By Nikita Geldenhuys

The Axe body spray #YouGottaDry campaign

Alex Honegger, who heads up the social media and digital marketing services at Cambial Communications, was impressed by this campaign’s interactivity.

The campaign was aimed at 18 to 24-year-old male consumers. It invited social media users to comment on the campaign with the hashtag #YouGottaDry. Strange and interesting prizes were up for grabs, including Bluetooth gloves, banana oven mitts, LED glasses, and an Inflatable sumo suit. See the campaign video here.

“I felt that this was all round the most impressive campaign. Sure, they had a considerable budget, but they were really able to make that budget work for them,” Honegger says. “I have seen the figures and results from the campaign, and it’s clear that the ROI far exceeded what many others achieve with similar backing.”

His verdict? It was creative, different, and effective. “I particularly thought that the interactivity of the campaign was well thought through, well planned, and expertly executed. The individuals behind it, I believe, made the brand far more relatable to their target market – the new age everyday man.”

More about the #YouGottaDry campaign here: AXE launches #YouGottaDry campaign with Xzibit

Castle Lite’s #2stage cold indicator campaign

When Castle Lite launched its larger 2-Stage temperature indicator on its bottle label, it spread the word via social media. It used Twitter’s ScratchReels tool to create interactive GIFs. The animated GIFs show the indicator turning blue as the beer reaches an “Extra Cold” temperature.

According to Twitter, the whole campaign received 4.5 million impressions at a cost per engagement of R1.61. Check out Castle Lite’s stats here.

For Julia Rhodes, head of social media at Elevator, the simple mechanics behind this campaign are what make it stand out. 

 “Utilising the animated GIF does two things well: it makes the product look enticing and refreshing, and amplifies the Extra Cold messaging,” she says.

“Sometimes, the simplest things perform best on social media.”

The MTN Night Shift Facebook and YouTube campaign

The team at Mark 1 single out the MTN Night Shift video as content that is relatable, while also communicating a strong message.

The campaign features a television commercial that shows the night shift employees at a South African airport singing and dancing to a classic 1980s song, Nightshift. According to Mark1, the video had 2 804 083 million views on YouTube, with a further 150 000 views on Facebook.

“This is one of those campaigns that is so well crafted and targeted that you can’t help but be impressed. They used a well-known song and based the campaign around normal people and how they survive the night shift – which resonates with a majority of South Africans.”

The Mark 1 team was also impressed that the video wasn’t entirely brand orientated. “Tying in the ambitions of large-enterprise telecoms to keep consumers connected, regardless of time and place, makes it a successful advert for MTN – without it being overly pushy.”

Edgars’ #DreamLaughLive campaign

The campaign’s simplicity impressed Dorin Bambus, responsible for trend and technology research at Gorilla Creative Media.

“Edgars used the hashtag #DreamLaughLive and asked followers to suggest outfits using only emojis,” he explains. “They put together looks from their range inspired by these tweets and then showcased them in a fashion show broadcast live on Twitter.”

He explains the brand didn't dilute the concept by making the idea bigger than it needed it to be. “They stuck with Twitter and what Twitter is good at. They used native features to do something cool, interactive, and beneficial to both the brand and their community. It was well executed and fun, without being clichéd or pointless. These are the hallmarks of a great socially centred campaign.”

You can watch the video of the fashion show here.