MullenLowe Partners with SASKO to Launch New Campaign Celebrating the People Behind the Brand

MullenLowe SA recently worked on the rebrand campaign with SASKO, the 92-year-old, iconic brand that still touches millions of South Africans every day. 

Sarah Dexter, CEO at MullenLowe SA, explains that the team created a 360-degree campaign featuring a new look and brand promise which celebrates SASKO’s quality and care through its people. “At the core of the campaign is how a few simple ingredients in the right hands with the right care can make something extraordinary. The central message is that people who care make things better – better flour, better bread, better service to their customers and communities.”

Originally scheduled to launch in March 2023, the restage was brought forward to November 2022, leading to a serious rallying of the troops to make everything happen. “As an agency we have a strong entrepreneurial heritage and challenger mentality, this makes us agile and able to pivot with the result that we successfully deliver to client objectives and timelines. Our strategic and creative vision, our understanding of positioning and audience, ensures that we give brands an unfair advantage over their competitors. The work we did on SASKO reflects that,” says Dexter.

To bring the campaign to life, the MullenLowe SA creative team led by ECD Kirk Gainsford and the team from Seven Films created a series of hero brand stories. Shooting took place over 18 days, with the team travelling to different regions of South Africa to capture the spirit of the SASKO people. What makes the campaign unique is that it features SASKO’s own people – drivers, bakers, farmers and millers – doing what they do best in these emotive brand films. SASKO employs over 5000 people and logistics cover more than 2 million kilometres each month to every spaza and shop across South Africa – a massive task for a much-loved brand.

MullenLowe SA ECD Kirk Gainsford says: “When the preparation and production time was shortened by 4 months, we took on the challenge. With the team’s can-do attitude and the unwavering belief of the brand that it’s the people who care that make things better, which is something that resonates strongly with us, we not only delivered on client brief and timelines, but demonstrated the true spirit of the client/agency relationship.”

The brand promise was rolled out in a variety of media and can be seen on digital platforms, television, radio and outdoor sites. Enhancing and extending the reach of the campaign, the MullenLowe SA team were responsible for also ensuring that this brand promise translated onto various other touchpoints and trade environments including delivery trucks reaching all supermarkets, cafes and spaza shops across the country. It is a promise that all the people of SASKO, from the farm through to the final point of sale were introduced to through a series of countrywide roadshows and fully committed to.

SASKO is an iconic bread brand with a rich history of 92 years in the country. The brand assets and stories capture and acknowledge this, as well as the people in the SASKO business, and express the new campaign message ‘People who care make things better’ in a way that is authentic and relevant. The new campaign is a celebration of SASKO’s people and the solidification of the brand promise of better flour, better bread, and better service to its customers and communities.

Namawethu Ngadlela, Marketing Manager: SASKO Full Portfolio (Inc Bakeries, Innovations & Flour) says, “MullenLowe SA are a formidable team, and one that we enjoy partnering with. They have taken the SASKO brand to the next level.”

View the SASKO – People Who Care Make Things Better campaign creative here:

View the Series of Hero Brand Stories:

People Who Care Make Things Better – Like our Farmers

People Who Care Make Things Better – Like our Bakers

People Who Care Make Things Better – Like our Millers

People Who Care Make Things Better – Like our Drivers