studio4332
Issue 16 | September 2010
Agency
studio4332 South Africa
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director: Stuart Stobbs; MD, Strategist: Brendan Wade; Creative Director: Malcolm King; Designers: Emilie Dippenaar, Jo Theron, Toni Hughes, Monique Bissel, Ludwig; Breedt, Ena Grobler; Designer, writer: Lana Cremonte; DTP: Jay Jay Tsokedi; Writers: Nkaela Mocumi, Matthew van der Valk, Adam Skikne
Production Team
Production: Kim Reunert; Production: Angela Gaillard
Other Credits
Client Service: Mary Cassel-Faulks; IT: Stephan Grove
Date
2010
Background
Having created a new brand identity for the agency, the task became how to communicate that this was not just a new look and feel but a completely new kind of agency.
Idea
To demonstrate the agency’s creative approach, they decided to make and market a range of new products.
Two collections were produced, each with six new products. The first was based on the theme of ‘ideas’ and the second on the concept of ‘personalisation’.
Some of the products available from the online store included:
The Ring of Life – a recyclable ring made of high compacted paper containing seeds so it could be planted wherever the purchaser thought the earth needed some love.
Light Your Soul Lamp – a designer lamp where the print is the image of a South African freedom fighter created from words inspired by Mandela’s inaugural speech when he told South Africans not to hide their light but to let it shine.
The Ditto Vase – buyers submitted a profile of themselves which was then used to create a personalized vase.
Dermis Wallet – again a very personal product, a wallet with a high-res close-up of the buyer’s own skin.
The other products can be viewed at and purchased from www.store4332.com
Results
There has been massive PR in all local design and decor magazines. Elle Decor asked the agency to be their creative partner on all events, projects and design input. Clients have responded very well too, seeing the approach as a way for them to understand their own businesses and brands better.
The campaign has led to eight pitches, four won and two still pending.
Our Thoughts
I have watched any number of agencies declare they want to be the creative business partners to their clients but then do nothing except fret about the advertising. The fact that Studio 4332 (it spells out IDEA in predictive text) have created and marketed their own products is a great demonstration of intent. But they aren’t the first. For instance, Elmwood in the UK created Builders Tea, currently to be found in most supermarkets. What is different though is how Studiop 4332’s product ideas are linked indissolubly with the agency idea. The insight that increasingly people want, and will pay for, personalised products distinguishes the agency as one of only a handful that sees direct marketing not in terms of media but in terms of social psychology. This is an agency that will help its clients understand people’s needs and help them meet them. In other words, be their creative business partner.