The Keep Flying campaign has notched up another celebrity to its belt – none other than Toyota South Africa’s spokesdog, Buddy the brindle boxer. Buddy follows in the footsteps of rapper K’Naan of Wavin’ Flag fame, who endorsed the campaign last week.
Initiated by communications agency Draftfcb South Africa, the Keep Flying campaign is aimed at proving international research wrong, and demonstrating that South Africa can, with one spirit, can do anything going forward. The research shows that all host nations of the Fifa World Cup suffer from post-event depression. Not only are individuals affected, business confidence slumps.
Says Draftfcb Group CEO, John Dixon: “As a football fan, the privilege of watching the world’s best players grace our pitches in the biggest tournament in the world is over. But it’s not Fifa or the Local Organising Committee that make me ache with pride. The true stars of the World Cup have been the South African people. Everywhere I have been in the last month (and I’ve been just about everywhere!) our guests have been greeted with the biggest smiles in the world. It is the policemen, the stadium volunteers, the waiters and the pump attendants that have been our biggest asset. Talk to any foreign visitor and the first thing they’ll mention is the indefatigable spirit of the ordinary South African.
“Our challenge as a country is to capture and bottle the winning feeling, and then to redirect and sustain it. The patriotism that we have exhibited over the last month needs now to be deployed to fight the poverty, sickness, joblessness and hopelessness that still exist. At the most basic level, we need to maintain the unbridled joy of the last month by continuing to fly our amazing flag.’
Toyota SA was one of the first companies to back the Keep Flying campaign. It is spreading the message through its intranet to staff, posters placed inside all its buildings are reinforcing the call and each staff member has been given a Keep Flying button to wear. The company also launched a new brand campaign endorsing the campaign, and now Buddy has added his voice to its efforts in a commercial produced by Bouffant as part of their contribution to the Keep Flying initiative.
Toyota SA’s Senior Manager: Marketing Communications Planning & Advertising, Pieter Klerck comments: “Having adventures, building relationships, creating memories and patriotism are things that we at Toyota SA understand very well. And that’s what the Fifa World Cup was: an adventure on a grand scale which we all enjoyed; a time to build relationships and create memories; and an opportunity to show the world what we could achieve.
“It therefore made perfect sense for Toyota to get behind the campaign to show its commitment to South Africa and its people.’
Further details about the campaign are at www.keepflying.co.za. Watch all the television commercials on: http://www.zoopy.com/Keep_Flying
