"The Cell C team briefed McCann1886 to develop a summer theme and drive meaning behind the brand, its disciplines and verticals, [as well as its] offerings," says the company's executive head of marketing, Hazel Chimhandamba.

"Doing this, we knew [we] would continue to build equity behind the brand, stand for something, stand out and connect with people in an emotional and real way. The agency's response was a campaign [championing] social inclusion — bringing people together by sharing how each of the millions of South Africans live and share during the summer — the Cell C way," Chimhandamba adds.

Devised by the agency's creative team that is led by executive creative director Gareth Lessing, the 360° campaign includes:
  • television
  • radio
  • out-of-home
  • point-of-sale
  • print and digital executions
  • activations and promotions
  • internal communications and PR
  • social media and a microsite dedicated to its competition element
According to Lessing, a key consumer insight leading to the development of the campaign was that, when it comes to summer, you never want it to end. "No matter how long the months, the holiday or the party, it just never seems enough," Lessing says. "As a result, everyone wants to enjoy every second and cram as much as they can into the summer months of the year."

"Leveraging off this insight to answer the brief, we created a TV commercial that showed a 24-hour summer, featuring scenes ranging from sunrise, sunset and midnight celebrations. [This is] to drive home that, with Cell C, anyone could have a 24 summer," adds Lessing.

"And, because not everyone's summer is the same, we added as much variety into the commercial as possible to demonstrate the diversity of our consumer, as well as the season," he says. 

"Bolted onto this fun, fresh and resonating piece of communication was the irresistible draw of a competition. So, not only could consumers enjoy 24 summer, download 24 summer, party 24 summer, binge 24 summer and get the best deals 24 summer, they could 'WIN24 Summer'," Lessing says. 

The TVC and the other elements of the campaign were shot over four days by Slim of Darling Films.



The various locations in the TVC included: 
  • Happy Island (pool scene)
  • Breeze Block Café
  • Brixton (opening scene)
  • Eldorado Park (children and oupa scene) 
  • Sophia Town (dancing near car scene at night)
  • Emmerentia (party in the rain at night)
  • Pirates Club (Sharks and Tik Tok scene)
  • Milpark Skate Park (skateboarding)
  • Northcliff Hill (viewpoint)
  • Balfour (road trip) 
  • Witieshoek, Drakensburg (man and dog)
The mobile site for the competition can be viewed here

For more information, visit www.cellc.co.za. You can also follow Cell C on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.