EXCLUSIVE: Creativity and effectiveness: Ogilvy's perfect yin and yang

Ogilvy SA chief strategy officer, Neo Makhele spoke exclusively to Danette Breitenbach, marketing and media editor of Bizcommunity about the agency's commitment to being the most effective creative agency

Ogilvy SA chief strategy officer, Neo Makhele spoke exclusively to Danette Breitenbach, marketing and media editor of Bizcommunity after the awards about the agency’s success and commitment to being the most effective creative agency.

“I have been in the industry for a long time and what you tend to see is either creative or effectiveness, but creativity and effectiveness hold the same strong weight. They are the yin and yang to each other," she says.

“Effectiveness is at the heart of what we do," she adds, explaining that when they measure success they look at how the creative work has stood out and delivered business results as well as defining and contributing to a better planet.

She says the agency has built a habit of creativity that delivers effectiveness, as "we are obsessed with it".

Based on the agency’s performance at the Effies, it is an obsession that has paid off.

Both the agency’s gold Effies were from SAB (AB InBev). One was for Castle Lager and the Bread of the Nation campaign, and the other was for Carling Black Label for the Carling Cup 2023 Fak’UGesi (Bring the Energy).

EXCLUSIVE: "You know, there is a billboard that says Never heard of Pineapple? Honestly same.”

Danette Breitenbach  10 Dec 2024

Social good

The Castle Lager campaign won in the Social Good Brands / Positive Change category.

“That campaign stemmed from a functional brief to demonstrate the functional attributes and quality credentials of Castle Lager.

We thought instead of the usual campaign, what if we demonstrated the quality of this product? What if we took the waste material, and used and repurposed it for good?" she explains.

She adds that it is interesting that in African culture when they make beer, they add bread and in the interview, she discusses how this insight added to the campaign.

Impact and brand efficacy

The second gold was for Black Label and had many moving parts.

“The Ogilvy team in Cape Town did extremely well to bring all of these together,” she comments.

In the interview, she explains that for years Carling has been the key sponsor for local football but the brand faced the challenge of a lack of energy in the game.

"The insight, idea and strategy were to bring the energy in. The results were phenomenal, as the campaign delivered a great impact on the game and the soccer fans."

This month Ogilvy Cape Town was also named the number one ranked agency in the One Show Rankings for the Middle East and Africa.