HELEEN MILLS

View Original

Sikhaba i-Covid 19

Heleen Mills

NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO REIGNITE SA’S FIGHTING SPIRIT AGAINST COVID-19

We were approached by ‘Sikhaba iCovid-19’, a national radio show that airs daily on 40 stations nationwide - in partnership with the Department of Health, SABC Radio and supported by the Solidarity Fund.  At the time of the campaign, Covid-19 cases in SA were at an all time high and increasing at a rapid, near exponential rate; yet there was an overall sense of fatigue around current Covid communications.


CAMPAIGN CONCEPT

As we were moving into the predicted peak of transmission, it's more important than ever to work as a team to protect ourselves and our communities and we wanted to create a big moment for South Africa. South Africa rallies around team sports and sport stars are aspirational figures and heroes in South Africa. New Zealand’s Prime Minister also used the analogy of team sport during Corona - saying NZ is a ‘team of 5 million’. 

Nothing brings South Africans together like sports, so we decided to use South Africa’s favourite sport, soccer, to inspire people to fight the virus. This is the biggest derby of the year: SA vs Covid-19!

The campaign hashtag was #TeamSikhaba; which means Team Kick It! The campaign content was build around the various defence and attack strategies to beat Covid-19, and asking people (and South African soccer players) how they will shibobo Corona.

The key theme of the campaign was to create a sense of solidarity, community, hope and removing stigma.


CAMPAIGN EXECUTION

The campaign ran on Facebook, Twitter, National Radio (40 radio stations in all languages in SA on board - listed here

We worked with community groups to share tips on how to beat the virus - similar to how Capetonians shared water saving tips during the water crisis, and worked with experts to correct facts, amplify good ideas, and answer questions. 

The tone of the conversation was encouraging, helpful and inclusive. We combined inspiration, insight and conversation to ensure that millions of people were reached, and #TeamSikhaba became a rallying point for South Africans to work together in helping themselves and others through the pandemic.

Our official #TeamSikhaba content was shared by an incredibly diverse group of people including sports stars, academics and researchers, civil society leaders, and citizens. We believe this is a testament to the value of the content, and the importance of the message.

Please see live examples of the content shared here: 

HEADLINE RESULTS

  • 15.4 million people reached on Twitter 

  • Over 740,000 people reached on Facebook

  • Trended on Twitter nationally

  • More than 45,000 people interacted with the content across platforms 

  • Over 3,000 people joined us in creating original posts in support of the campaign

See this gallery in the original post