South Africans are some of the worst savers in the world. Household debt averages 75% of their after tax income. So we asked the question. What if we cut someone off from all their credit facilities to make them reconnect with their money? So at the beginning of National Savings Month, we created The One Rand Man, a man who had his entire salary paid to him in R1 coins, all 120kg of it. He then had to pay for everything in R1 coins for the whole month.

South Africans are some of worst savers in the world. Household debt averages 75% of their after tax income. Campaigns promoting saving during National Savings Month in the past have failed to capture the nation’s attention as South Africans continue to be lured deeper and deeper into debt while relying heavily on credit to fund their lifestyles. Financial institution, Sanlam, created The One Rand Man, a live online social experiment during National Savings Month that would demonstrate first-hand the pitfalls of relying on credit and the benefits of saving money.

74 million+ media impressions

R41 million in earned media (PR value 3:1)

900,000 + video views

Ranked #1 YouTube South Africa Views in July

Weekly webisodes were then filmed and released. Experts weighed in on his trials and tribulations after each episode. Social media posted his day to day spending and learnings, allowing South Africans to follow, talk about and share his journey at any time. South Africa’s biggest financial newspaper provided independent third party content plus massive media interest made sure everyone had heard the One Rand Man’s story.