When Savanna stocks ran low due to a global glass shortage, the press and our fans treated it as a national crisis. Apart from controlling the narrative (which proved unpredictable at times), it was also essential to improve Attitudinal Equity, Effective Equity and Awareness scores. These had steadily been declining; this trend was exacerbated by out of stock narratives. We were working against measures of 6.1% for AE, 7.5% for EE, and 10% for top of mind awareness.

It was decided that introducing a can would be an interim solution. Our job was to take it to market and engage stakeholders in a way that allowed the brand to take control of the narrative - and to flip it - on social and national media, without losing Savanna's witty tone.

We had to be featured across broadcast, digital & print outlets, aiming for high reach and credible journalist associations.

When Savanna stocks ran low due to a global glass shortage, the press and our fans treated it as a national crisis. Social media thrives on cancel culture and our fans' outrage spread quickly. But solving the supply problem wouldn’t be enough, we had to address the people’s anger. Savanna is known for its crisp, witty take on the ironies of South African life, so since our fans (most of black twitter) wanted to cancel us, we let them.

We took ourselves to #cancelcourt to state our case and to introduce a limited edition can to alleviate the stock shortage. In the online film, we addressed the problem head on by reflecting the people's ire back to them in a hilarious mock trial, starring the country's top comedians and influencers. Because in the case of The People vs. Savanna Cider, we'd rather be canned than cancelled.

Social media thrives on cancel culture, and there were calls for Savanna Cider to be cancelled. Clever wordplay – 'Rather canned than cancelled' – was single-minded and landed exceptionally well with relevant media and consumers.

We targeted the database of media that showed a particular interest in the glass shortage and its impact on such a famous cider brand. Following numerous media interviews during this phase, they were offered the opportunity to pick up the conversation with the brand team following the introduction of the new can. Media was split into consumer-facing media as well as business and financial media.

With the unlimited number of publications available on digital platforms and their strong social media presence, the content marketing video quickly went viral.

Influential personalities in South Africa, ranging from A list celebrities to respected content creators, were also utilised in the 'court case', thereby accessing the influencers' direct audiences.

The campaign was executed in 3 phases:

Pre-launch – Sent assets under embargo to media, celebrities and influencers.

Launch – Drove awareness and video content views from all touchpoints (media release, influencer content, etc.)

Post-launch – Media engagements and supported taste testimonials with influencer content.

The team distributed the campaign assets and the media release and media drops (product and court-related items) to critical media and influencers ahead of the can launch. When the social media video launched, we had our contracted influencers create hype around the trial and drive engagement with their posts.

We then engaged with media and bloggers to run giveaways and ran social media competitions on the brand’s platforms to amplify awareness and boost engagement. It was also imperative to run these competitions to drive product trials and reviews.

EARNED MEDIA: 21 867 000 ZAR FROM AN INVESTMENT OF 265 000 ZAR

82:1 RETURN

REACH: 184 586 MILLION (NOT UNIQUE)

INFLUENCERS : ROI OF 4 MILLION ZAR

COST PER CONTACT: 0,00144c

CPM R9.26 (BENCHMARK R12.60)

ENGAGEMENT RATE 37.14%

BRAND BENCHMARK : 11.30% (FB & IG) & 5.6% FOR TWITTER

IMPRESSIONS: 21 533191

#SavannaTrial’s trended every week of the campaign and negative sentiment has been reversed.

All cans produced to date have been sold on pre-order, with over 2 million litres sold in the three weeks alone.

The campaign also created goodwill with our audience, and we increased all key metrics as per our objectives. AE sat at 7%, EE at 8.5%, and awareness at 11% within just one month.