:: adgruntie :: Ogilvy in SA gets into short format progs

+ The Ogilvy Johannesburg group of companies is increasingly turning to the production of short format programmes to reach the consumer, communicate brand messages, and acquire mindshare. Brand Activation, an Ogilvy sister company, is using the opportunity to move into short format programming, aka infomercials.

Kathy Scharrer, head of TV at recognised this as an opportunity, with the result that Ogilvy has moved into movies: "Short format programmes help penetrate those walls that consumers have built up, by using content to pique their interest and invite them in."
Capitalising on the success of the likes of The Naked Chef and Two Fat Ladies, the team at Brand Activation and Ogilvy transformed what could have been just another commercial into a two-minute cooking programme called "You can... with Nestle" that displays the versatility of Nestle Milks.
Ogilvy's Betty Kairo says: "Our research told us that, despite the popularity of cooking programmes, the average consumer is cooking less and less from scratch. Not only are they strapped for time, but they're also afraid - they feel like they don't know how to cook, in an era where cooking has become less of a chore and more of an art. Our target market was intimidated, and we wanted to show them how easy and versatile cooking - and by that we mean cooking with Nestle Milk - really is."

Scharrer also went on to state that the production and media buy are much cheaper for this sort of format in comparision with a traditional :30 or :60. The "show" consists of 13 two-minute adversodes which started airing back in March.