Not that we’re complaining.
The opportunity to conceptualise and kick off the local activation of Diesel’s Go With The Flaw global campaign seemed to pop up out of nowhere a couple of months back. It immediately sent the Wetpaint team into a mad scramble.
And we relished every moment of it.
The idea was simple enough: create a local extension of the global campaign, communicating it to the market with a distinctly SA flavour. The focus of the global campaign was flaws. Insofar as it is our flaws that make us unique, the campaign’s theme cast imperfection in a positive light – encouraging the celebration of the unique imperfections that make each of us who we are.
It’s not every brand that allows the brainchild of its head office to be interpreted by the agencies who’ll actually be rolling it out to market, so we were understandably enthused by the idea of throwing a South African spin on a concept that, at its core, celebrates the flawed yet indomitable human spirit.
The creative leeway we were afforded by the Diesel heads truly inspired our team to think outside of the box in terms of figuring out what “flaws” could be related to, and maybe even embraced, by the diverse South African market.
In other words, what relatively benign form of non-conformity and disruption would be the most South African?
For example, a phrase like “I’ll be there now-now” became a perfect colloquial illustration of the sometimes laid back view that South Africans can take of deadlines.
If you were travelling through the Northern Suburbs on 10 November, you may have run across our Diesel rebels as they brought a touch of disruptive joviality to the streets, in the form of a roving toyi-toyi, carried from location to location by a branded taxi.
After all, we figured - what’s more distinctly South African than the disorderly minibus taxi and the spirit of protest epitomised by the toyi-toyi?
The activation was the culmination of weeks’ worth of hard work and, perhaps more importantly to the team, it was a chance to be a part of weaving a piece of South Africa into the global narrative of a truly global brand.
If you want to bring your brand to life with a creative flair backed by the experience of industry veterans and mavericks, get in touch with Wetpaint today and take your marketing and advertising to the next level.
