Gumtree, the largest South African website and online classifieds platform, won two
Silver PRISM Awards for both of their successful 2014 campaigns – Gumtree Extreme ReFresh campaign and Queen B's Gumtree Boutique campaign, in the
Corporate Responsibility and
South African Campaign of the Year categories respectively.
In 2014, Gumtree and Ogilvy PR Cape Town partnered with DJ Fresh for the Gumtree Extreme ReFresh project, which saw the local DJ spearhead the renovation and refurbishment of Little Pina Pina – a day-care centre in Soweto. In order to ReFresh the crèche, DJ Fresh called on Gauteng residents to visit
www.gumtree.co.za/refresh to post an ad to donate an item on Little Pina Pina’s Wish List. Fresh also challenged small businesses based in Gauteng to volunteer their skills and expertise on Gumtree to help transform the place from run-down to restored.
Marketing manager of Gumtree South Africa, Claire Cobbledick says she is delighted with the award as “it was an incredible project to be a part of that got the community to donate goods and services via Gumtree and transform a day-care centre, purely through an online classifieds site”.
The second
PRISM awarded the Queen B’s Gumtree Boutique campaign, featuring Bonang Matheba, where the celebrity driven concept sought to deliver a new audience to the popular site and encompassed a wide range of media platforms including traditional PR, social media, television, radio, SEO, experiential as well as digital design and hosting. Matheba donated 28 of her personal fashion apparel and accessory items to the campaign, which were listed on the Gumtree platform via
www.gumtree.co.za/queenb, where users could buy with all proceeds going to Matheba’s choice of charity – The Nelson Mandela Foundation – and showcasing the utility of the website.
“Queen B’s Gumtree Boutique campaign far exceeded my expectations and I am very proud of the results. Ogilvy PR Cape Town exploded this brief and together with Bonang, pulled off a successful project,” added Cobbledick.