Radio campaign sparks interest

"Strategically we placed one ad for a two week period so that it can gain enough frequency and momentum as noting levels increase," says Kim Palmer, media planner for the agency. "Overall, we chose creative that matched the station's listenership profiles. However, once the ad has been played a few times on each station, the execution changes to that of an edgier repertoire to maintain the campaign's freshness and to ensure the curiosity element remain high throughout the campaign."

The campaign runs on Kaya FM intermittently until the end of November and Metro FM until the end of the month. YFM will run the campaign for two weeks a month for four months.

'Thanks Spark for the Zulus and their spirit of Ubuntu' says the white Kugel; 'Thanks Spark for the Brazilians' says the white gym-frequenting-macho-oke; 'Thanks Spark for the Rainbow Nation, although I've personally always preferred black' says the young and hip black urbanite. These are just some titbits of three of the seven radio executions, six in English and one produced in Zulu.

"We thank both stations for their open mindedness in allowing the airing of these somewhat risqué executions - we feel that they perfectly reflect the brand personality of Chevrolet Spark and are confident that the overall effect will translate positively on the bottom line," adds Palmer.

McCann Erickson GM account director Denholm Elliott says, "One of the most important aspects of the new campaign is that the Spark Lite brand now has a clear positioning, namely: 'For independent young South Africans'."

In light of this positioning, the creative for the new campaign needed to find something original to make the brand stand out, which meant championing some very tangible facts about the car in a creative and memorable way. This led to the creative solution, throughout the campaign and through a full use of media, to thank it for its special features.

For more information on the campaign, go to www.thankspark.co.za, the Chevrolet Facebook page or the Spark Lite website at www.thankspark.co.za/lite.