Edgars is a 90-year-old fashion and beauty department store in South Africa, that had completely lost relevance with a contemporary African audience. In 2018 Edgars was on the brink of closing– putting 140 000 jobs at risk. – potentially the largest retail disaster in South African history.

We needed to re-connect Edgars to culture and reimagine the entire brand.

But how do you connect a brand to culture in a country as diverse as South Africa? A country with 11 official languages, that is going through a creative and cultural renaissance. Africa has undergone a radical culture shift in the last few years - with the rise of a new black middle-class consumer and a bold new African identity, expressed mainly through music, art, and fashion. South Africa has become one of the most expressive places on earth – a unique African identity and no longer derivative of Western style.

We created: “DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO” - An African musical that became an anthem for self-expression, bringing together over 30 African personalities to reconnect Edgars to culture. This cultural collaboration created branded films, social content, original music, a fashion collection and a total re-brand and re-design of the 90-year-old store.

The brand identity was completely overhauled, with a new logo, design & photography guide, and even a new casting process was put in place. We fundamentally rethought the store layouts with new window and store layouts. We re-framed the iconic red square as a ‘window of self-expression’ allowing many different fabrics, textures, and expressions of the square to exist - Africanizing the brand by drawing on African patterns to reflect a more contemporary African society.

The campaign also consisted of:

•Influencer-made content born from the film and designed for social - with Edgars merchandise at the core.

•A bespoke fashion collection: The SHO MADJOZI COLLECTION. Designed in collaboration and inspired by traditional African fabrics from her local province – reimagined for a contemporary, Afrilennial audience. The collection was shared on social more than any other Edgars collection and made our message wearable

•ATL channels gave the campaign a broader reach.

The campaign created a cultural movement:

• Over 133 Million media impressions.

• The song took the message deeper into culture with over 65 000 streams on digital platforms

to date.

• A 533% increase in positive brand sentiment.

• An 800% increase in share of voice – from 4% to 36% (as measured against competitors:

Zara, H&M, Woolworths and Mr Price).

• earned media value of $3.8million.

• Over 5000 items from The Sho Madjozi Collection were sold during the campaign launch.

• A PR value of $1million.

The campaign helped an outdated fashion retailer reconnect with its diverse contemporary African audience to become a voice for self-expression.