The brief:

In mid-2019, we were approached by Iconic.Agency to assist in launching an integrated campaign by Retail Capital aimed at South African SMEs. This as small businesses were battling through a recession, ratings downgrades, load-shedding, you name it; business was tough and staying afloat even tougher. The campaign was set to launch in November 2019 and run through until January 2020, with a view to engage SMEs with advice and support, and drive interest in Retail Capital as a funding partner. 

The solution:

We came up with the “Roll With The Punches” campaign, a study on South African entrepreneurs, the Champions of our Economy. This was an inside look at SMEs and how they were coping, or not, during such tough times. We worked with researcher ovatoyou and surveyed thousands of entrepreneurs to write the “Roll with the Punches” report. To give the report extra legs, we partnered with a number of industry third parties including Mike Anderson from the NSBC who we interviewed on video and as part of a podcast series. The campaign went live during November’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, across PR, digital and social media. 

The results:

Responsible for the media coverage, we generated landmark pieces in 21 pieces at a value of R650k AVE 1:1. Rebecca Cronje also hosted the podcast series, with the four third parties and members of the Retail Capital team. These were promoted across social and digital media. Listen here: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/retail-capital-roll-with-the-p-941000. She also wrote the “Roll With The Punches” report. The campaign resulted in a huge spike in leads during a key time when SMEs needed help the most.