The document discusses marketing campaigns for two brands: 1) Shock Absorber, a sports bra brand launched in South Africa in 2006 with limited awareness. The campaign educated consumers about the benefits of sports bras and positioned Shock Absorber as the top brand for sports enthusiasts. Advertising in magazines increased awareness. 2) Lion Match, an iconic match brand with high awareness. A promotional campaign aligned the brand with soccer and offered traders soccer boots for generating sales. The SMS-based promotion received over 150,000 entries and became a permanent part of the annual marketing plan.

1. SHOCK ABSORBER
A premium sports bra manufactured by Playtex Group.
CHALLENGE:
Shock Absorber was launched as a separate brand into the
South African market in 2006. Some gains had been made in
the distribution of the brand, however it still experienced
limited awareness levels (10% unprompted awareness).
Research also showed that there was a minimal
understanding of the need to wear a sports bra when
undertaking physical activity.
APPROACH:
The key strategy was to educate the market on the benefits
associated with wearing a sports bra when doing any form of
physical activity. From there we needed to position Shock
Absorber as the brand of choice for sports enthusiasts looking
for a top-of-the-range, scientifically engineered bra to better
their performance.
In our advertising we positioned the brand as ‘The Sports Bra
Specialists’, clearly differentiating ourselves from competitors
by communicating the scientific research and engineering
involved in the manufacturing of the Shock Absorber product.
OUTCOME:
Because women are generally aware of their bra size, we
used colour to clearly separate the activity level and the
corresponding bra for the correct support.
Print adverts in popular, female orientated sporting magazines
helped to increase overall brand awareness.
Exhibition stands allowed consumer engagement on an
personal level where we provided advice on nutrition and
training, as well as their sports bra needs.

2. LION MATCH
The Lion Match Company manufactures the iconic
Lion Safety Matches.
CHALLENGE:
The Lion Match brand is extremely well established in the
market, enjoying 96% unprompted awareness. It is a South
African icon. We were asked to develop an exciting
promotional campaign to drive sales through the influence
chain of wholesalers, traders and consumers. A limited budget
of R500 000 was provided.
APPROACH:
We wanted to build on the excitement of the 2010 FIFA Soccer
World Cup and reinforce the brand’s heritage by aligning it with
the game of the people - soccer.
By targeting the trader market we maximised our limited
budget, ensuring sufficient stock pressure to drive the product
through the remaining retail levels. A promotional SMS
campaign was run using in-store POS and on-pack messaging.
Traders who bought product were entered into a draw to win 1
of 200 pairs of soccer boots.
OUTCOME:
The total number of SMS entries for the competition was over
150,000. Such was the success of the campaign that it has
since become a permanent fixture within the annual marketing
plan.