The Western Cape Government has increased its efforts to promote the health of mothers and infants through the benefits of breastfeeding. Moving toward mobile social networking, the Western Cape Government has collaborated with Mxit to launch its Breast is Best campaign. The campaign is targeted toward at-risk youth, focusing on best practice for mother and infant health.
The initiative is leveraging Mxit’s splash screen media to drive the campaign. The splash screen media acts as a glossy magazine display that delivers a strong call to action to drive brand application click-through-rate.
The social media advert possess a strong call to action, however lacks imagination and creativity. Given the advert is dressed in the colours of the Western Cape Government, the advert is not distinguishable or everyday government advertising. The advert reflects that of standard government advertising; not engaging to Mxit users or the Mxit platform.
The idea of utilising the Mxit platform puts the conversation of the initiative at the heart of engagement. Mxit has an incredibly strong-user reach amongst the youth in South Africa, but the advert does not connect with the key human truth behind positive breastfeeding behavior.
Mobile networks provide a foundation for tribes of people to connect and share conversation around common interest and curiosity. For the advert to become more effective, the message and layout should be reconsidered, in order to speak to the needs, dreams and aspirations of the youth.
[Reviewed by Red & Yellow School media, advertising and communications student, Ryan Fortune.]
