Koo, the 72 year-old brand in the Tiger Brands stable, is communicating its family values and salt-of-the-earth personality in an emotive new television commercial – its first in three years – from Draftfcb Johannesburg.
Shot over three days at Nash’s Farm, one of Gauteng’s most popular film locations since the 1960s, the commercial was conceptualised by dynamic executive creative director duo, Gareth Paul and James Cloete, copy writer Jonathan Stilwell and art director Kevin Yong. Sweet Spot Content’s, Miles Goodall, directed the action with Riot and Sinister Studio handling post production, and industry stalwart, Rob Schroder, the soundtrack.
According to Paul, the agency was briefed to build a consistent and recognisable communication identity for the KOO brand which could easily leverage the individual strengths of many different media.
This identity had to continue to build brand equity, demonstrate Mom’s role as the proud provider and heart of the family, and create connections between Koo and it target markets, he said.
“The agency team didn’t want to lose sight of the fact that Koo is soul food, food with authentic South African flavours that has helped mothers of many generations nurture their families and communities since 1940.
“This phakathi komhlane nembeleko, food with soul, was our inspiration. It conjured up images of warmth; it made us realise that, when you are around family, friends and other loved ones you relax, let your hair down, and feel comfortable to share what’s on your mind or in your heart.”
Added Cloete: “Brand KOO has its place on the table in just about every South African home. And when we as South Africans get together around the table to eat with our loved ones, it’s not just food that we share, but also stories – whether it be the little things that happened during the day, or something funny that someone heard, or those special moments from days gone by re-remembered and told again. This daily ritual of sitting together and sharing plays a big part in binding friends and family together and we aim to keep KOO positioned at the heart of all this.
“What I love about this new commercial is that KOO is intrinsically woven into the idea – not just tagged on at the end of some generic piece of film, as is so often the case with ads.
“The joke in the ad hinges on the enjoyment of the product and the insight that, though we love to share our stories with one another over a meal, we never talk and chew at the same time. When this insight is brought to life, this tension becomes quite humorous and engaging.
“Basically, we follow a simple story that keeps freezing at odd moments, which makes the viewer wonder what’s going on. It is later revealed that what we have been seeing is a story, being told by an old man to his granddaughter, and every time he stops to chew, the story and characters in it freeze.
“It’s charming and heart warming, and exactly right for the brand. Our various production partners – Sweetspot Content, Sinister, Rob Roy Music and Sterling Sound – did a fantastic job and have created a piece that really delivers against what we at Draftfcb and our clients at Tiger Brands had in mind when we first developed the script together. Most importantly, I think that broader South Africa is going to love this ad and that brand KOO will be stronger for it.”
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