A dash of the unexpected

Heidi Brauer, Chief Marketing Officer at Hollard

Hollard’s latest brand campaign, dubbed “Better Futures”, delivers a serious, yet optimistic message with a light touch and a dash of the unexpected. Simple things can improve lives and uplift communities and the campaign highlights Hollard’s pursuit of positive social impact alongside shareholder returns.

A world of a difference

It’s great to see lives improve and that is why Hollard ensures that everything we do does just that. The key insight behind the campaign is the fact that we do so much more than just insurance. The things we do enable more people to create and secure a better future, and we do them both within the ordinary course of our business and through the way we conduct our business.

Better business

These include a variety of initiatives, among them a unique Supplier Development programme that supports Hollardites who have started their own businesses - by signing them on as suppliers and providing them with management advice and finance. Also included is a consumer education programme called Streetwise Finance, which was developed by Hollardites and is used to teach consumers the basics of finance using a gamified approach (the programme has recently been expanded to include an online version, which will dramatically increase the numbers of consumers that can be reached).

Systemic Interventions

“Better futures” also focuses on larger-scale initiatives, aimed at effecting positive and sustainable change at a systemic level. One such initiative is “Kago ya Bana”, an exciting and successful early childhood development programme borne out of a partnership between the Hollard Foundation, the Midvaal Local Municipality and the Gauteng Department of Health & Social Development. Another is the Harambee youth development accelerator, which has, since being co-founded by Hollard in 2011, enabled 35,000 youths to secure a better future through full-time, sustainable employment.

Being true to the spirit of the campaign

Spearheading the campaign is a 45 second television commercial, which shows how lives can become incrementally better through small changes to things that already exist. The ad represents a collaboration between M&C Saatchi Abel, Hollard’s brand agency and producer’s Egg Films. It reflects the Hollard worldview, which is deeply rooted in South African culture and committed to improving the world around us.

This idea is no better encapsulated than by featuring in the ad of the Hippo Roller, a brilliant South African invention. The device, which alleviates much of the difficulty associated with the transport of water in rural communities, has been around for many years, but its life-changing effects may not have enjoyed the high level of publicity it so clearly warrants.

In another nod to Hollard’s philosophy, the ad is augmented by a number of 15 second “stings”, which highlight specific initiatives. Each initiative is represented by a different Creative Block, a small-scale artwork created by an up-and-coming South African artist as part of the Creative Block project supported by Hollard. This project aims to create a sustainable source of income for artists seeking to make a living from the arts and by using these blocks, we are hopefully not only highlighting particular initiatives in a beautiful way, but also drawing attention to this wonderful project.

A head and a heart

Ultimately, we want to demonstrate Hollard’s determination to building an organisation with a head and a heart, to actively seek non-financial returns alongside monetary success and to do things differently in order to make a difference. Through our words and actions, we aim to bring about positive systemic change and to enable better futures for all.