hoola Modern Agency and footwear retail giant, Tekkie Town, have a new spring in their step after their #WalkYourWay campaign won a Bronze award in the Social Media (Social Media Platforms) category and was recognised as a Leader in the ‘Most Effective Use of Content’ category at the prestigious Assegai Integrated Marketing Awards, held in Melrose, Johannesburg, on Thursday evening last week.
The Assegai Awards are an annual ceremony recognising integrated marketing excellence in South Africa. The Awards strive to highlight best-in-class marketing campaigns and encourage all players in the South African direct marketing industry to push the boundaries of creativity, with the ultimate goal of continually raising the bar for the industry as a whole.
“We’re very proud of our team as this was our first time entering these awards”, said hoola’s COO and Co-Founder, Ebert Grobler.
“These achievements acknowledge and validate our ability as a modern agency and industry leader to recognise what the online public hope to receive for their precious time when they choose to engage with brands.”
Grobler said that the campaign was aimed at evolving Tekkie Town’s brand from a perceived “brick and mortar” retail brand to an engaging and relatable online brand, which connected with its audience in an honest manner.
“We created a campaign that spoke to a human truth, which is that everyone is unique. We all experience, live and love differently and no matter what you do, you do it your way, leaving your unique footprint behind.”
The #WalkYourWay campaign gave Tekkie Town’s audience an opportunity to truly embrace and express themselves. The results were outstanding, with the brand instantly increasing their online following, and their audience authentically engaging and sharing their stories with them.
“What made the campaign such a success was that we ensured all the integrated platforms received quality content that was effectively managed. We also continuously engaged with the public in a near real-time manner.
“We saw an unprecedented growth of following and engagement on all social platforms and at such a rate that it resulted in Tekkie Town rapidly surpassing their competitors’ social platform growth.”
Over a 4-month period, Tekkie Town’s social media reach increased by 98% on Facebook, 544% on Instagram and 358% on Twitter. Their digital online community achieved growth of almost 450 000 followers, which resulted in a monthly growth rate that was consistently 10 times that of their retail competitors’ average, while the #WalkYourWay brand video was viewed more than 508 000 times, and saw audience engagement increasing by 345%.
Grobler added that when they considered the substance of the engagement from the online (social) public, they saw that there was a true connection between the content and fans from across Southern Africa.
“These people opted to follow and engage with Tekkie Town’s brand, and sincerely shared their stories with us.”
Delighted by the success of the campaign and the subsequent awards achieved, Tekkie Town’s Executive of Merchandise and Marketing, Mohamed Dewan, said it was always “a great feeling to know your agency and team’s hard work was being acknowledged, especially considering the line-up of the great campaigns that we were up against. Tekkie Town is very proud of this result.”
Dewan said because consumer connection was at the centre of what they do at Tekkie Town, the #WalkYourWay campaign was aimed at speaking to the everyday consumer who journeys through life with subtle greatness on daily events, which is more often than not, seldom celebrated in their communities.
“We wanted to take these stories out to South Africa so that we, ourselves, could become motivated to do better, and inspire others to see life more positively. hoola successfully took this out into the public eye, and the response has been humbling and motivating.”
For more information on the #WalkYourWay campaign, visit the Tekkie Town case study on hoola.agency.
