In 2021, 12 small businesses reaped results from their participation in the campaign.

The businesses included a:
  • Johannesburg inner-city tailoring outfit
  • aunt-and-niece-run landscaping firm 
  • township chicken restaurant
  • small Soweto laundromat venture, and
  • one-woman wine distribution start-up.
According to the campaign, the results reaped from participation included:
  • securing myriad new contracts and partnerships
  • setting up new franchises
  • expanding their markets, and
  • creating more jobs in their communities.
Each SMME received its own tailored media package, comprising anything from radio and television ads to billboard and digital advertising space. According to the group, the impact of the campaign was so big that Hollard wanted to expand it so more SMMEs could benefit.

The insurer is building on 2021's success with a second six-month phase of the campaign in a slightly different format, adding three more small businesses to the pool in a novel partnership with DStv.

The group says that the partnership proposal to Hollard from the satellite service at the end of 2021 provided the perfect opportunity to run a competition across three of its television channels (Mzansi Magic, kykNET and M-Net) and social media, inviting SMMEs to apply to become part of the 2022 'Big Ads for Small Business' campaign.

Like 2021, criteria for 2022's campaign included whether the small businesses:
  • would benefit from the campaign
  • could handle a potential rapid increase in business, and
  • were spread across the country. 
Overall, 248 applications were received, which were narrowed down to 10 with the help of a specialist business consultancy, and then to the final three successful applicants that met all the criteria:
  • Timeless Tomatoes
  • Ambani Africa, and
  • 123tutors. 
From March to August 2022, Hollard will share two months of concurrent commercial airtime worth R1-million with each of these enterprises on DStv channels, plus providing social media exposure on its channels.

"As a 'human' brand, Hollard's business purpose is to enable more people to create and secure a better future," says Hollard's chief marketing officer Heidi Brauer. The concept for the campaign was initially drawn up at a time when Hollard was acutely aware of the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown not only on its own business but particularly on small businesses.
 
"At the time, the idea was to provide 12 SMMEs (chosen from an initial pool of 292) with marketing support and business tools to help them overcome the impact of the pandemic and to create a collective knock-on effect of 'better futures'," Brauer concludes. 

Individuals are encouraged to find out more about the 'Big Ads for Small Business' campaign here. 

For more information, visit www.hollard.co.za. You can also follow Hollard on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.