Making a clean wrap of things

Alternative Media Communications company Boo! recently completed its second wrapping of the largest construction site to date in a local township. Fitting brand size to the sheer scale of the medium, Unilever selected the site for its leading washing powder brand Omo.

Soweto's Maponya Mall required installation of a 1000m² media wrap intended to dominate the environment along Old Potch road for the duration of the mall's construction.

Boo! MD, Dave McKenzie, says wraps offer clients a big and bold message as well as brand stature through the scale of message. “Maponya Mall is in Soweto's main through-fare and a highly sought-after location. The imposing size of the site creates impact on a road that already has vast array of outdoor communications and ensures the advertiser's message is amplified above the clutter.

“Unilever was looking for something different in Soweto. The mall certainly dominates the environment as the biggest of its kind in the area,” he adds.

Jonathan Pigden, insights director for Unilever's media agency Integrator, says that as the township environment becomes increasingly important to larger FMCG players, smaller format advertising solutions are simply not good enough anymore.

“This is Unilever's largest jab at outdoor media in Soweto, where brands have to show their status so much more obviously. While a three-by-six metre billboard, for example, offered differentiation 10 years ago, this is no longer the case. Stature is significant in emerging markets, and we wanted an overt sign of the OMO brand excellence.”

He adds that Soweto is a key market for Unilever and the single biggest economic zone among the emerging middle-class market. “Maponya Mall has the most impact in Soweto and was thus a natural choice for us.”