Is The "Call To Action" Dead

The latest Harvard Business Review carries an interesting story on research done into how consumers react to logos, pay-off lines and other information in an advert.

The results are interesting.

For starters, the researchers found that consumers tend to rebel against slogans.

"When it comes to slogans (pay-off lines), participants exhibited the opposite of the desired behaviour. After reading a slogan meant to incite spending ("luxury, you deserve it") , they decided to spend 26% less than after reading a neutral slogan ("Time is what you make of it"). When a slogan invited them to save ("Dress for less"), they decided to spend - an additional 29%, on average. The slogans had a reverse "priming" effect.

The researchers, a marketing professor from the University of Miami, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Haas School of Business at the University of California, go on to say that their studies suggest that "reverse priming occurs because because consumers recognise that slogans deliberately attempt to persuade them, whereas (in their perception), brands do not. The recognition may not be conscious. We found that consumers automatically resisted a slogan's message."

Hence, a brand with a pay-off line or slogan that positions the said brand or product as "exclusive" or an "indulgence" immediately trigger the "saving" instinct of the consumer, leading them to spend less.

Whereas a pay-off or slogan that positions another brand or product as a "money-saver" actually prompted the consumer to spend more on it!

We fully agree with the researchers' conclusions: "There is actually good news here for marketers, who need not simply abandon slogans for fear of adverse reactions. Slogans can exert a positive influence, we believe, if the consumer is led to focus on something other than the effort to persuade."

And the final kicker was this: Creativity sells and convinces. The researchers asked a group of consumers to rate a set of slogans on the basis of "intent to persuade", while the other group was asked to rate them on creativity.

The group that evaluated creativity decided to spend 58% more than the other group.

This is why you will never see a Jericho advert urging to "rush, rush rush while stocks last!"

This is also why Jericho always strives to be the most creative on every brand it handles.

It is also the same reason why all our clients have seen huge returns on the cost of their advertising....higher recognition, more sales and more love for their brands and companies by the market.

It is also the reason why ads done by Jericho are consistently the most noticed by the market, across the board, from Old Mutual campaigns, Toyota campaigns, iwayAfrica adverts and campaigns, Nandos advertising campaigns to Pathfiner Luxury Coaches, RM Insurance and many many others.

Our clients will tell you that we are always hounding them for figures. We want to know by how much sales have increased since advertising started, we want to do research to see how perception has shifted due to a branding campaign.

Consumers are, we believe, the same all over the world: a mother in London loves their child as much as a mother in Lupane. A Zimbabwean wants good health as much as a Canadian.

The only thing that differs is the cultural context, which is where we come in: marrying creativity to Zimbabwe's unique cultural atmosphere, delivering relevant, impactful and profitable advertising.


It does raise the question: "Is the call to action dead?" Is it wise to continue with it when research clearly shows that it leads consumers to resist that specific call?

The market is evolving, you either evolve with it or you die.

Jericho Wins Gloria Flour Account

National Foods has appointed Jericho Advertising the Agency of Record (AOR) on the Gloria Flour account after a nine-way pitch.

Gloria is the market leader in the self-raising flour category in Zimbabwe. The Gloria range also includes Cake Flour, Plain White Flour and baking aids.

National Foods is the largest manufacturer of FMCGs in Zimbabwe and one of the largest companies listed on the Zimbabwe Stock exchange, with an annual turnover of over US$300 million.

Jericho's winning pitch, which National Foods have said can run exactly as it is, should be rolled out to market in the very near future.

Over and above this, Jericho Advertising has already started crafting a growth strategy for the brand, with a view to making Gloria the dominant and most desirable flour brand in Zimbabwe.

The Harare-based shop continues to make waves in the advertising industry in Zimbabwe, with a near 100% success rate at pitches so far.

Jericho Wins Pathfinder Luxury Coaches Account

A Pathfinder Luxury Coach is seen here parked at one of Zimbabwe's premier hotels. The account for the luxury coach company has been awarded to Jericho on the strength of testimony from current clients and even clients who are currently using other agencies who all recommended Jericho to Pathfinder management 

Jericho Advertising today announced that it has been appointed the exclusive agency for Pathfinder Luxury coaches, one of Zimbabwe's largest.

Pathfinder Luxury Coaches operates state-of-the-art coaches across Zimbabwe's borders into South Africa as well as within Zimbabwe itself. Routes include the popular Harare-Bulawayo as well as Victoria Falls. Since its launch, Pathfinder has grown in leaps and bounces and, according to Mr Fungai Makoni, the Managing Director of Pathfinder, the luxury coach company is so popular that their coaches are fully booked weeks in advance.

As the company ratchets up capacity, it has already ordered more buses, including double-decker coaches.
This has been made necessary because, even though Pathfinder also hire their buses out for private tours and occasions, demand is so high that there are not enough coaches to go around.

The appointment of Jericho Advertising by Pathfinder to handle all advertising and Public Relations comes on the back of recommendations from several existing clients, according to Mr Makoni.

In welcoming the new account on board, Mr Comfort Mbofana, the Business Development Director at Jericho Advertising, said:

"It is the greatest compliment to the abilities of the agency that several clients Pathfinder spoke to when they went looking for an agency all recommended Jericho without hesitation. It shows that our focus on growing the bottomline for clients with creative, award-winning work is paying dividends. This latest win comes as we also celebrate being appointed by Western Union as their exclusive agency in the Zimbabwean territory."

Work for Pathfinder has already commenced with the first ads due to come out this week.

Jericho Wins Western Union Account

Western Union signage at the Causeway Building in Central Harare. The international money transfer company has appointed Jericho Advertising as its advertising agency in Zimbabwe after a competitive pitch process, with presentation being made to the Southern African Head Office based in Johannesburg.

We are thrilled at Jericho to announce that the agency has been appointed the Advertising agency for Western Union for the Zimbabwe market after a competitive pitch against other Zimbabwean agencies.

Following a pitch presentation to Western Union Southern Africa via conference call, the Johannesburg-based Western Union regional office announced last this week the result of the pitch, appointing Jericho their agency for the Zimbabwe market.

Western Union, with its head office in the United States, is by far the largest money-transfer company in the world. It was Western Union, in fact, that sent the very first Telegraph ever sent in the world, back in the late 1800s.

Since then, the company has spread all over the world and now concentrates on money transfers. Western Union, also an innovator through the years, recently announced that they had linked up with m-pesa, the wildly successful mobile money transfer company based in Kenya. The partnership will see m-pesa clients in Kenya receiving cash transferred from overseas on their phones, or "mobile wallets" within moments of the money having been sent, whether from London, New York or any other country from which Western Union operates.

In announcing the appointment of Jericho Advertising Zimbabwe as their advertising agency, Neo Lepitse, the Western Union marketing executive in charge of Southern Africa said the Jericho strategy and creative had been "comprehensive", adding that the agency was able to offer "unique insights into the rapidly evolving Zimbabwe market."

Work will roll out soon on a fairly large scale.

With this win, Jericho cements its reputation as the fastest growing advertising agency in the history of Zimbabwean advertising.

We look forward to more.

Jericho Wins CIMAS

Jericho Advertising has been appointed to the CIMAS account, which it will handle with DDH&M acting as the lead agency on the account.

In a three-way pitch that included DDH&M and Barkers Ogilvy, Jericho impressed the CIMAS panel with its insights and understanding of the CIMAS brand, which led to the appointment of the Harare shop as the secondary agency on the account.

Details of how CIMAS work will be split will become clearer in the short term.

Jericho Advertising is delighted to have made an impact on this national institution, the largest Medical Aid Society in Zimbabwe, enjoying the patronage of the vast majority listed blue-chip corporates and an unrivaled based of more 180 000 members.

This becomes the third account the agency has won is less than two months, reinforcing the Harare agency's reputation as the shop to watch in Zimbabwe.

This month, Jericho also announced it had won Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited and Old Mutual, adding the largest financial institution in Zimbabwe and the oldest cordials manufacturer to its roster.

The first campaign for Old Mutual (for Unit Trusts) has already broken in the media to an extremely good response from investors across Zimbabwe.

Toyota Anti-Counterfiet, Old Mutual Unit Trusts Campaigns Break

One of the Old Mutual Unit Trusts ads by Jericho Advertising

One of the Toyota Zimbabwe anti-counterfeit campaign ads. The campaign broke on Tuesday, 28 June and has been well-received by the market

Two campaigns by Jericho Advertising have now broken in Zimbabwean print media.

The Toyota anti-counterfeit campaign seeks to highlight the dangers of using non-genuine parts in Toyota vehicles. Although the fake parts may look like the real thing, they will prove to be a costly, short0-term fix, meaning that the consumer ends up paying more to replace parts that repeatedly fail.

Jericho Advertising, in conjunction with Carla Varga, Sales and Marketing Manager at Toyota Zimbabwe, came up with a campaign whose premise is that these fake parts will come back to bite those who buy them.

This concept is illustrated by various biting and stinging animals incorporated into the car spare parts: a fan belt that turns into a snake, a crocodile with spark plugs for teeth....and so on.

The second campaign, the Old Mutual Unit Trusts campaign, seeks to relaunch the concept of unit trusts and position Old Mutual Unit Trusts as the authority on this very simple and popular investment.

Anchored in the Old Mutual pay-off line, Do Great Things, the campaign consists of a series of ads reflecting the various things people could invest for from as little as US$10 per month.

When the campaign broke on Tuesday 28 June 2011, the reaction was spectacular, with client informing Jericho that there was literally no rest at the OMUT offices as they fielded calls from people clamouring to invest in Old Mutual Unit Trusts.

Toyota Zimbabwe Wins Silver Toyota Worldwide Award For Marketing and Advertising

Carl Varga, National Sales and Marketing Director at Toyota Zimbabwe

One of Jericho Zimbabwe's largest clients, Toyota Zimbabwe, has been awarded the silver medal (second place) by Toyota Worldwide for excellence in marketing and advertising.

Toyota Zimbabwe's National Marketing and Sales Director, Mr Carl Varga, says the Toyota Zimbabwe family is very proud of this achievement.

Mr Varga also paid tribute to Jericho advertising on this win, saying, "A lot of credit for this won should go to Jericho because this award is also a recognition of the excellent work that Jericho Zimbabwe has been doing for us at Toyota."

Varga also announced that the anti-counterfeit parts campaign designed by Jericho and rolling out in Zimbabwe in the next couple of weeks has impressed Toyota companies elsewhere, so much so that Toyota South Africa has expressed interest in running the campaign done by Jericho Advertising in its own market, South Africa.

Toyota also won a craft award for design at the Ngoma awards in March this year.

Toyota Zimbabwe operates the Toyota and Subaru brands in Zimbabwe and is by far the largest vehicle company in Zimbabwe.

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Jericho Advertising Wins Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited Account

The current Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited logo, which has been revamped in a winning pitch by Jericho Advertising

Jericho Advertising has once again shown why it is the most admired advertising agency in Zimbabwe today by scooping the Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited account, which has been at rival agency Barkers Ogilvy for around several decades.

In a four way pitch that included Barkers Ogilvy, CM&A Advertising, Adrenalin Advertising and Design as well as Jericho, the Avondale-based Jericho Advertising emerged triumphant in one of the most sensational coups in recent Zimbabwean advertising memory.

Announcing the win by Jericho, Ms Unaiswi Nleya, Group Marketing Executive for Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited said:

"Congratulations on winning the Schweppes Account! Well done! I look forward to a very long and mutually beneficial relationship with Jericho Advertising."

The agency will start work immediately on the main corporate brand as well as campaigns for some of Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited well-known brands. Considering it is the 55th Anniversary of the Zimbabwean company, Jericho will also be working on a 55th Anniversary campaign and promotion.

Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited's products include the world-famous Mazoe Orange Juice, made with 50% real orange juice, Schweppes Water, Ripe 'n Ready and Minute Maid amongst others.

The announcement of Jericho's win was made on Friday, 17 June 2011.

Jericho Advertising is fast-becoming a force to reckon with in Zimbabwean advertising. On this particular pitch, the agency worked closely with The Jupiter Drawing Room South Africa's innovation Center in Cape Town.

Jupiter, who are looking at the possibility of the Zimbabwe agency representing them in the country, happen to be one of the leading agencies in the world. Headed by the world-famous Graham Warsop, (recent recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Festival, a top awards festival for the global advertising industry), The Jupiter Drawing Room is also the only agency from its region to be listed amongst the Top 5 Agencies in The World by Advertising Age, an American Advertising Industry magazine. Graham Warsop himself gave very good guidance and critique of the pitch work done by Jericho and helped to make the presentation to Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited a winning one.

Other members of the Jupiter Drawing Room Innovation Center who proved to be worth their weight in gold on this pitch included Gillian Rightford and John Warsop (MD of the Jupiter Group).

Ashley Mhonda, creative Director at Jericho Advertising, commented on the win,

"This is an incredible honour. To be working with Schweppes Zimbabwe, who make the iconic Mazoe Orange juice, is a dream come true. The Team at Jericho worked extremely hard on this pitch, sometimes late into the night and on weekends and it has paid off. We would like to thank Schweppes for this vote of confidence in Zimbabwe's undisputed hottest agency at the moment - Jericho."

Comfort Mbofana, MD of Jericho, added,

" This is a singular honour, a coup in the industry and we are delighted to be working with Team Schweppes in Zimbabwe. We are over the moon that Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited has chosen to work with the foremost creative force in Zimbabwe - Jericho Advertising and we look forward to an excellent working relationship with the team at SZL. It was a hard-fought pitch against some very stiff competition from industry doyens and we are delighted to have triumphed in the end."

Work starts immediately on the account, says Mbofana, with the first campaigns for SZL being for Minute Maid and for the rolling out of SZL's new corporate identity, crafted by Jericho Advertising.

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Jericho Wins Old Mutual Zimbabwe Corporate Account

Old Mutual Zimbabwe's ads at the Harare International Airport, done by Alliance Media in South Africa. These already carry the Do Great Things positioning statement that Jericho Advertising will be launching for Old Mutual in Zimbabwe in July 2011, after having won a three-way pitch for the business. Jericho Advertising will also be launching Unit Trusts, Easy Benefit Plan, Emerald, Hybrid and Diamond Funds for Old Mutual in all the major media in Zimbabwe

Jericho Advertising is delighted to announce that the agency has been picked by Old Mutual Zimbabwe as the winner of their upcoming Corporate campaign.

Jericho pitched against three other agencies, Gary Thompson and Associates and Barkers Ogilvy. Barkers Ogilvy and Jericho were then shortlisted for the next stage, a presentation to the executive committee of Old Mutual Zimbabwe, which includes the Group Chief Executive Officer of Old Mutual Zimbabwe, the Group Marketing Executive and several other executives.

It was after that second stage that Jericho Advertising was announced as the winner of the business.

The corporate campaign will see Jericho help Old Mutual launch the global pay-off line (Do Great Things) in Zimbabwe, across all media, press, radio, television, billboards, below- and above-the-line work and also an internal marketing campaign to re-orient Old Mutual Zimbabwe staff towards the new positioning of the company.

In addition to the positioning campaign, Jericho will, during the last half of June 2011, also launch a campaign for Old Mutual Unit Trusts across all media in Zimbabwe.

This will be running concurrently with other Old Mutual products that Jericho is now handling, including the Easy Benefit Plan, a retirement plan offered by Old Mutual to SMEs and also the Emerald, Diamond and Hybrid Funds, all running across major media.

Commenting on Jericho winning the account, the Group Marketing Executive at Old Mutual said, "The Agency impressed everybody on the Executive Committee of Old Mutual Zimbabwe with its deep understanding of the brand and its motivations. The solutions and quality of ideas from Jericho were exactly what we were looking for and we are delighted to be working with the Agency to Do Great Things together."

Mr Comfort Mbofana, MD of Jericho Advertising, also commented: " This is vindication of our approach, which is the relentless focus on becoming Zimbabwe's first World-class advertising agency. We are delighted that Old Mutual Zimbabwe has chosen us from a pool of very experienced agencies, showing yet again that the quality of our ideas is unrivaled in Zimbabwe. We are humbled by this trust shown by such an established brand in Jericho and will work tireless to ensure that we meet all Old Mutual's expectations and then exceed them, daily."

Old Mutual Zimbabwe is the country's largest Financial Services Group, and owns vast properties in all the major cities of the country, including the world-famous Westgate Shopping Center in Harare, Old Mutual House, Three Anchor House, Eastgate Shopping Centre and Office Block and many others.

Old Mutual also owns CABS, the country's biggest Building Society and MBCA bank, a local bank in which Nedbank South Africa, owns a controlling stake.

The company is by far the most dominant investor on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, owning stakes in 90% of all companies listed on the ZSE, one of the world's best-performing stock exchanges.

Jericho Advertising Wins African Sun Account

As we welcome a new addition to the Jericho creative Team, Garth Jones, all of us at Jericho are also delighted to announce that we have added another blue-chip portfolio to the clients we handle: African Sun, with operations in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana and West Africa, including Ghana.

In a 5-way pitch which, according to African Sun, included a South African agency, Jericho beat the nearest competitor "by a wide margin", according to African Sun.

Jericho demonstrated once again its absolute focus on quality work that promises to deliver tangible results. In a very short space of time, the agency was able to put together a comprehensive and well-thought marketing strategy and roll-out proposal, together with an array of designs cutting across above and below the line communication.

Backed by a thorough understanding of the brief from client, minute profiling of the target market using our own proprietary matrix, we were able to present the client with a comprehensive and well-structured offering.

As we celebrate this latest addition to a list of clients that includes Zimbabwe's largest and most profitable bank, CBZ Bank, Toyota Zimbabwe, Subaru, Willdale Bricks, Zimbabwe's largest brick and construction material manufacturer, Number 1 Stores, part of the Truworths Zimbabwe clothing chain, South African Airways, Nandos, Avis Car Rental, First Transfer Secretaries and others, we remain committed to a fundamental reshaping of Zimbabwe's advertising landscape.

We are only just getting started.

Jericho Wins At The Ngoma Awards

Ashley Mhonda (centre), the Jericho Advertising Creative Director, Runesu Kwaramba (right), Head of Marketing at CBZ Bank, Steve Chikozho (left) Publications Manager for CBZ Bank, with the Ngoma Award won by Jericho for the CBZ Bank Partners For Success Campaign. The Agency also won on the Radio category for SPAR and in the Craft: Art Direction section for Toyota Zimbabwe and Toyota Zambia.

Jericho Advertising, barely a year old, had a good night at the Ngoma awards dinner on 31 March 2011, winning the Mail & Guardian Print Series Campaign Award for 2010 with the CBZ Bank Partners for Success campaign.

The agency also scooped runner up in the Craft: Art Direction category for the Toyota Zimbabwe and Toyota Zambia 2011 calendar.

The third award for Jericho was also a runner-up award in the radio advert category for the SPAR Back To School Radio Ad.

Collected by Ashley Mhonda, the Creative Director at Jericho, the awards firmly establish Jericho as the agency to watch in the country.

Considered by far the fastest-growing agency in Zimbabwe, Jericho already has on its books Zimbabwe's biggest and most profitable bank, CBZ Bank, Nandos Zimbabwe, Toyota Zimbabwe, Athienitis SPAR, Powertel Communications, iWayAfrica Zimbabwe, Willdale Bricks, Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe, Number 1 Stores, South African Airways, Sino-Zim Development Company and Old Mutual as clients.

"We are not even at 10% of what we should be yet," says Ashley Mhonda, the Creative Director.

Jericho Advertising Zimbabwe specifically intends to become the first world-class advertising agency to come out of Zimbabwe.

With a start such as this, there is no doubt that the agency is well on its way.