The brief was to create an iconic piece of work, said CCO Peter Khoury. "To achieve this we needed something truly disruptive and unprecedented for the category and South African communication in general. MTN has always had a very strong brand persona and a lot more street cred than its competitors. At its best MTN has created work that locates and involves itself in the culture of the times."
We touched base with Khoury to explain what the 'bright side’ means for potential customers and how TBWA came up with the idea...
So, what sparked the idea to 'come over to the bright side'?
The bright side is a world where anything is possible. With MTN’s network, service and value, everything is brighter, faster, smarter, more fun. MTN invites you to come over to this incredible place. We also have a character, inspired by the oval shape contained in the MTN logo. This character is a physical manifestation of the MTN brand and what it gives you access to. It is here to make your life brighter and help take you further in life.
The MTN character needed to play a pivotal role in the commercial, however we needed to tell a story not just have a montage of shots with a cheesy VO that has become such a conventional approach for the majority of SA brands.
We needed tension, drama, a dash of Hollywood spectacular and a healthy serving of the crazy that is the internet.There were many different ads we conceptualised and played around with. Ultimately it was the simple story and visual spectacular in the MTN Mic Drop ad that won the day. After we saw how Daniel Levi from Monkey Films wanted to treat it, we knew we had something epic.
Comment on your work with the client.
I personally have a long history working with MTN, and have helped create some of their most iconic work over the years, namely the 2010 Ayoba campaign and MTN Clap. The MTN brand team is one of the best that I have had the pleasure of working with. They are really on point and are in touch with what’s going on around them. They loved the campaign instantly, and even though we were over budget and would miss the flighting deadline, they still wanted us to proceed, and no other brand could or would ever do this.
Everything about this is next level.
What’s the objective?
Our aim was to create something that embraces the digitally connected world of entertainment we are living in right now and dazzles people enough to make them want to share it across their social platforms.
We wanted to create a story and narrative that would launch with a main TV/cinema/online film, flanked by many other smaller bits of content that leveraged off the characters and music from the main film. These smaller bits of content will be used throughout the digital and social media space, as well as live events and VR immersive experiences.
What’s next?
This is the beginning of a long journey with regards to consolidating MTN’s leadership status in South Africa. Our competition is everything in culture and, as culture evolves we hope to supersede, adapt or leverage off these nuances and opportunities in real time and in relevant ways.
