By Adam Wakefield
What is Gorilla’s story?
Gorilla was founded in 2008 in Durban, with the ambition of building brand love through digital channels. Getting going was hard work, as digital and social media were really in their infancy, and brands were taking a while to recognise the value digital could add to their marketing activities.
Obviously, in the past few years, that acceptance has grown substantially and with it Gorilla has grown. We're now digital partners to over 40 brands and have an office in both Durban and Johannesburg.
Gorilla has received 20 nominations for six pieces of work at the upcoming MMA SA SMARTIES Awards, leading the nominations in the process. What would you attribute this success to within Gorilla?
We recognised quite early on that South Africa is not just a mobile first country, but for many of our audience, a mobile-only audience. Taking that approach, we really do let mobile experience drive both our campaign strategies and our creative, and the results speak for themselves.
It's very important to note that we also have clients who embrace mobile as a channel. None of our nominations would have been possible without their belief in us, and the power of mobile to deliver creative, impactful campaigns.
How important is it for the likes of Gorilla and other firms to have an outlet such as the SMARTIES Awards recognising the best work in the industry?
It's always great to get recognition, both for ourselves as an agency and for the brands and clients we work for. The MMA is also a globally established programme, so it puts our work on a stage with other best practice from around the world and lets us benchmark how we are performing.
Out of all the work on the SMARTIES shortlist, is there one particular piece of work (or even two) that Gorrila are most proud of or that stands out?
Ah this is a tough one. AXE's #YouGottaDry is definitely special because it was a campaign that was entirely developed and supported using mobile platforms and mobile media. We used international rapper and TV host Xzibit as the ambassador for the campaign, and managed to produce close to 50 pieces of mobile content, covering videos, gifs, dynamic tweets, and interactive media.
Another one we're really proud of is Beat Your Monster Craving for King Cone. It used WhatsApp as a central platform allowing a two way conversation between us and our audience using a variety of rich content, and also integrated with Waze so we had a fun location-based element in the campaign. We feel that Whatsapp is an under-utilised platform for brands, and it was exciting to run a campaign where it had such a prominent role.
What specifics should any marketer or creative agency remember when targeting a mobile audience, and are there any particular aspects from a creative point of view that mobile empowers compared to other mediums or platforms?
In terms of crafting a campaign, you need to remember that a mobile phone is an inherently personal device, and if you want to engage a user it needs to be in a way that doesn't feel like an interruption or distraction.
From a creative point of view, we try to focus on what a phone can do, and explore creative spaces within that utility to land a campaign message or engage our user with a story we're trying to tell. The sky is really the limit in terms of what we can do with mobile.
What is the most difficult aspect of creating marketing material for a mobile audience?
More a challenge than a difficulty, but the way that content is consumed on mobile differs to how it is consumed on other channels. You need to understand that usage as it affects your storyboarding, the types of content and media you use and how well you marry a campaign narrative with the technology you have at your disposal.
The list of nominees for this year’s
SMARTIES Awards is available
here.
Tickets for the
SMARTIES Awards are available
here.