The commercial depicts the popular
Kalahari.com character Karl Ahari in a lonely state, searching for love on a dating app. A blue light emanates from his mobile phone capturing his attention. A very dapper Karl sits in a restaurant, anxiously awaiting the arrival of his date, Dot, the character representing
takealot.com and its synonymous blue dot. The two characters then lovingly walk towards each other and embrace, signifying “
takealot.com and
Kalahari have become one”.
The coming together of these two heavyweights represents a significant moment in the South African e-commerce industry. The operations of the businesses have been merged to create an efficient platform of scale, building
takealot.com into the premier online shopping destination on the African continent.
Commenting on the creative approach, takealot.com’s CMO, Declan Hollywood, said, “Mergers are typically no more than ‘boardroom talk’, but we wanted to take a fresh creative approach and bring South Africans along on the journey with us. Our aim is always to leave our customers with a smile, and that’s exactly what the ad sets out to do.”
The
Kalahari.com brand has been part of the South African online retail landscape for many years. It was one of the early pioneers of online retail in South Africa since launching in 1998.
Hollywood concludes, “We respect the history of Kalahari and the popularity of Karl as its lead character, hence our decision to bring him along the journey too”.
Click here to view the commercial.
Connect with Karl Ahari via
Facebook and
Twitter.