By Katrien Potgieter

Cut to a frame of a something so quintessentially South African it had the ability to take most of us back to a time when most things seemed simple and straightforward: a stoep. Yes, the picture of a grandfather and his grandson sharing a bench, listening to crickets chirping and chatting, takes one back to childhood. So even before I saw the whole ad, my (not-so-dead, mind you!) inner child was rattling the bars of its carefully constructed cage with conviction. “Let met out and take me back!”, it shouted. If a grown young woman like me was instantly drawn in by the opening scenes of this ad, I would bet good money on the younger ones being similarly affected by it.

“Grandfather, where does Clover come from?” the little boy asks with his milk moustache of innocence on his upper lip. What follows next is the creation of the ‘wow effect’ on audiences. While soaring through an explosion of colourful clouds and sparkly stars, his grandfather explains, ““Far beyond the furthest stars, far beyond the sky, is a waterfall of the purest milk one thousand stories high …” We are delivered into a fantastical world of equally enchanted proportions, crafted with decorative golden architecture that speaks with a regal air akin to the charmed feeling present in fairy tales. We see bright, multi-coloured birds with golden, scoop-like bills, dipping into the milky reservoir. ‘Twirling Tina’s’ resembling musical jewellery box ballerinas with fluttering Tinkerbell wings churn away at the milky pool at the bottom of the waterfall. Every group of imaginary creatures has its part to play in the methodical processes of creating Clover products. Next up is the harlequin hatted blue elephants walking on candy stick stilts, called the ‘Trodders’. These comical creatures serve by “trodd[ing] with their cookie-mould feet, making butter bricks creamy and light”, which in turn, fly away as a uniform flock of butter brick birds. Friendly-looking, shower-cap wearing rainbow-coloured sea monsters called ‘Tubbies’ ‘paddle’ the milk in their ship-like bellies into cheese. Giraffe-like birds called ‘Beakers’ use their beaks to cut “perfect slices of cheese so yummy” that rises and soars in individual carnivalesque-looking hot air balloons. We are told to “follow the river of snow-white milk” via its see-through tunnel that perpetually knitting granny cows use as a means to keep afloat their ever-expanding patchwork of quilted sections of landscape. Each block of soft sweetie-like patchwork has a hidden spring mechanism that may turn any unsuspecting knitted-out passer-by into a jack-in-the-box. These yelping-with-delight locals with their cell phone-sock little knitted jackets are then launched onto the walls of the tower where the milk gets warmed up by their body heat (knitted sweaters, you know). Thereafter, the milk gets cooled, and their (up-to-now) rather funny little outfits seem to make even more sense, as they move to work on the frosty ‘tower’ next door (or so one would think). However, here the Clover citizens proceed to frolic about, making snow angels on the thick layer of frost while only wearing beanies, mittens, legwarmers and shoes …



Next up we travel to the Clover factory as “our Clover friends have had their fun in the Milky Way far away”. After all their hard work, all that needs to be done is to “add the secret ingredient”. Usually, at the end of any laboriously and meticulously executed process, the standard ‘seal of approval’ is required before the product is sent out into the world at large. In Clover’s case, this idea is substituted by the notion of … wait for it … love. A row of sassy cow-girls in polka dotted dresses seal the deal by placing a bright red clover-leaf kiss on the cheek of each and every product leaving the production line before they drift speedily into space to fill our supermarket shelves, our fridges and, if Clover achieves its aim, our hearts and minds, too.

This is exactly what the highly recognisable and iconic South African consumer brand, which has been operating, in one form or another, since 1898, has in mind with its fresh branding initiative that entrenches the ‘way better’ theme, message, programme and philosophy across its product line and throughout all of its operations. Minor changes to its logo were aimed at modernising the mother brand and giving its brands and products a new look and feel. But more than anything, Clover seems to be putting it an implicit challenge out there for its competitors to take note of: ‘we have raised the bar even more; come and play!’

In recent years, the Clover brand frequently ranked in the top ten of the “most famous brands” surveys conducted in South Africa by independent brand surveyors. Furthermore, in the 2010 Brand Icon Benchmark Survey by [TGI] City Press &amp Rapport, Clover was voted one of only 17 brands in South Africa to achieve the status of “Platinum Iconic Brands”. Also, Yellowwood Brand Architects recently announced Clover as the third most engaging brand in the country.

But what is the impetus behind Clover’s make-over? And why has the company waited until now to make such an assertive move to conquer the hearts and minds of the South African public?

According to Clover’s brands and marketing executive, Dr Chris Lerm, the company’s stock exchange listing was the precursor to the ‘way better’ programme and philosophy that is now being introduced throughout all of the company’s activities. He said the group’s ongoing focus will be to build on its strong connection with consumers, especially as a respected family brand.

The first phase of the implementation of the ‘way better’ programme is aimed at highlighting the group’s commitment to excellence and has been internally focused, rendering it the new credo for staff members. Externally, there has been a teaser radio and billboard campaign (the glittery ‘way better’ billboard on top of the hill of J.G. Strijdom in Constantia Kloof has had me wondering what Clover is up to for months now).
The second, much more customer-centric phase will be a 360 degree above- and below-the-line campaign that will introduce and entrench the ‘way better’ message across South Africa and will total around R30-million by June next year. The first 70-second television advertisement was flighted on 7 October and will be complemented by two 30-second commercials.

Last week Wednesday, I attended the launch for this new TV advertisement at a function at the Alexander Theatre in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. The function was attended by media, suppliers, the trade and a variety of stakeholders. Chief executive, Johann Vorster, outlined the rationale for the company’s decision to embark on the ‘way better’ journey: “Tonight is the culmination of a journey we have been on since 2008, and we look forward to experiencing where ‘way better’ will take us in the future,” he said, adding, “Clover can look back on a proud record and … history of more than a century, and we are excited about the new era we are entering”.

What followed was a three-act industrial theatre presentation illustrating the ‘way better’ philosophy and Clover’s reasoning for adopting it. The audience was made to feel part of the creative process by acting as a group of stomping ‘Trodders’, ‘Twirling Tinas’ and ‘Beakers’, respectively. Pepe Marais, executive creative director of Joe Public, the advertising agency responsible for the conception and creation of the ‘way better’ TV ad, was chosen from the audience to participate in the fun on stage. Soon afterwards, we were all invited on stage to join the party that had swiftly been set up while we sat glued to the short-but-oh-so-sweet screening of the ‘way better’ ad for the first time.

With the Milky Way as the theme for the evening, we were treated to a selection of canapés like Supernova, Twinkle Tarts and Black Hole, which added an extra-terrestrial dimension to the occasion. A ‘Twirling Tina’ sprinkled shimmering stars on guests from above. One lucky guest received a Mangwanani Moonlight Night Spa voucher for two as a prize while Clover donated R100 per guest to Reach for a Dream on behalf of everyone attending the function. With the culmination of several months of around-the-clock work on the conception, creation and production of the Way Better TV advertisement, all ended well. But for Clover, this was just the beginning of ‘way better’ things to come …

Here is the link for the ad on YouTube<>:
www.youtube.com/cloverwaybetter