The South African national rugby team, which has been pivotal in uniting South Africans in the past, was at its lowest point. Wins weren’t forthcoming, sponsors were pulling out, their world ranking nose-dived, and the burden of boosting the country’s morale weighed heavily on them. At a time when the country seems to be at one of its lowest points, we needed a campaign that would give the nation something hopeful and inspiring to unite behind. We also needed to encourage the nation to take up the challenge of bringing rugby back to its former inspirational glory.

25 years into democracy, and South Africa once again found itself going through one of the most challenging times since 1994 – divided by a poor economic status, high unemployment statistics and political uncertainty.

Our national rugby team, which has been pivotal in uniting South Africans in the past, was at its lowest point. Wins weren’t forthcoming, sponsors were pulling out, their world ranking nose-dived, and the burden of boosting the country’s morale weighed heavily on them. We needed a campaign that would give the nation something hopeful and inspiring to unite behind.

Introducing Sounds the Call Series – a campaign that seeks to educate the nation, about the importance of the role rugby played in unifying the country in the growing pain years of democracy. It took a deeper look at some of the people and their collective achievement on how they influenced unity through rugby, and because the youth hadn’t heard of these stories before, we needed to demonstrate them in a contemporary way.

Answer the call to come together - derived from the South African national anthem.

MTN always has to ensure that the sponsorship delivers the brand story through its association to the property characteristics of bringing their customers closer to their passion points and ultimately transform their realities. South African rugby consumers consist of 4 different fan segments namely; die-hard fans, generalists and nationalists. We needed to ensure that we ignited everyone’s passion by inspiring them, and enabling them to transform their lives by giving them access to a connected life.

Telling these stories gave the nation hope of bringing rugby back to its former inspirational glory, they went beyond education, they took an in-depth approach to what rugby really means, a sport that united a once divided nation.

We documented stories that focused on all facets of rugby - starting with Laurie Kay, the pilot who flew a 65 000 seater over Ellis Park, during the 1995 Rugby World Cup final.

To Os du Randt, the finest loose-head prop of all time, who still holds the record of being the only South African who has been part of two World Cup winning squads.

Even Steve Tshwete, a political prisoner, who during his incarceration, took the first step in bringing together individuals who were split by tribal and racial divisions, through rugby.

We united South Africans from all walks of life, to take up the challenge of getting behind the Springboks, our national rugby team, and lifted their spirits at a time when the country was at its lowest. We inspired the nation by documenting stories narrated in a contemporary way, which also educated them about the importance of the role rugby played in unifying the country.