“Afrikaans speakers contribute significantly to Toyota South Africa's success. They feel at home with a company that takes trouble to advertise in their mother tongue. This obviously is a sound reason to advertise in Afrikaans,” says Pieter Klerk, senior manager: planning and advertising of Toyota South Africa, which once again manifests its pay-off line by taking the lead with a substantial Pendoring sponsorship.
Although research has proven that Afrikaans speakers still have significant buying power, many advertisers simply ignore the importance of this group, to their detriment, Klerck believes.
“Afrikaans speakers are a unique group, with a unique character and remarkable interpersonal relationships, and this is reflected in their buying and consumption patterns of products and services. It is precisely this personal relationship, intimate knowledge of and empathy with this market segment that is invaluable to Toyota,” says Klerck.
According to him it is important that Afrikaans is enthusiastically embraced and promoted by its entire language community through projects like Pendoring. “If we all do not join forces, chances are slim that the next generation will have the privilege of having a colourful and varied Afrikaans language.”
With the pay-off line, Taking the Lead, Toyota is a responsible corporate citizen that not only takes the lead technologically, but also with regard to the environment and the community at large. “Toyota believes it is important to plough back into the community and does it across the entire spectrum of stakeholders,” Klerck stresses.
He says Toyota South Africa's recipe for success is based on service excellence with good quality, durable and trustworthy products and services. “On the one hand, the art is to convey the right message to the right people, and on the other, to keep the company's advertising promises. And excellent advertising has always been an important component of Toyota South Africa's success.”
Just like its customers and other stakeholders, Pendoring is also very important for Toyota South Africa. “This unique advertising project not only acts as a conduit for excellent Afrikaans advertising, it also offers the opportunity to promote creativity and the continued revival of Afrikaans.”
According to Pieter Bruwer, chairman of the Pendoring working committee, Toyota's ongoing support is of immense value. “An investment in Pendoring goes a long way: besides being an investment in the creation, promotion and crowning of remarkable Afrikaans advertising, it is also an investment in the future of the language and all its users.”
