Brand Factor is less than a year old, and we’re already on job number 210. So the team thought we would take stock of just how much work we’ve put out over the past 10-going-on-11 months. It’s been a very busy first year for the little boutique full service agency that could. We started with a bang by launching a designer patisserie with decadent cakes, we went into the bush and held a gender reveal party for a baby rhino and when it came to crunch time sampled thousands (and thousands!) of granola bars. We’ve done so much that when it came to choosing our best work, we couldn’t cram it all into one article. Here, without further ado, is part 1 of the best of Brand Factor. All of these are ideas we played with, arranged, and then brought to life in ways that we’re pretty chuffed with.
1.Durban July
Influencer and content marketing
Client: Bothongo Group
The Bothongo Group is a diversified black-owned company with interests in property, hospitality, biotechnology, security, agriculture and business technology services. Together with the marketing team, Brand Factor is the custodian of their motherbrand strategy and that of all of their subsidiary brands, so it’s our responsibility to ensure that they are positioned for maximum impact among a diverse range of stakeholders. The Durban July one of the biggest social events on the calendar, so we knew we had the perfect opportunity to make an impact. With less than a week to go before the big day, we secured several high-profile influencers to attend the event with us, including Sarah Langa, Christo Thurston and Sure Kamhunga. On a day where there is huge competition for attention, we ensured that the Bothongo Group stood out. We put our client on the map, getting #BGdoesVDJ to trend and getting noticed for all the right reasons. Total engagement on Social Media platforms: 116 848
2.Mandela Day
Events, influencers and PR
Client: Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve (Bothongo Group)
We helped our client create an amazing experience for 267 underprivileged children at the well-loved Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve in the Cradle of Humankind. The kids had a ball with events we organised, including face painters, balloon animals, a snake show and game drives – and child minders to help the teachers make sure that everyone had an amazing time at the Reserve’s Play Park. The kids created their own Madiba-themed banner which we unveiled at the event. Our PR partner, Pink Vanilla, assisted in getting Baron Group to generously donate hamburgers for the big day, as well as through our connections we secured a coveted live free broadcast by Mix 93.8 FM. Each child went home with their own Bothongo Group-branded backpack containing Nature Valley granola bars donated by our client General Mills. We got the kind of coverage for the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve that money can’t buy. But what mattered the most is that at the end of an exciting day, there were lots of tired, happy little people with very wide smiles, treasuring memories that will last long after sticky fingers have been wiped clean.
3.Annica’s High Tea
Concept, design and copy, influencers
Client: Annica’s Designer Patisserie (Bothongo Group)
Annica’s Designer Patisseire is a Johannesburg legend for its extraordinary cakes. When the much-known Ferndale store decided to take a different approach by their new owners, the Bothongo Group, they chose their new home to be at Dainfern Square. We were there to make a splash in keeping with its fabulous new Old Havana-inspired décor. High tea at Annica’s is a decadent delight for the senses, and we wanted to get the word out amongst the tastemakers of Johannesburg with an exclusive Women’s Day event. We invited a select group of influencers to sample their delectable selection of savoury and sweet delights on Women’s Day, and soon #AnnicasHighTea was trending. Among the guests were singer and socialite LeAnne Dlamini, medical doctor and influencer Dr Sindi Van Zyl and Top Billing presenter Jade Hubner. We sampled tantalising tastes of the high tea menu for shoppers in Dainfern Square, promoted the menu on digital screens and used leaflet drops to spread the word far and wide. The effect of this fasbulousness? We achieved 9500 social media engagements on the day as well as positive word of mouth that kept consumers coming back for more. Annica’s Designer Patisserie is now pinned onto the map for high teas.
4.Missing billboard
ATL, design, concept and PR
Client: Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve (Bothongo Group)
Brand Factor knows how to turn marketing lemons into lemonade. In early August, we rolled out our new print and outdoor campaign for the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve in the Cradle of Humankind. It was all going smoothly until ….. the billboard went missing. One day, a 15m by 6m piece of PVC was proudly displayed near Lanseria Airport, and the next day there was no billboard in sight. After all attempts to track it down the billboard thief, a spark was lit and we decided to do something different. If our billboard had gone missing, we were going to try and find it. So the creation of a classic “missing” campaign came to life with a missing poster that even presented a reward for information that would help us track the where abouts of the billboard. The story about the poached billboard went national, getting the Reserve unheard of media coverage. We even prompted our rival safari park to put out posts about the billboard – which prompted us to challenge them to make a donation to a rhino orphanage in time for World Rhino Day on September 22. The culprit was never captured and the billboard never found, but with out of the box thinking, we initiated a creative way to turn what could have been a disaster into an earned media win.
5.Cake Tapas
Concept, design, copy and in-store execution
Client: Annica’s Designer Patisserie (Bothongo Group)
Annica’s Designer Patisserie owns the concept of Cake Tapas in South Africa. With mouth-watering delights like Lemon Mud Cake, Choc Chip Cheesecake, French pistachio and Vanilla Bar-one, how can you possibly choose just one? So we turned trendy tapas on its head by offering customers a chance to sample five different kinds of decadent cakes on one delicious plate. The addition of bubbly made the tapas even more desirable. The promotion was advertised in store, online and shared on Annica’s on social media platforms but we did not stop there we added our touch on Dainfern Square’s digital screens. Those that came in immediately fell in love with the idea. A record was reached for Annica’s selling 30 special offers were sold on the first day of the promotion. To date this has been the most successful promotion. Annica’s is now as famous for their Cake Tapas and Bubbly as they are for high teas – making them winning recipes we plan to repeat.
Stay tuned and follow our story in the next part where you can see we sprinkled our magical touch to turn our client’s vision into a sparkling reality.