It positions Absa an incubator for the arts, a fitting concept given its long term sponsorship of the arts in South Africa, including the decade-long sponsorship of KKNK.
The campaign taps into the national brand campaign 'Prosper', which centres on the idea that everyone has the potential to prosper if they have access to the right tools and knowledge. The bank has expanded this concept by offering visual and performing artists the tool they need to prosper in the form of seven branded, mobile stages to display their talents and skills at various locations during the festival.
The Verhoog (meaning 'stage' or to 'raise up') are compact mobile stages complete with built-in amplifiers and speakers. The stages can be moved to any location at the festival and provide a platform for actors, artists, writers, dancers, singers and comedians to ply their trade. Each location tag also features information about the performer and his or her art genre, giving festivalgoers the opportunity to locate the performers they wish to see easily.
The bank illustrates the diverse range of art forms it supports through the campaign logo, 'where the arts prosper'/'waar die kunste floreer' that has been used as a design element. Each design has been tailored to reflect the art form, such as dance, music and paintings, in a variety of brand elements that appear on the trademark red stages. Not only does this provide visual interest and aesthetic variation but it also ensures that the campaign logo features prominently on other brand material, such as stickers.
The stages are quirky and distinct and form a key visual component of the campaign. Each branded stage features a professionally shot photograph of artists who make use of the stage in alternative spaces and can range from a busker on the street and dancer to a mime or painter. These images will feature across all branding platforms in print, billboards and outdoor executions as well as the boarding outside the main festival venue, the Absa Burgersentrum.
The radio campaign takes its cue from the Verhoog concept by tapping into different elements such as the spontaneity with which artists can take to the stage and perform and the opportunity given to artists to have their talents seen and heard by thousands of festivalgoers. All radio executions tie into the idea that the Verhoog stage is an artist's platform to prosper.
The stage has also been used a vehicle to create employment and allows the community at large to prosper too. Independent company, Xanita has been employed specifically to construct stages from recycled materials as well as to operate stages during the festival, keep track of the performers, performance times and stage locations.
When KKNK officially ends, the stages will be sponsored to participating schools after the festival.
