A new mobile network division was recently launched by Telkom South Africa. The launch featured the South African informal greeting Heita. Pronounced aytaah, the word means hello, hi, how's it going in South African social network language.
McCann Erickson was given the brief of preparing South Africa for the launch of the country's fourth mobile phone network without giving away the actual name of the brand until the launch. The agency launched the Heita campaign across mainstream media channels. The campaign had nameless ad spots greeting the nation one morning - no logo, no brand name, no clues or hints as to what the product was or what line of business Heita would be.
The tv commercials were shot by South African film director, Keith Rose. Here are a few...
McCann Erickson also took out large scale newspaper ads featuring the work of aerial photographer Michael Poliza:
South Africa's largest selling Sunday paper, The Sunday Times, featured a new mast head which called out "Heita South Africa."
Renderings of all black and white images with the exception of a pink dot popped up on taxis, buses and on the sides of buildings.
The brand was finally launched with a full television commercial focusing on animated Emoticons as two Sid and Nancy type characters who meet and share a connection.
I absolutely love the execution of this project. The brand was able to capture the country's interest and really find a fun and interactive way of introducing their product. By the time the brand was fully launched on the October 15, 2010 the campaign had captured peoples attention.
Here is a casestudy of the campaign:
