“The agency’s advertising philosophy suits what we want to realise through Pendoring perfectly,” says Van Niekerk. “Saatchi & Saatchi call it lovemarks. These are brand names with which you have such a strong relationship that you would tattoo its logo on your arm. To build a love relationship, you have to talk their language, because it touches their hearts.
“As passionate as Saatchi & Saatchi are about their clients, Pendoring is about Afrikaans and the South African advertising landscape as a whole.”
Saatchi & Saatchi is the winner of several awards at Cannes, The One Show and the Loeries, and as international role player has distinguished international clients in Europe and all over Africa. Local clients include top companies like Engen, Proctor & Gamble, Brandhouse, the Foschini Group and the V&A Waterfront.
Says Leon Jacobs, creative spirit of Saatchi & Saatchi in Cape Town, “We feel honoured to handle Pendoring’s campaign this year. We have put a lot of brainwork into the campaign and are delighted to get the opportunity to put our campaign to work. We are planning to change Pendoring’s communication strategy somewhat. We plan to show another side of the importance of an advertisement competition and project of Pendoring’s stature to the advertising business. In the end we will once again reach the importance of speaking in Afrikaans with Afrikaans-speakers.”
According to Jacobs, the strong dollar has, however, driven most full-time Afrikaans writers from the advertising agencies. “This has had a massive impact on the quality of Afrikaans as advertising language. Those writers that are now working as freelance creators, have fewer opportunities to do really good work and spend time on original work.
“Saatchi & Saatchi’s campaign will strive to open more agencies’ eyes to the value of Afrikaans advertising. After all, Pendoring is the most important motivation for Afrikaans advertising professionals to create world class work, and South Africa has some of the most creative people in the world.”
Jacobs believes that Afrikaans is such a rich language that it enables one to convey strong ideas simply. “Companies can advertise unashamedly in Afrikaans and advertising and promotion professionals can safely create in Afrikaans, because eventually the consumer will buy in the language of his heart.”
