McCann1886 successfully applies lockdown lessons for Steers

20/01/2021

McCann1886 is successfully applying the lessons it learnt during last years hard lockdown to the work it is doing for clients across the board. Last year, the approach adopted by the agency during the COVID-19 lockdown allowed it to develop work that proved so in-sync with Steers mostly metropolitan male 18-to-34-year-old target market that it performed beyond expectation.

Now, some nine months later, the agency is applying the approach and lessons it learnt during the various lockdown phases to the 60-year-old fast-food burger restaurant chains latest campaign.

McCann1886 Chief Creative Officer, Stuart Stobbs, explained that, when 2020 didnt quite go according to anyones plan, they turned to the McCann global mantra - Creativity is the Only Way to Survive - for inspiration and to redefine the agency.

This approach had three key drivers - Agility, Making and Fun.

Admittedly Agility was an obvious driver to apply to how we worked, how we built insights, how we created, collaborated and thought. The agency wanted faster outputs, but without impacting on quality, he said.

Making was all about taking ideas to finish, and upskilling staff with the knowhow to do so. Here, we reckoned, the more we could do, the better we could help clients. And Fun? Well, what would be the point of all that work without Fun, he said. Also, facing a pandemic is mentally draining, and having some fun while you work, well thats the perfect antidote or dare I say, vaccine?

The agency initially put these drivers to work for Steers when it was preparing to re-open after being in a forced shut-down for three months. The need was for an immediate and significant upturn in revenue.

Our first campaign - the Mix It Up Sharing Meal campaign - combined old ads with new footage to create six pieces of fresh and engaging content that talked to the situation we were all in and reminded consumers of the power of sharing, said Creative Director, Mthokozizi Zi Sithole.

And, knowing time was everything, we followed up swiftly with a full social roll-out ... and then proceeded to launch TVCs for the Shake It Up Sharing Meal and the Cheese Boy Sharing Meal. Agility and Making indeed worked hand-in-hand to help us keep delivering for Steers in record time.

Sithole also praised the client for their support: None of this would be possible without a solid relationship with a client who is just as agile as we were. And it turns out that, if you work together, creativity not only lets you survive a pandemic, but thrive in one too, he said.

The new executions were created for the Phanda Ribster Burger Meal by Executive Creative Director Tumi Sethebe, Creative Director Zi Sithole and Art Director Chan Ma after they were briefed to show what it really means to be phanda in South Africa while leveraging of the amazing Steers value offer.

You can view the new TVCs, which launched last week (January 12) here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KndUnzzZSRI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pyEAKjRzRA&feature=youtu.be

Phanda means hustle and, in a South African context today, that translates into an ambition or hunger to turn your side-hustle into a major success, explained Sethebe. Steers has tapped into the ethos of phanda and phandapreneurs in the recent past, supporting their endeavours with competitions to win a little seed money and opportunities to build awareness for their side-hustles.

This new campaign acknowledges that, every now and then, phandapreneurs lose their hunger for success, because they are tired or physically taxed - maybe hungry - but just dont realise it. So, our TVCs show how the Steers Phanda Ribster Meal helps them regain their phanda by giving the fuel to re-ignite it.

For our digital and social content, we spoke to real phandapreneurs, some of whom have been with Steers for a while. We interviewed them about how to cope with those moments when you feel like giving up and how Steers helps fuel their phanda, he said.

The TVCs and content was shot by Team Best and directed by Asher Stoltz, Bryan van Niekerk and Sifiso Khoza; post-production was by Mushroom Media.

ends

Credits:

Client: Steers

Campaign: Phanda Ribster Burger Meal

Steers Marketing Executive: Jeswin Leckram

Steers Marketing Manager: Tammy Ho

Steers Brand Manager: Kutloano Dingaan

Creative agency: McCann1886

Account Director: Thomas Countee

Executive creative director: Tumi Sethebe

Creative Director: Zi Sithole

Copywriter: Zi Sithole

Art director: Chan Ma

Strategist: Amy Harper

TV Producer: Caron Sandler

Production house: Team Best

Director: Asher Stoltz, Bryan van Niekerk and Sifiso Khoza

Post-production: Mushroom Media

Commercials

South Africa

LINK:	https://www.filmcontact.com/news/south-africa/mccann1886-successfully-...
	See more stories from filmcontact

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

18/03/2026

Net Insight Names Larissa GrnerMeeus CPO

Newly named chief product officer (CPO), Larissa G rner Meeus will return to Net Insight on May 4. Larissa G rner Meeus will become CPO of Net Insight on May 4...

18/03/2026

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026 explored how the sports broadcasting i...

18/03/2026

SVG's SportsTech@NABShow Blog Goes Live as Countdown to Vegas Heats Up

The 2026 NAB Show kicks off one month from today and SVG is once again set to cover the show from every angle. SVG's SportsTech@NAB Show Blog is now live - ...

18/03/2026

The Premiere of Dead Lover Showcases Grave Robbing and Sex With a Giant Finger

(L-R) The cast and crew of Dead Lover at The Ray Theater for its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundan...

18/03/2026

Music Row Piano from Wiltone Productions

Yamaha C7 captured in Nashville Wiltone Productions have announced the release of Music Row Piano, a deeply sampled Yamaha C7 piano library that's been ...

18/03/2026

Techivation introduce T-Warmer Mk2

Bass-enhancement plug-in upgraded Along with a steady stream of new releases, Techivation have recently been revisiting some of the older plug-ins in their ...

18/03/2026

Tonal Balance Control 3 from iZotope

Mix-reference plug-in overhauled iZotope's powerful mix-referencing plug-in has just reached its third major version, and now boasts a new capture proce...

18/03/2026

Toontrack Transistor Organ EKX

Latest EZKeys 2 expansion arrives Toontrack's staggering collection of EZKeys 2 expansions has grown once again, and the latest instalment delivers a on...

18/03/2026

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture 18 March, 2026 Media releases New SBS Audio podcast For The Culture, hosted ...

18/03/2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz at NAB 2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz...

18/03/2026

LCTWS 2026

London Calling - When The Industry Convened to Help Streaming Find its MoJo In this blog, Laura Rognoni reflects on key discussions from the Connected TV World...

18/03/2026

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, a...

18/03/2026

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments LED wall virtual production blends 12K open gate acquisition w...

18/03/2026