‘New Material’, the sequel to the 2012 movie ‘Material’, follows the tour of comedian Cassim, played by real-life stand up comic, Riaad Moosa, his best friend, Yusuf, played by Joey Rasdien, and the opening act, Hendrik, played by comedian, Schalk Bezuidenhout. The film was released on 26 November 2021 and the #TNcomms team had the pleasure of handling all digital aspects of the release. Including:
Influencer Campaigns
Social Media (Paid & Organic)
Community Management
Google & YouTube Paid Ads
Content Creation (Developing memes, cast video direction, copywriting, and more)
Partnership relations
The movie is packed with laughter, suspense and heartfelt moments as Cassim finds the balance between growing his career, keeping his values in check, and family life.
We encouraged fans to flock to the cinema by tapping into the cast and influencers, guiding them on what types of content would work well for the campaign, while also allowing their own unique style of content creation to shine. We created funny, lighthearted meme-type posts, based on the themes in the movie, and this was probably one of my favourite parts of the campaign. Working with a client such as Indigenous Films is always fun because they allow us to have creative freedom which opens up the potential of what we can do.
The New Material Movie was also one of the first campaigns where we started playing around with TikTok, which turned out to be quite successful. Clips included that from the cast, snippets of the film, and content created by influencers. We grew from 0 to more than 2000 followers in just a month, with our best performing post getting 100 000 views - and this was all ORGANIC!
Leading up to the launch of the New Material was exhilarating. On premier night, running the social media coverage Live from Cape Town while the event was happening in Durban and then in Johannesburg was a team effort.
Finally, on the night of the Cape Town screening, we got to cover the red carpet. Being a social butterfly, I found it thrilling. The evening was abuzz, filled with laughs, and as expected with a cohort of comedians for guests, it was ENTERTAINING to say the least!
In the weeks that followed, New Material Movie saw a successful run in South African cinema – eventually opening up to an international audience via streaming platforms. It made my heart swell every time someone tagged New Material in images of them watching a local movie in other parts of the world.
I’ve always believed in South African film, and have been fortunate enough to be exposed to pre and post-production, and being part of a team that worked on a ‘now in cinemas’ campaign was a whole new world, with many lessons learned. I found that team spirit, support, and attention to detail are the key elements of a successful campaign.
xx
Fadz
Copywriter & Content Creation
TN Communications
Thank you for taking the time to read about our work as an agency. If you would like to get in touch about working together or would like to find out more about how we can help your organisation communicate effectively through digital, feel free to reach out on shakirah@that-network.com or 083 290 7146.