Supa Strikas goes mobile

"Recently we launched our first major consumer product, Supa Strikas Clover Juice. It's selling beyond our expectations and we are continuing with a merchandising strategy. In 2011 we're expanding our print product to six new territories and we will also be bringing out apps for both Nokia and Apple," says Supa Strikas CEO, Richard Morgan-Grenville.

"It's because of the success that we first enjoyed in South Africa that gave us the determination to try and grow our product in the global market. We are extremely grateful to the South African public who continue to show their support with each episode of the animated series reaching well over one million people and the print version over 5 million readers.

"While our international achievements are certainly something to be proud of, the biggest milestone has been the publication of our 100th issue of the Supa Strikas comic in the Sunday Times on the 12th of December."

Product placement proves successful

"When we started out we wanted to combine the demand for a great home-grown South African story with the need for alternative media opportunities in the marketplace," says Bruce Legg, Supa Strikas' creative director.

"We had the idea of offering advertisers the opportunity to make their brands part of the story through product placement and branding within the comic and went from company to company pitching the idea to them. In the early days many of the marketers and budget holders had a very low awareness of the series and limited knowledge of the emergent market to understand just how popular it was becoming in the mass South African market. However, when we finally approached Chevron we found that we had a partner in seeing out our vision," adds Morgan-Grenville

"From the start, Chevron was intrigued by this opportunity to access its market in a novel and engaging way. Soon other big name brands like Spur, Sunday Times, Metropolitan, SANRAL and Coca-Cola followed suit.

With only a few sponsors in each country, the brands associated with Supa Strikas enjoy a very high level of association and recognition. Sponsors leverage this relationship with promotions, events and merchandise.

"With its collector cards, the Caltex Game On promotion gave families a compelling reason to choose Caltex over competitors and this had a direct impact on fuel sales," he adds.

TV success

With the popularity of the print comic, it was only natural for it to find new avenues in which to interact with its fans. In 2008, it came onto TV screens in Africa, Latin America, Europe and South East Asia. The animated series took the brand to new levels of popularity. Today the series is the second most watched youth show in South Africa and is aired on one of the world's most recognised channels, Disney, in 18 countries around the world.

Its success is a direct result of offering sponsors a new way to win hearts and minds through compelling storytelling and art.