Five Roses Tea Bus visiting spazas and stokvels

The bus drew to a halt outside the venues and unloaded its promotion team to provide product promotions, entertainment, competitions and samples to shoppers.

The 25 Days of Christmas promotion made a point of visiting several of that uniquely South African retail category, the spaza. It has been estimated that spaza retailers captured about 2.7 percent of the SA retail trade in 2000. A national survey conducted by Professor Andre Ligthelm of the Bureau for Market Research at the University of South Africa (UNISA) found that the turnover of spaza retailers in 2000 was larger than the combined turnover of branded 'superettes' in the country.That translates into R7.4 billion, which makes this channel a huge resource for building brands.

The Five Roses Tea Bus campaign also gave the Five Roses team the opportunity to see at first hand the unique nature of each of the shopping channels. "Many marketing people never visit township stores, so do not have a clear understanding of the differences between various kinds of retailers and wholesalers."

The bus also visited stokvels. Smith says that they decided to include these societies on the road show because of the enormous buying power of the members. "These are the people who hold the purse strings and make purchase decision," she explains. Pre-production representatives laid the groundwork by contacting stokvel members and telling them that if they bring a box of Five Roses to the meeting, they could participate in pick-a-box competitions and win prizes.

Smith points out that the South African retail environment is highly complex, especially in the townships. "Five Roses has made a head-start in its emphasis on clear understanding of the various channels by visiting the outlets and interacting with the consumers who shop there."

A charity component was included in the campaign and the bus visited charities where it distributed samples and hampers and held small Christmas parties.

Annchen Smith, Brand Manager of Five Roses tea, explains that the Tea Bus "gave us a unique opportunity for face-to-face contact with the people who actually buy our brand, while encouraging new consumers to try the product.

The brightly-coloured bus enhanced the product's physical presence, incentives to buy the tea built sales and encouraged first-time buyers to try Five Roses, and the entertainment helped to develop the positive brand associations that are so valuable to a sustainable brand."