X Marks The Spot In Africa

Sanlam’s latest through the line campaign celebrates Africa as a treasure-trove of unrivalled potential. An incubator for ingenuity. And a continent of endless possibilities. A place like no other.

Sanlam has and always will call Africa home. For the last 100 years, the Group has been 100% committed to investing in Africa’s people and potential. And today, it is the financial services group with the biggest insurance footprint in Africa, 33 countries and counting. The Group’s latest campaign is testament to Sanlam’s mission to build a continent of Wealthsmiths™ and help create an Africa full of opportunity for the next generations to inherit.

The TVC opens with a young spokesperson pointing out a spot on the ground. “See this spot?” she asks. “It’s easy to mistake as ordinary, right? Wrong.” She marks an X on the ground and says, “You can make something here. Create something here. Be the first to imagine something here. See this spot? This is Africa. And it’s all happening here.”

Playing on the idea of X marking buried treasure, the TVC is evocative. Cameron Watson, Creative Director at the King James Group – the agency behind Sanlam’s progressive marketing – says, “Our goal with this campaign was to show how a seemingly inconsequential spot could become the birthplace of future ideas, solutions and communities. This taps into the truth that Sanlam has always chosen to stay here, because it’s always known that in every square inch of Africa lies potential. And then there’s 30-million square kilometres more.”

Watson says that the agency shot the TVC on location in Africa. This posed some significant challenges but also big feelings of pride, “Shooting in such an incredible African landscape poses huge production considerations. It really brought home the message of the campaign – especially as we had a diverse crew comprising people from all over Africa, which made a feeling of pride imminent throughout the production.”

Sanlam’s dedication to Africa is evident in every decision the group makes. From humble beginnings in South Africa in 1918, it’s now the continent’s biggest non-banking financial services group, with a unique footprint across 33 African countries.

Mariska Oosthuizen, Head: Sanlam Brand, says, “The strategic intent behind the Africa chapter of our centenary celebration is to show our belief that anything is possible with the right amount of hard work and dedication. As a proudly African company, we have always prioritised our people, our continent and creating a legacy we can be proud of. Our vision for ongoing pan-African expansion involves a trailblazing partnership approach. It’s a win-win business model. We don’t go into a country and take over; rather, we empower local managers and boards to run their businesses with our support. Our success is their success. In doing so we catalyse employment and heavily invest in the countries we enter.”

For Oosthuizen, that’s the essence of the TVC, “We have such an abundance of talent here. Africa is effectively an incubator for ingenuity – the inventiveness of our people is incomparable. We wanted the campaign to convey the excitement of this. As the world starts to look to Africa as a leader and trend-setter, it’s just confirmation of what we’ve always known and hope to further entrench. As Wealthsmiths^TM, Sanlam has and always will be rooted in Africa, and is committed to building a better continent for others to inherit.”