TBWA developed a heart-warming and quirky campaign in line with Cobra’s new brand positioning ‘Here For You’. The marketing campaign is a strategically developed and carefully curated positioning that cuts to the heart of what the Cobra brand is all about.
Cobra has been here for those little, everyday moments, the ones that feel mundane, like washing the dishes after supper; the moments that mean the world, like a bath drawn at the end of a long day and even the moments that feel like the end of the world, like having a good post-break-up sob in the bathroom.
‘Our thinking considered Cobra’s long heritage in South Africa and how it has continued to evolve alongside consumers. It has been part of consumers’ most significant and insignificant moments for years, and as result has become embedded in the fabric of South Africans’ lives,’ said Mbalenhle Sekautu, strategist at TBWA.
Rather than position Cobra as spotlessly clean and luxurious, as is so often the case among lifestyle brands, the TBWA team set about creating something real and relatable. The imagery is of people going about ordinary, daily tasks in funny and familiar ways. Imagine the mad scramble as every family member dashes to reach the bathroom first in the morning, the victory of successfully brushing your children’s teeth, or the relief at finally washing the last dish in a never-ending pile.
‘We have focused on the small, everyday moments we all live through – the kind where Cobra products are often present but go unnoticed,’ the TBWA creative team explained. ‘By celebrating these moments in an exaggerated and entertaining way, we want to remind people that the little things do matter, even if they seem unimportant at the time.’
The Cobra team was immediately drawn to the concept. ‘Without realising it, we’ve been embodying ‘Here for You’ for years,’ said Corrie Stride, Leader: Marketing at LIXIL Africa. ‘It’s how we think of our brand, how we understand it and how we communicate it to the consumers, plumbers, interior designers and architects we count among our customers. We know that we truly are here for them. We always have been.’
When TBWA presented the campaign to Cobra, the latter were crying with laugher – so much so that the TBWA team battled to keep a straight face. ‘We could tell that they’d really understood us. They’d captured our brand with such warmth, authenticity and humour, we just knew we’d landed on an incredible approach. We also loved how the idea was in keeping with the original Cobra positioning that our customers will be familiar with, but that TBWA had brought it into 2021 in a new modern way,’ said Stride.
‘The concept speaks to everybody in one way or another, Sekautu explained. ‘We believe our audiences will see themselves and their lives reflected. Even if you’ve never experienced the specific moment we’ve chosen to bring to life, you’ll recognise the human truth in it. The scenarios we’ve created also speak to Cobra’s many customers.’ The Cobra campaign is multi-channelled and will feature on television, radio, online, out-of-home and social media platforms.
