Through their secret selves - Hollard successfully uses humour to connect with consumers

Thulani Sibeko, head of marketing, Hollard

Recognising that consumers have “a secret self” has made a humorous billboard campaign in Gauteng so successful that Hollard has now gone national with this humorous outreach and added a radio element to their ‘We get you’ campaign.

“Saying ‘We get you’ is our way of showing our customers that we understand that they have aspirations and personal dreams,” says Hollard’s head of marketing, Thulani Sibeko. “We ‘get’ that there’s more to people than meets the eye and that everyone has a side to them that’s hidden from view. Because we understand them we develop relevant and innovative insurance products and services that suit who they really are.

“And delivering products that fit the precise needs of real people is one of the key reasons that 2010 has been Hollard’s best financial year ever in spite of the global economic crisis.”

Hollard originally launched the ‘We get you’ campaign in September 2009. “It was originally an outdoor campaign in Gauteng and extended to include print ads in insurance-related publications. The latest expansion of the campaign includes fresh concepts for nation-wide billboards and print with an innovative approach for radio as well. We feel confident they will also amuse and appeal to the listeners of seven major stations throughout the country.”

He explains the billboard and print campaign was designed to intrigue and entertain. They show ordinary people doing ordinary things while their shadows reveal their secret hopes and dreams. “For instance, the shadow of a rugby playing youth scoring a try is a springbok while a young boy sneakily relieving himself in a flower bed projects as a fireman in action. There are six different visuals featured on numerous billboards in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and Durban and we’re sure they’ll promote smiles for travellers.”

Radio campaign

Hollard has developed a series of humorous radio ads to run alongside the ‘dream self’ campaign.

“Everybody likes a laugh,” explains Sibeko. “So we’ve decided to use comedy on the radio as well to grab attention and assure consumers – once again – that we ‘get’ who they are.”

“We took our inspiration from stand-up comedians and their keen social observations who truly ‘get people’ in ways that make us all smile and nod. Just as the ‘secret selves’ characters on our purple billboards were designed to entertain, our aim is to do the same through radio in a way that also conveys Hollard’s personality to the public,” says Sibeko.

The radio campaign comprises 90 second comedy spots, plus 30 second spots and fifteen second spots. The campaign will be national, airing on seven regional radio stations.

”Hollard celebrates its 30^th anniversary this year and it has always been the company’s slightly unusual approach – connecting with the human side of people in different ways - that has helped to differentiate us from our competitors. Our recent campaigns stay true to the overriding decision to take a ‘different’ approach when communicating,” says Sibeko.