Tiger Brands' Fatti's & Moni's and creative agency The Odd Number are in love. Just like recent TV commercials, Always Eatariancreated by the agency for the brand, and the two are passionate about each other.
Image provided. Always Eat'alian is the authentic product of the love affair between The Odd Number and Tiger Brands' brand Fatti's & Moni's.
“We met and got married six months later. It was such an experience,” says Tiger Brand Marketing Director Thembisile Sehorhoho.
But before that, Seroho had already set his sights on the agency. “I previously worked with Sbu Sitole, the co-founder and executive chief creative director of The Odd Number, and was looking at the work coming out of the agency. I was waiting for you to come by.”
When the agency was given the brief for another brand for the Tiger stable, she seized the opportunity and appointed them as the brand agency for Fatties & Moni.
“I wanted a young, brave agency, so I decided to take on The Odd Number.”
She called Sittle. “I said, I'm going to take advantage of you, but if you mess this up, I'll kill you.”
understand my consumer
Even though her brand strategy is very clear, she says she struggled to find an agency that actually understood her consumers.
until now.
“After I briefed the odd numbers, they very bravely came back. They presented it once, tweaked a few things here and there, and then I approved it and moved on to the next process.
“Why? Because instead of selling me creative ideas, they spent their time understanding the consumer. This agency understood my strategy and the consumer. I was so excited!”
Image provided.Terry McKenna, Executive Creative Director, The Odd Number
Odd Executive Creative Director Terry McKenna interjects here. “She was excited, but I was relieved!”
He narrates how the agency was first invited to promote another Tiger brand without success but was guided to a brand that was a better fit for the agency.
marriage of courage
“We're a perfect match. We're like those people who meet on TV and get married within six months.”
It works because agencies like to do brave work.
He says agencies often get nervous when they pitch that their work might be a little too bold for some brands, but that's the culture of the agency.
“The dial needs to move. Our work needs to move forward. We don't do wallpaper work.”
But he also justifies it when he says that agencies like to do brave work. “We never set out to create work that is just crazy or ridiculous. All of our work has to be insight-based. One of our areas of expertise is what we do best. One of the things I think is important is an understanding of the SA market. When you understand the market, you can find human truths that resonate with people.”
great work with great clients
A big part of the bravery is in the relationship between the client and the agency.
“You need good relationships. It's such a cliché that I say it and cringe afterwards, but you can't do great work without great clients,” McKenna says.
When the brand and agency met, he says, they clicked and shared a common vision. “That passion and passion creates a great partnership between agency and client,” he added.
“We like to be pushed and challenged. The worst thing for a creative agency is that the client isn't actually passionate about their brand or the work they do. The client's passion drips off. We feel it, and the director feels it,” McKenna says.
Image provided. Thembisile Sehloho, Tiger Brands Marketing Director
Building relationships with agencies
Sehloho is passionate about agency-client partnerships. “My agency needs to be fully immersed in understanding my brand because I believe that they are perhaps the most important brand custodians.
“When I leave tomorrow, they are going to be the spokespeople for this brand. It will help you understand.
“Agency-client partnerships may sound like a cliché, but we often see them in brands where the marketer leaves, the agency doesn’t get it, the brand collapses, and the brand is left like an orphan. “It's something that can be done,” he says. Seroho.
She added that everything she does and says is meant to help The Odd Number understand the brand. “So they can tell this brand story to everyone.”
It’s underrated how important an agency is to a brand’s journey. “It's our job to be stewards of the brand, but in my opinion, it takes a village. We don't just build the brand in the Tiger offices, we build it in this agency as well. Masu.”
There's always tension, but the tension should be for the sake of the brand, she says. “Marketers need to bring respect to agencies to the fore.”
McKenna and Serojo both agree that this is what will lead to real work like this: Always Eatarian.
