media update’s Adam Wakefield was at The Maslow Hotel in Sandton where Abey Mokgwatsane, Vodacom’s managing executive for brand communication and marketing, detailed why ‘Shake Every Day’ was chosen as the slogan to take the brand through summer 2017/18.

Mokgwatsane, who recently joined Vodacom after over five years spent as advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather South Africa’s CEO, told journalists and media figures in attendance that the technology Vodacom has at its disposal is able to transform people’s lives.

“I was talking to someone the other day. In South Africa right now, it is Monday, eight in the morning. People are generally upset. We are not in the best space emotionally, as a country, and it is a global phenomenon, and in South Africa, I think we are quite on-edge,” Mokgwatsane said.

To lift the country’s mood, and get people into “the vibe of summer”, Vodacom have, over the last two years, launched a summer campaign to remind people that after the cold of winter, comes the warmth and beauty of summer, and better days.

Putting technology at the forefront of Vodacom’s brand

“This year, we have a better opportunity to be on the inside of this machine [the mobile], and are launching a new idea called ‘Shake Every Day’.”

Following from last year’s ‘Play Every Day’ campaign, the most successful campaign in the company’s history, consumers will have the opportunity to win daily prizes every day by shaking their phones.

During the campaign’s self-discovery phase, prior to its launch on Sunday, 29 October, 14 million customers interacted with it. It is expected to better the ‘Play Every Day’ campaign significantly by the time it concludes in mid-January.

Mokgwatsane said ‘Shake Every Day’ puts Vodacom’s brand and technology at front and centre, with the company using gamification to deliver greater value to their customers.

Key to this is the return of what Mokgwatsane called “South African-ness” to Vodacom’s marketing, which will appeal to all South Africans.

This appeal will feature in the television advertisement that will promote the campaign, along with the activations that will take place across the company’s channels and around South Africa itself.

“It’s going to break our own records, and that is the kind of access and reach that I think is possible with this brand,” Mokgwatsane said.

For more information, visit www.vodacom.co.za  

Apart from launching a new summer campaign, Vodacom is also moving its brand in a new direction. Read more in our article, How Vodacom is repositioning itself as a digital company.