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Urban legend ‘Vernon Koekemoer' debuts in first TVC

Vernon Koekemoer, named ‘flavour of the month' for May by trend-spotting company, Flux Trends, has made his television commercial debut in a new ad in the Lucky & George campaign developed by full-service agency, Draftfcb Johannesburg, for its client, Vodacom.
Urban legend ‘Vernon Koekemoer' debuts in first TVC

The Lucky & George campaign, which is used by Vodacom to communicate new products and services to its users, features the techno-savvy Lucky who takes his decidedly techno-dummy colleague, George, into a VodaShop and helps him understand how he can benefit from Vodacom's new technologies.

It has become something of a tradition to briefly show a local celebrity shopping in the Vodashop for the 15 seconds or so that the voiceover announcer explains how the new technology or service works. Not only does this add visual interest to what could be a ‘slow spot' in the commercial, it has piqued the interest of South African viewers. Much as they waited for the next instalment in the now famous ‘Yebo Gogo' series of corporate ads for Vodacom, they now eagerly anticipate who will be the next celebrity to be spotted at VodaShop. Previous executions have featured Olympian Rijk Neethling, World Cup Rugby hero Joel Stransky and soccer boss Kaiser Motaung Jnr, among others.

Selecting Koekemoer, the alter ego of East rand resident Cassie Booyse, as the latest to shop alongside Lucky & George highlights just how closely Draftfcb Johannesburg has its ear to the ground when it comes to knowing who and what is impacting the lives of Vodacom customers, young or old, urban or rural.

Urban legend ‘Vernon Koekemoer' debuts in first TVC

According to Flux Trends' Dion Chang, Koekemoer's rise to fame is proof that marketers can't ignore the South African pop culture scene. He said, from a marketing point of view, there is an underworld or undercurrent that resonates deeply with those involved in this culture. Tapping into it, like Vodacom has done with this ad, confirms its value.

The ad was conceived by Draftfcb Johannesburg's team of Grant Jacobsen (creative director), Molefi Thulo and Grant Sithole. Jacobson, who works solely on the Vodacom account, said it was quite ironic that Koekemoer's popularity was driven by a virtual medium, but would now be celebrated in the mass medium of television.

He added: “On the Vodacom team, we're very excited to be the first brand to find Vernon and use him like this. It shows that we're in touch with our target audiences, and that our client is brave enough to embrace ideas - in this case, a relatively unknown in-terms-of-numbers-of-people pop icon - that might be a little out of the mainstream but that could have tremendous pay-back in terms of brand building and contribution to bottom line.

“This ad is another well-deserved first for the marketing team at Vodacom.”

8 May 2008 16:05

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