In 2010, KFC partnered with Cricket South Africa (CSA) to promote an active and balanced lifestyle in kids between the ages of three and thirteen. Our brief was to launch a 2012 campaign that strengthened the connection between KFC and CSA, as for twenty-five years, the Mini-Cricket initiative had been sponsored by Bakers Biscuits.

We launched a print campaign that showed kids in heroic poses, pretty much like their cricket idols in real life, to convey the idea that the Mini-Cricket initiative is both the beginning of the journey that will make you a cricket star one day, and a great way to lead an active and balanced lifestyle. 

Building on the success of the 2012 campaign, KFC asked us to go bigger the following year. And that’s when we launched the “KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs. Proteas Tour”, most notably one of the longest names for a tour ever conceived, but another big success nevertheless. A selection of both male and female players from the national cricket teams toured seven cities around South Africa to play seven matches against Mini-Cricket teams. Schools entered online to win the chance to play their idols and enroll their students in the KFC Mini-Cricket programme – the very sport programme some of the national players had actually enrolled in many years ago.

With a minimal budget, we managed to produce a mobile studio that went all over the country, broadcasting commentary from kid-ambassadors and Neil Manthorp, the official South African broadcaster who covers all the international cricket games on television.

OgilvyOne managed to create great engagement online, in a way traditional media could not, designing a website for the tour with content that was all about the cricket fans.  Several thirty second and fifteen second ads were posted online, pushing the campaign reach beyond our expectations. In 2015, a new installment of the tour has started, proving the immense success of the three year campaign, and spreading the message of getting kids active all over South Africa.

Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg
Client: KFC
Executive Creative Director: Fran Luckin
Creative Director: Mike Martin
Art Director: Michele De Iuliis
Designer: Duncan Bell
Photographer: Michael Lewis
Copywriter: Justin Oswald, Lee Blake, Tiffany Morris
Director/Editor: Johann Vorster (Vossie) - Happy Handgrenade Productions
Production: MEC Global