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FNB unveils 'You can help' blog

Joanne Carew
By Joanne Carew, ITWeb Cape-based contributor.
Johannesburg, 21 Jan 2013
Learner Kelly Baloyi gave an impassioned speech to millions of South Africans during a live broadcast commercial as part of FNB's 'You can help' campaign.
Learner Kelly Baloyi gave an impassioned speech to millions of South Africans during a live broadcast commercial as part of FNB's 'You can help' campaign.

Last night, FNB released a new campaign with a live TV broadcast to the nation. Screened at 6:57pm across various channels, the broadcast carried a message from South African children.

In a first for FNB and SA, the commercial was shot at the Naledi Secondary School, in Soweto, and was broadcast live and streamed online, all in real time. Featuring a speech by 17-year-old Kelly Baloyi, the advert forms part of the bank's "You can help" campaign and also introduced the FNB blog.

"The challenges before us cannot be solved by money or petty politics, protests or violence," said Baloyi, during the live broadcast. "All of the great things we've done, we've done together by helping each other."

"The intention of the campaign is not to talk about ourselves, but rather to be a brand for betterment by providing the youth of our country with a stage to voice what impacts the daily reality of many South Africans through the lens of our brand's core positioning of 'Help'," said Bernice Samuels, FNB's chief marketing officer.

Where it began

Groundwork for the campaign began in September 2012, when FNB, with the help of independent research firm HDI Youth Marketeers, spoke to over 1 300 learners and students, aged between 10 and 22, from around the country.

"The survey provided a good overall snapshot of the South African youth opinion and was hugely rewarding as it helped us gain insight into how the youth view South Africa," said Jason Levin, MD of HDI Youth Marketeers, who described the research as "truly inspiring".

"We learnt that today's youth are losing their innocence, not to apartheid, but to the many social ills and tragedies that came after it," the bank said.

Earlier this year, FNB created a Facebook event titled "You Can Help". At this point, the www.youcanhelp.co.za blog featured a landing page where users could register their phone numbers to receive an SMS reminder about the live broadcast on 17 January. The bank also used its various digital platforms to create awareness about the live broadcast and encouraged people to tune into the important message from the South African youth.

FNB was trending on Twitter following the live broadcast. "The children of South Africa have shared their message, now share your thoughts," tweeted FNB guy, RbJacobs, posting a link to the blog.

"All of the great things we've done, we've done together by helping each other. Perhaps it's time for us to listen to the voices we seldom hear, the youth of our country, because it is the South Africa we build today that will be the country they will inherit tomorrow, "concludes Samuels.

FNB has created an online portal to support the campaign and is encouraging people to visit the blog site and participate in the ongoing national discussion. The campaign is integrated across all platforms, including TV, OOH, digital (youcanhelp.co.za) and social media on Facebook and Twitter (#littlehelps). There are also additional interviews and "behind the scenes" footage from the making of the commercial available on YouTube.

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