A new ad for the Soweto Rugby Club (SRC) encourages viewers to support the club by highlighting the lack of facilities and coaching for children with a rugby dream in Soweto.
The ad is a collaboration between ad agency Ireland/Davenport and production house Frieze Films. Philip Ireland and John Davenport have a long-standing relationship with the Club’s Chairman, Dali Ndebele, which stretches back to university rugby playing days. Ireland explains: “We began doing work for the SRC when we founded Ireland/Davenport and were in a position to contribute to Dali’s vision. We ran a print campaign which had great success in bringing in old members and new players to turn out for the club, as well as generating column inches in the press and getting Dali invited onto TV talk shows.’
However, because the SRC has not been able to attract serious local sponsors, Ireland and Davenport felt something could be done to attract the attention of South African companies to the Club’s good work. Working in collaboration with Frieze Films, Initiative Media, Oracle Airtime Sales and SuperSport, the Ireland/Davenport script was developed into the SRC’s first-ever TV commercial.
Entitled Practice, the ad opens on a typical township dusty soccer field where a young man walks through the township to a soccer field. Here, he places a soccer ball on the ground and repeatedly and consistently kicks the ball over the top of the goal posts. When the screen fades away and a club logo appears you discover that the young man is in fact determinedly honing his rugby skills.
“This story about the adversities facing the club was not just a story about rugby but also a story about the topsy-turvy circumstances that make South Africa a unique place to live,’ director Steve Tanchel says. “For this reason, the commercial needed to have a scale to it that made it a commentary on our culture – a uniquely South African story. This scale would be found by combining simple, beautifully composed shots and an internalised performance from the lead. I spent weeks searching for the perfect locations and really immersing myself Soweto. 35mm was a necessity, and a great crew led by Rob Malpage made the most of a shooting day in Soweto.’
Sake Bergh edited the commercial to a music track from Sheryl Crow.
A total of 100 spots were negotiated in free airtime from Oracle and SuperSport. The TV commercial, in a 45′ and 30′ edit, began flighting for a month on DStv’s SuperSport and ESPN channels on 13 April 2008.
SRC’s Dali Ndebele concludes: “All at the Club are delighted with the end result and are truly appreciative of the effort and time taken by all involved to get us to this point. We hope the campaign will create awareness for the club as well as creating supporters who are passionate about giving their support to the club, in any way they can.’
