A giant 8.8m high replica of a bottle of Sunfoil cooking oil that has been erected at Sahara Stadium, Kingsmead. Willowton Group said the installation was a symbol of the long term commitment of the company to the Dolphins and South African cricket.
Burgeoning Pietermaritzburg-based fast moving consumer goods company Willowton Group has upped the marketing of its popular brands, like Sunfoil, in recent years, with major multi-million rand sponsorships and marketing activities. The move, the company says, is paying off.
The high-profile sponsorship of cricket, locally of the Dolphins, and of Test series in South Africa, has secured it millions of rand in publicity and exposure, and last weekend won it a gold award at the 2013 Prism Awards in Joburg.
It was the only KwaZulu-Natal company to win a Prism award.
The awards, run by the Public Relations Institute of South Africa, are regarded as one of the top accolades in public relations and communications and are seen as a benchmark of professionalism, excellence and creativity.
The award to the Willowton Group, which has historically been a publicity shy company, recognised its sponsorship campaign of Proteas Test cricket through its Sunfoil cooking oil brand.
“Our directors are passionate about cricket, so we are particularly delighted to receive this award. When it comes to cricket, we are true all-rounders having supported township coaching, schools cricket, the Sunfoil Dolphins and now, finally, Proteas Test series cricket,”|said Hilton Cairns, national marketing manager of the Willowton Group.
“The objective of the Test cricket sponsorship was to penetrate weaker regions and increase our national awareness and sales volume and position Sunfoil as a family brand.
“We believe that, through our sponsorship of cricket, we have achieved our goal.
“During the cricket season, the sponsorship received publicity with an equivalent advertising value of R73 110 095. Sunfoil product sales in targeted regions doubled and the brand was rated by Repucom as the top South African cricket brand for the season,” he said.
Cairns said during matches, stadiums were filled with family supporters who experienced exposure to the Sunfoil brand. This was in addition to over 20 million TV viewers through broadcasts on SABC 3 and SuperSport.
“Through our corporate social investment programme, the Sunfoil Education Fund was also boosted by R700 000, allowing 13 primary and high school pupils to receive education bursaries,” he said.
Cairns said that the rationale behind the sponsorship was the “trust/quality” perception that was to be gained from being associated with a national sports team as well as an opportunity to “talk to” loyal Proteas supporters.
He said implementing the campaign had not been easy.
“An additional challenge was that a campaign such as this was|extraordinary in traditional cricket circles.
“It was unusual for a consumer goods brand to sponsor a national sports team. In addition, Sunfoil was relatively unknown nationally and, initially, consumers needed to understand the size of the brand involved,” he said.
Cairns said the company was celebrating the fact that the Sunfoil campaign had not only won over consumers but impressed judges of the Prism Awards.
In the latest effort to benefit from the cricket sponsorship, a giant|1-ton Sunfoil bottle, modelled on those stacked on supermarket shelves, has been positioned on the grass embankment at Kingsmead.
Cairns said the 8.8m high, 2.8m wide bottle was a symbol of the long-term commitment made by the Willowton Group to the Dolphins and South African cricket.
The move to become a major sponsor of cricket had taken the Sunfoil brand out of Pietermaritzburg and the province to the nation, he said.
However, the Willowton Group remained a family-owned and private business run by the Moosa family.
To date they had not revealed the exact value of their cricket sponsorship, but it was likely to run into several million rand.
The Willowton Group itself still tried to keep a low profile, despite being a big locally-owned fast moving consumer goods company that competed with the likes of global conglomerates such as Unilever.
