{"id":177857,"date":"2021-01-21T00:23:27","date_gmt":"2021-01-20T22:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?p=98169"},"modified":"2021-01-21T00:23:27","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T22:23:27","slug":"mccann1886-successfully-applies-lockdown-lessons-for-steers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/mccann1886-successfully-applies-lockdown-lessons-for-steers\/","title":{"rendered":"McCann1886 successfully applies lockdown lessons for Steers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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McCann1886 is successfully applying the lessons it learnt during last year\u2019s hard lockdown to the work it is doing for clients across the board.<\/p>\n

Last year, the approach adopted by the agency during the COVID-19 lockdown allowed it to develop work that proved so in-sync with Steers\u2019 mostly metropolitan male 18-to-34-year-old target market that it performed beyond expectation.<\/p>\n

Now, some nine months later, the agency is applying the approach and lessons it learnt during the various lockdown phases to the 60-year-old fast-food burger restaurant chain\u2019s latest campaign.<\/p>\n

McCann1886 Chief Creative Officer, Stuart Stobbs, explained that, when 2020 didn\u2019t quite go according to anyone\u2019s plan, they turned to the McCann global mantra \u2013 \u2018Creativity is the Only Way to Survive\u2019 \u2013 for inspiration and to redefine the agency.<\/p>\n

This approach had three key drivers \u2013 Agility, Making and Fun.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdmittedly \u2018Agility\u2019 was an obvious driver to apply to how we worked, how we built insights, how we created, collaborated and thought. The agency wanted faster outputs, but without impacting on quality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Making\u2019 was all about taking ideas to finish, and upskilling staff with the knowhow to do so. Here, we reckoned, the more we could do, the better we could help clients. And \u2018Fun\u2019? Well, what would be the point of all that work without Fun,\u201d he said. \u201cAlso, facing a pandemic is mentally draining, and having some fun while you work, well that\u2019s the perfect antidote or dare I say, vaccine?<\/p>\n

The agency initially put these drivers to work for Steers when it was preparing to re-open after being in a forced shut-down for three months. The need was for an immediate and significant upturn in revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first campaign \u2013 the \u2018Mix It Up Sharing Meal\u2019 campaign \u2013 combined old ads with new footage to create six pieces of fresh and engaging content that talked to the situation we were all in and reminded consumers of the power of sharing,\u201d said Creative Director, Mthokozizi \u2018Zi\u2019 Sithole.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, knowing time was everything, we followed up swiftly with a full social roll-out \u2026 and then proceeded to launch TVCs for the \u2018Shake It Up Sharing Meal\u2019 and the \u2018Cheese Boy Sharing Meal\u2019. Agility and Making indeed worked hand-in-hand to help us keep delivering for Steers in record time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sithole also praised the client for their support: \u201cNone of this would be possible without a solid relationship with a client who is just as agile as we were. And it turns out that, if you work together, creativity not only lets you survive a pandemic, but thrive in one too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The new executions were created for the \u2018Phanda Ribster Burger Meal\u2019 by Executive Creative Director Tumi Sethebe, Creative Director Zi Sithole and Art Director Chan Ma after they were briefed to show what it really means to be \u2018phanda\u2019 in South Africa while leveraging of the amazing Steers value offer.<\/p>\n

You can view the new TVCs, which launched last week (January 12) here: