Foreigners perceive South Africa as a place where wild animals roam freely and women walk around bare-breasted. Based on this insight, our creative strategic solution was to make a mockery of these foreign perceptions by giving World Cup visitors to South Africa exactly what they expected. Our campaign line was a stereotypical adaptation of one of our local languages - Zulu - mixed with English to create “Only i-best for ama-visitors.” The campaign spread across mass media like TV, print, radio (and prank calls to radio stations) as well as below-the-line mediums such as in-store elements, guerilla posters, editorials and Local Restaurant Marketing (handouts outside or near Nando’s restaurants with the view to draw feet in-store). Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were employed for an online presence. In true Nando’s style, we also produced numerous tactical print ads that made commentary on our foreign visitors and the various matches being played.

Facebook and Twitter were abuzz, local newspapers and national radio stations ran stories on the campaign and hundreds of articles appeared online – on both local and international websites. Two international soccer blogs even ran articles headlined, “Nando’s World Cup ad beats Nike’s” and “Nando’s steals Nike’s crown for Best World Cup 2010 advert.” Through this campaign, Nando’s not only reinstated themselves in the minds of consumers as one of South Africa’s most quirky, topical and loved brands but they also increased their fan base and sold a lot of chicken. In fact, they exceeded their sales targets by 114%.