Boomtown creatives Thule Ngcese and Sinethemba Masiku give the lowdown on crafting winning radio ads in a competitive landscape.
For Boomtown, an independent agency in Gqeberha with an office in Johannesburg, winning its first Gold Loerie is a very big deal.
The agency won a Campaign Craft Gold for South African Non-English Writing for ‘Tiny Truths’, radio work for A Million Girls Foundation, a non-profit organisation that keeps a million girls across Africa in school in different ways – mostly by assisting them with products to ensure uninterrupted schooling during their menstrual cycles.
“Winning this gold is a proud moment and another milestone achievement on our mission of building a better Boom and building better brands,” says Boomtown CEO, Glen Meier. “Not only because this campaign demonstrated the team’s mastery of our craft, it helped reach so many people with a vitally important message for Africa’s future.”
The campaign was conceptualised and written by creative director Thule Ngcese and crafted by him and creative team Sinethemba Masiku, Dini Konzi and Sukesh Moodaley.
We caught up with Ngcese and Masiku.
Your first Loerie for Boomtown. What was your reaction?
Thule Ngcese: To win craft gold in the much-contested radio category is a great achievement for us as an agency and team – and to spread the word for a great cause like A Million Girls Foundation is double the joy.
Sinethemba Masiku: It felt good being back on the stage again; winning a gold Loerie that night was special, after a tough year. What made it great for Boomtown was that we came in as the underdogs, a relatively small agency that punched above its weight in a very competitive category.
Do you think radio advertising has lost some of its creativity over the last few years? Some critics believe so…
Sinethemba Masiku: I don’t think so. I’ve heard some innovative and great pieces of work from South Africa and globally. For instance, a year ago the Fast Company recognised ‘Shwii’, an audio/radio spot for Nissan by TBWA, as one of the world’s changing ideas. And I agree, that was a brilliant piece of work.
Where do you think the craft of radio copywriting is heading?
Thule Ngcese: The craft of radio copywriting, like many other forms of advertising and communication, is evolving with changing media landscapes and consumer behaviours. For one, radio copywriting is increasingly integrating with digital platforms and more.
Sinethemba Masiku: In Mzansi, I think we’ve been heading in the right direction as long as I can remember. I’ve heard some well-crafted spots from various agencies, big and small. I mean, the ‘Give me strength’ by Lucozade from Ogilvy is still one of the greatest spots from its time. Not so far back, the BBC Earth radio spot ‘Kasi Sensei’ by the Odd Number was also one of many well-crafted radio spots to hit the airwaves. With most of the radio/audio work that’s currently out there, I truly believe we’re still moving in the right direction.
In your view, is more attention is being paid to advertising in the mother tongue?
Thule Ngcese: Brands need to immerse themselves in the lives of the mass market rather than just speaking to them.
Sinethemba Masiku: Yeah, I do think so. Brands understand that to attract more consumers they need to be relatable, hence brands in South Africa are intentionally amplifying their efforts to create work that resonates with their targeted audience.
What more could be done?
Sinethemba Masiku: Brands could add a little bit more to their budgets to give creatives greater leeway to explore more as they seek to create the type of work that needs to be done. They could trust a little more in their agencies. And agencies must open up the industry to more young black creatives, and try by all means to stop asking black creatives to ‘blackify’ work that doesn’t serve the targeted audience.
Take us through the process of writing your award-winning ad?
Thule Ngcese: First, we developed the idea. This was followed by months of writing the ads in various styles we could think of. Simultaneously, I was exploring different sounds to build our story around, while teaching myself programmes like Audition to record some reference radio ads. That process took quite a while.
Once we had something for our client partner to listen to and provide more insights on the stories, the next step was finding the voice and recording the spots. That, too, was a process, until I became the storyteller because writing the stories made me live in them and allowed me to tell them. After this journey, Paul at Howard Audio had the task of bringing the stories to life through sound design, voice direction and more. I believe they did an awesome job.
Sinethemba Masiku: For me on these spots, it was all about finding the best possible way to tell the story without losing its truth. Oh, and a lot of script edits took place in the making of the radio ads; if am not mistaken, we had like 10 edits on each script. I won’t lie, it got frustrating at some point, but became fun along the process thanks to the amazing team of Dinilesizwe, Sukesh, Duduzile and our wonderful leader, Thule.
What is your favourite radio ad and why?
Thule Ngcese: I wouldn’t say I have a favourite radio ad because there are so many great radio ads that have been told.
Sinethemba Masiku: There’s so many brilliant radio ads out there that are my favs, some are golden oldies, while others are fairly fresh. I’ve mentioned my Top thee favourites earlier on…
‘Give me strength for Lucozade’ is great; I love how it’s written, using a style that many associate with motivational speaking to talk to how the product can keep you going.
And then ‘Shwiii’ for Nissan: besides the craft on it, I really admire how audio/radio was taken to the next level on this campaign.
‘Kasi Sensei’ for BBC Earth; obviously, it is a favourite. The spot steered my career towards the right direction. Then there was this Flying Fish spot, ‘Uya swimmer’. It gave me a good laugh every time I was stuck in traffic. And ‘Sthuthu’ for Nando’s; love the sound design. The bonus one of course is ‘Tiny Truths’, as the spot highlighted a huge hurdle many girls across Mzansi face that is deemed small by those who don’t experience it, and the sound design was beautiful, thanks to Howard studios.
Any other insights to share?
Thule Ngcese: South Africa has many stories to tell. Let’s tell them in our own, unique way.
Sinethemba Masiku: Just believe in better.
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