Campaign to fan cricket fever

The campaign was developed by agency TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, with additional specialist leverage provided by online agencies Tequila, Aqua Online, Brandsh and event activation agency Maverick. Specialist media agency OMD developed the media strategy.

The Forever Proteas campaign was launched to coincide with the current limited-overs series against Australia. The campaign intends to maintain Standard Bank's high cricket sponsorship awareness in South Africa and drive the association of its long-term sponsorship by linking the brand to the Proteas.

The campaign will link recognisable everyday fans with Proteas captain Graeme Smith and bowler Makhaya Ntini. The television and cinema commercial expresses the emotion and fervour of fans sharing in the preparations of the Proteas before they emerge for battle on the international cricket stage.

Above the line

The above-the-line campaign includes a 45-second TV and cinema spot; billboards; print advertising; and "moving billboard" in a purpose-designed and branded Forever Proteas team bus.

Two billboard executions have been used nationally to extend the Forever Proteas theme to outdoor, stretching the concept of fans side by side, forever, with the team. The outdoor campaign uses Smith and Ntini alongside everyday fans. The outdoor mix includes a massive building wrap at Cape Town International Airport.

TBWA creative director Damon Stapleton comments, "The simple concept behind the campaign was that it takes much more than just eleven players to make the Proteas. The fans, the rituals and the passion create the game, and in a sense the connection between the team and every South African. This is what Standard Bank wanted to celebrate."

Integration across platforms

The integration of Forever Proteas across various platforms is intended to deliver prominent brand association, as well as personalised and interactive communication with fans.

Forever Proteas is supported by key mobile and social platforms that feed the newly launched www.standardbankcricket.com site, the http://standardbank.mobi site and the Standard Bank Mxit contact.

Facebook, YouTube and Flickr are three of the platforms that allow cricket fans to interact with the brand and Forever Proteas campaign by allowing uploads of consumer-generated content that features on the key web site.

Standard Bank also offers live scoring on both www.standardbankcricket.com and http://standardbank.mobi. Committed live bloggers at every game continue the Forever Proteas theme by updating the blog content on www.standardbankcricket.com. Followers on microblogging platform Twitter are also kept up to date with the on and off-field action with @StdBankcricket.

Safer sporting environment

Meanwhile, in an effort to promote a safer sporting environment in high-school rugby, First National Bank (FNB) has partnered with Talk Radio 702 for Health Week, beginning 6 April 2009. FNB and 702 will sponsor 160 rugby-playing schoolchildren to get free brain scans.

“It is vital that all schoolboy rugby players partake in the sports concussion programme, which aims to make the management of concussions safer by using internationally recognised clinical guidelines and computer brain function tests,” says Dr John Patrios of Sports Concussion South Africa.