SYIVESTER CHAUKE THE CREATIVE COCKEREL WHO WON’T CUT THE CACKLE

The derisive Nando’s TV commercial featuring Julius Malema ruffl ed feathers within ANC Youth League circles. Some viewers thought the Youth League fi rebrand acted like a henpecked husband when he chickened out after pressure from the League and the ad got canned. But the spin doctor behind the controversial commercial, Sylvester Chauke tells SELLO MABOTJA that satire in the ad industry is not a cock-and-bull story.

Sylvester Chauke, 28, national marketing manager of fast food franchisor, Nando’s, has a somewhat steely determination to see homebrewed satire being part of the advertising industry. “We have to be innovative, laugh at ourselves but remain realistic and not lose relevance. There is so much happening in the country from which we can use to invigorate our creative impulses,” he muses. Chauke calls for ad campaigns that border on the humorous whilst simultaneously reflecting the critical challenges spawned by the painful pangs of change. “We are too serious. It is all about buy me, buy me, buy me …As a society we need to create fun out of real life situations.” “This is especially important in the advertising world because we are the brand custodians of the country. We also have the responsibility to highlight change and adequately depict what is happening in the country. We must communicate effectively and use this platform to contribute to building the country.” Chauke was catapulted into the limelight after a Nando’s ad featuring ANC Youth League bigwig Julius Malema as a puppet being ‘interviewed’ by a middleaged white man, was flighted on our telly sets. This stirred the hornet’s nest and the ruling party took cudgels against Chauke and his employer.

He says the ANC’s reaction was not a matter of chickens coming home to roost for him, though he did not expect the ANC to react in that way. More so, Malema initially did not have a problem with the campaign but changed his tune. Chauke was gravely disappointed when the youth leader later changed tune. “All I wanted to highlight was the importance of change. No politician was better placed than Julius to do that in our campaign.” Youthful exuberance aside, this energetic folk did touch a raw nerve. His insistence that it is all about satire and creativity just shows how this Nando’s cockerel has not chickened out. Not even the omnipresence of political behemoth that is the ruling African National Congress (ANC) will make it sing from a different hymn sheet when it comes to his creative juices and how he conceptualises change in the world of advertising. “It was either Helen Zille or Julius Malema. In the end we opted for the latter and we do not regret our choice at all. The ad captured the imagination of the South African population. It fi tted well with my strategy of making people remember the impact that an advertisement makes and not the number of times it is being run.”

There were no hidden political agendas or mercenary intentions to either demean or deride the Youth League’s enforcer par excellence, says Chauke. As already pointed out, Malema was not the only political personality singularly selected to feature in the campaign. He was simply seen as a crème de la crème among politicians, and thus a perfect conduit for Nando’s’ quest to add a fresh dimension to the ‘change’ debate. It was not the fi rst time the fast food giant has successfully employed political satire to enhance its brand equity. Late in 2008 the fast food entity stretched the limits of its creative vein when it offered a meal known as A and C option – a veiled reference to the ANC- on its menu. Surprisingly, the ANC did not raise a whimper on this one. And Nando’s use of political satire cuts across the spectrum and has not spared any sacred cow.

Personalities of all hues and political affi liations have featured in various campaigns – from Pieter Dirk Uys, aka Evita Bezuidenhout, the most famous white woman in South Africa, to young Malema. But it was the call for change campaign featuring the Julius Malema replica that took the cake. Election time is often a very turbocharged moment. Remember the editor of one leading weekly fi nancial magazine
who in his bid to inject fun in the second democratic elections in 1999 endorsed the milk-sucking General Bantu Holomisa’s United Democratic Movement (UDM), only to incur the wrath of his employers. Maybe the Nando’s ad campaign should also be seen in that light. I asked Chauke about what has since happened to the Taste of Portugal branding exercise and whether this was not contradicting the fact that Nando’s is supposed to be a Proudly South African brand. “We now tailor the experience and our advertisements are locally based. This also applies to our product offerings.

For example, in the KwaZulu-Natal province we offer hot food in some of our restaurants because we want to cater for the local tastes. We do not cookie-cut.” The market share also infl uences the highly creative advertising campaigns on Nando’s part. The fact that its main rival, Kentucky Fried Chicken with 45% to 50% of the fast food market, compared to Nando’s 20% to 25% spends more than four times of the latter’s R70 million annual advertising budget means being innovative is the one of the few ways to get noticed. Chauke says all the 780 Nando’s restaurants worldwide endeavour to contextualise their product offerings. He also stresses an approach that promotes ‘creative conversations’, which he says, has been guiding Nando’s advertising campaigns. “You have localised your brand – be its eyes and ears. Be fresh, provocative and engaging without losing your creativity. You must stand out. The packaging must be different. The ultimate goal must be to reward the consumer. ” It appears the name Malema – just like that of Mandela – belongs to the movement. So the Nandos-ANC tiff was not only about Malema or the ANC being parodied, but involved intellectual property issues as well.

Chauke alerts me to the fact that the party delegation, led by its no-nonsense treasurer-general, Mathews Phosa, was unambiguous about its total ownership of the Malema brand. He paraphrases Phosa’s position on the matter: “The ANC Youth League does not like what you have done and does not like the fact that you are using their brand, Julius Malema, to communicate your brand. Julius Malema belongs to the ANCYL.” But aren’t all forms of property relations capitalist? Nay, the ANC lot are not capitalist. Remember the Freedom Charter blueprint’s economic prescriptions. Also bear in mind Malema’s recent call for the nationalisation of mines. Against this background, it appears the party is still steeped in broad nationalism, yet it will stop at nothing to assert its intellectual property rights. But then contradictions are what propel life in this cruel crazy world. In these hard times of an economic slump, the advertising industry is facing a tough test and innovation is its saving grace. Says Simon Silvester, head of planning for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Young and Rubicam: “An economic depression is an opportune time for great innovations.”

As our meeting proceeds in the serene ambience of 44 Stanley in Johannesburg’s Auckland Park area, at an obscure restaurant called Bean There, occasionally punctuated by posing for photos for the publication, I am delighted to discover that Chauke still embraces the
loxion culture. “Though Fourways is my home, I spend every second week in Soweto. It is where I recharge my batteries. This is where I go and find myself for a while. It is also a must or a condition of travel for all those friends and business associates who visit me to be taken to Soweto for a visit, particularly the Panyaza chisa nyama in Rockville.” Conceding to his contrarian character of being a suburban resident, the Soweto-born and bred lad admits to being fascinated by the potpourri of subcultures that the township offers. “It is a true microcosm of our society.” This is why he cautions against promoting stereotypes about the country in advertisements and believes this can effectively be remedied by promoting more black people to senior positions. A drama and marketing graduate of the University of Johannesburg, Chauke is currently completing a Masters Degree in marketing at the same institution. Prior to joining Nando’s, he has had stints in various ad agencies including Draft FCB, Ogilvy & Mather and DDB.

With this kind of talent on our shores, it is not without reason that I wish to witness the interesting times yonder when the Malemas of this world would be firmly ensconced in the driving seat of our political establishment, and the Chaukes are calling the shots in the corporate
world. Barring any misfortune or sudden unpredictable circumstances, the future may be brighter than most of us want to believe. May the Chinese philosophers condemn us to these interesting times….

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