Edgars is a 90-year-old fashion and beauty department store in South Africa, that had completely lost relevance with a contemporary African audience. In 2018 Edgars was on the brink of closing– putting 140 000 jobs at risk. – potentially the largest retail disaster in South African history.

We needed to re-connect Edgars to culture and reimagine the entire brand.

But how do you connect a brand to culture in a country as diverse as South Africa? A country with 11 official languages, that is going through a creative and cultural renaissance. Africa has undergone a radical culture shift in the last few years - with the rise of a new black middle-class consumer and a bold new African identity, expressed mainly through music, art, and fashion. South Africa has become one of the most expressive places on earth – a unique African identity and no longer derivative of Western style.

We created: “DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO” - An African Musical and Original Song that became an anthem for self-expression and re-connected Edgars into culture

The original song, written and performed by Sho Madjozi for the campaign, aimed to be the cultural translation of the Edgars brand purpose: “To Inspire Self-Expression”. The lyrics and melody created a defiant celebration of diversity and self-expression in contemporary South Africa.

The song was released across mainstream media and cross-platforms, taking the Edgars message deeper into culture.

We needed to connect to the rising middle-class African millennial, now focused on using fashion to express their unique African identity and no longer derivative of a more Western style.

As a brand that stands for “SELF EXPRESSION” we needed to find a way to express this in culture - showing how the brand empowers self-expression and is totally re-energised for a modern Africa. Using music and fashion, together with a diverse melting pot of African cultural creators, allowed us to express it as an anthemic celebration: “Don’t tell me What to Do!”

The campaign launched with a 3 minute branded film starring our African personalities and led by Sho Madjozi.

The influential cast creat d their own social media content.

This included make-up tutorials, live performances, comedy shows, fashion stories, lifestyle stories and more… all with Edgars products at the core. Their looks were made shoppable, directly connecting culture to sales.

We created the bespoke SHO MADJOZI COLLECTION, creating further reach through our partnership. It quickly exploded into culture, with people photographing themselves in the Sho Madjozi collection across social media, making it the most visible and most-shared collection in Edgars history.

The original song “Don’t Tell Me What To Do!” was written and performed by Sho Madjozi for the film and became an anthem to self-expression, released across mainstream media.

The campaign created a cultural movement:

• Over 133 Million media impressions.

• The song took the message deeper into culture with over 65 000 streams on digital

platforms to date.

• A 533% increase in positive brand sentiment.

• An 800% increase in share of voice – from 4% to 36% (as measured against competitors:

Zara, H&M, Woolworths and Mr Price).

• earned media value of $3.8million.

• Over 5000 items from The Sho Madjozi Collection were sold during the campaign launch.

• A PR value of $1million.

The campaign helped an outdated fashion retailer reconnect with its diverse contemporary African audience to become a voice for self-expression.

Edgars is now profitable for the first time in 10 years.