AR experience using your mobile phone by following the steps below.

1. Click this link (https://8th.io/q4pkw) to be redirected to the webpage.
   
2. Once on the webpage, click ‘allow’ for access to your mobile phone camera.
   
3. The artwork is comprised of 4 different sections, with 4 separate experiences. (Left, Left-Centre, Right-Centre and Right)
   
4. Direct your phone camera over one section of the artwork at a time until a ‘play’ icon appears on your screen I.e. The butterfly wings/Right-Centre
   
5. Click the ‘play’ icon to activate the experience.
   
6. Direct your phone over another section of the artwork to activate another experience.
   

At Owakhe Media, we believe that outdoor advertising is one of the most exciting and
memorable advertising platforms and will remain so for generations to come. We also trust that our innovation is leading us to merge the success of this platform into other digital avenues, where farther and wider audiences live. Not only does this guarantee that an outdoor campaign’s measurement can spill over into digital, but it can have a unique and memorable experience that shape how brands are perceived by audiences!

Visit www.owakhemedia.co.za today!