By Kerryn Le Cordeur
On Wednesday, 5 August I attended the AMASA August Forum. This month, Sylvester Chauke, National Marketing Manager of Nando’s, and the energy behind the brand’s advertising, shared the thinking behind some of its winning marketing and advertising strategies.

Nando's has become renowned for its cheeky and irreverent advertising in South Africa. The brand’s communication is connected to current, topical issues which constantly seek to expose human truths in a fresh and cunning manner.

Chauke discussed that, surprisingly, Nando’s ad spend is relatively small, with its biggest competitor outspending it five times. This means that its competitors have more ads and more ad flightings, but Nando’s philosophy is that effective share of voice is the most important factor in marketing and advertising, because this leads to share of mind – and it is of utmost importance to be on people’s minds and lips, in order to create a lasting impression.

The Nando’s ethos is that personality is most important – it is not just about how you look, but how you do things, and you have to deliver on your promises. As such, Nando’s personality has evolved into being an ‘antidote to the ordinary’, and the brand lives up to this with the motto, ‘Take a stand against bland!’ To make this motto workable, Chauke explained that every aspect of Nando’s is part of the ‘stand against bland’ – from internal campaigns building the ‘stand against bland’ mindset from within; to restaurant level, where staff wear outrageous attire and, more importantly, are always smiling and willing to serve; to the brand’s advertising, which consumers have come to expect will be attention-grabbing and often controversial.

Chauke said that the principles that drive Nando’s are that the brand has to be memorable and create a revolution. He added that the brand must move from ordinary to “magnificent” in every area – presentation; package; attitude; and mindset. In this way, he feels that ‘brand love’ is increased – not with gimmicks, but by truly winning consumers’ hearts.

In terms of Nando’s advertising, Chauke explained that of utmost importance is creating relevance to the timeframe in which the ad is aired. He said that advertisers are “renting consumers’ mindspace”, therefore the content needs to be relevant and rewarding so that the consumers engage with the brand. He also feels it is important to be different and go against the grain, especially when you are competing against the “big dudes” in the industry.

Nando’s has certainly created relevance, as well as controversy and debate with adverts such as the recent ones featuring the infamous Julius Malema puppet. Chauke also described the way in which the brand has a tactical edge, which keeps it fresh. For example, on Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday in 2008, Nando’s offered a free meal to anyone over 90 who visited a Nando’s store on that day – this escalated to a free meal being given to anyone in the country who was celebrating their birthday on that day, after a challenge by SABC2’s Morning Live. In this way, Nando’s illustrated its relevance, while at the same time built a strong relationship with the media, and gained active participants and brand ambassadors in the form of those watching Morning Live and those visiting Nando’s to receive their free meal. Chauke said that this shows that “it’s not what you say, it’s when and how you say it”.

Chauke concluded by saying that in advertising and marketing, you need to say things imaginatively; originally; and freshly – Nando’s is a case in point for the effectiveness of such an approach.