SANTAM HELPS BUSINESSES SURVIVE PAST 1001 DAYS

The Challenge

Leading short-term insurer, Santam briefed Atmosphere and the wider King James group to find a way to build its brand and credibility among small and medium term (SME) businesses in South Africa – a notoriously under-insured sector.

The Idea

In order to engage SMEs and, ultimately spur them to consider their financial risk situation, we worked with King James on a campaign built on the following premise: around 90% of South Africa’s small-to-medium (SME) businesses shut their doors within the first 1000 days. We wanted to find out from businesses what common challenges they face and we packaged these insights so that other businesses had tangible tools to help them navigate their way to success.

The Solution

We conceptualised a nationwide survey among business owners - who were either nearing their 1001-day mark or had recently passed it. Our goal was to identify the most common challenges faced by entrepreneurs and to use these learnings to equip more entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses. We released six reports to the media focussing on key topics and engaged experts to help interpret the survey results and offer valuable insights into what success looks like for a young business. We also provided links to a video diary of two entrepreneurs who were nearing their 1000 day mark which was featured on an interactive microsite and social media. This added a very personal element to the campaign.

The Results

Media coverage and social media (earned media) generated 9.5-million impressions, with 100% exposure in top tier media channels. The campaign’s microsite had 22 719 click-throughs with visitors spending an average of 2 min 27 seconds on site per session.