It was early in the COVID-19 crisis and South Africans were caught up in the fear and uncertainty surrounding it. In the midst of all this chaos we say an opportunity to use our brand as a trusted voice of reason, while using our quick wit to get a shareable public health message out to as many people, in as short a time as possible.

We had to craft a simple, educational and humorous message that we could share with as many people in SA in as short a time as possible.

We already knew that social media users love a bit of online banter between brands, nothing gets them quite so fired-up as a good burn! So, we took aim at a competitor’s unfortunately slogan and used the on-going conversation surrounding it to fire-up our own.

With every share, like or comment we were spreading the important hygiene message.

We had two key objectives:

1. To educate on the importance of hygiene in combating COVID-19.

2. To get the message to many people as possible, in as short a time as possible.

Given the circumstances, we decided that a shareable social media message was the best fit. We knew that on social media a good burn and banter between brands really gets people fired-up and that’s why we took aim at a famous competitor from Kentucky. We turned their famous slogan into the launching point for an important public health message and brought in a straight forward message about cleaning your hands.

The content had to be simple and clear but to ensure that it really got shared it had to be witty. With every laugh virtually guaranteeing a share we knew that we’d be on our way to spreading the message to as many South Africans as possible.

Insight:

During crisis we might not be able to talk about ourselves, but we can talk about a competitor in a witty way that not only gets people laughing, but also spreads an important public health message.

Key Message:

The power to fight COVID-19 is in our hands. So, don’t lick your fingers, reach for the soap, and just wash them.

Target Audience:

Social media users throughout South Africa who are caught up in panic, fear and misinformation. They know how serious COVID-19 is, but also, like most South Africans always find a way to laugh at their problems.

We had to craft a simple, educational and humorous message that we could share with as many people in SA in as short a time as possible.

We already knew that social media users love a bit of online banter between brands, nothing gets them quite so fired-up as a good burn! So, we took aim at a competitor’s unfortunately slogan and used the on-going conversation surrounding it to fire-up our own.

We timed the post just as concern and conversation surrounding COVID-19 was reaching its peak. South Africans had been waiting for Nando’s take on the situation and we couldn’t disappoint them.

We wouldn’t guide the conversation too much, just give SA a simple shareable message that they could tell their friends and family about. We knew that people would share the message the more momentum it built, the further it would go.

With one post we got:

66.9k likes

49k shares

5.5k comments

We were featured on local radio stations, local online news channels and international news outlets:

http://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/378267/nandos-keeping-it-clean-public-service-announcement-with-a-potshot

https://www.goodthingsguy.com/fun/nandos-proper-laugh-competitors/

https://www.2oceansvibe.com/2020/08/25/kfc-is-no-longer-finger-lickin-good/

And a short while after initially sharing the message our competitor from Kentucky announced that they’d be pausing the use of their slogan for the duration of the pandemic.