2023/24 Campaign: Own Tomorrow

Richfield is an accredited private college that has been embedded in the South African higher education landscape for over 32 years, with 8 campuses nationwide. They offer qualifications in Information Technology, Business Management Sciences and Public Management, giving students the opportunity to specialise in various fields such as IT, Marketing Management, Accounting, Economics, Human Resources and Public Management. Richfield has made it a mission to empower young people throughout the academic journey by offering more than just a degree. This means career development opportunities on top of the student’s qualification, working with organisations such as IBM, AWS, CISCO, Oracle, and CIMA to enhance technological, digital, and critical thinking skills that will make students ready for the job market.

HKLM’s strategic & creative relationship with Richfield has spanned over 6 years, handling all brand and marketing material to ensure their mission is felt and lived out. The 2023/24 campaign was a way for Richfield to evolve the messaging approach and positioning to target a different audience while showcasing improved offering and qualifications. HKLM then created a 360° marketing campaign that focused on making the student the main character. Through strategic branding, the marketing material would showcase Richfield as the guiding light leading them to the possibilities of a brighter tomorrow.

Outside of its physical purpose, light has a deeper meaning within humanity. When we shine a light on something, its shapes and details are revealed instantly. Metaphorically, light acts as a guide towards what the future holds, helping us to see and understand who we really are. Once more, it acts as a source of insight into what’s possible for us as individuals. Using the torch within the Richfield identity as inspiration, we introduced a graphic device representing one moving from a place of uncertainty to a place of surety about what the future holds, thanks to the guiding light that Richfield provides. Richfield helps students to Own Tomorrow by lighting the way to a career filled with possibility and opportunity.

Another way we looked at this concept is the idea around how darkness keeps one stagnant. Given the socio-economic landscape South Africa has found itself in, it’s easy to see no way around the situation. However, education has the power to move one out of that darkness into a place where the future is plainly lit. When the future is clear, one becomes limitless and boundless.

Light acts as a guide towards what the future holds, helping us to see and understand who we really are.

Using the ‘Own Tomorrow’ brand messaging, we worked around what Own Tomorrow means for various people who have their own ideas of success, exploring the subjective nature of success and how it varies from person to person. Success in itself is determined by internal factors such as happiness, fulfilment, satisfaction, and meaning. Accompanying these factors are individual challenges and obstacles that one faces along the way, which may affect how fast they get to the finish line. Ultimately, we found that every individual wishes to attain a future that speaks to their personal aspirations, only then will the light truly have defined meaning.

To accompany the copy, we used eye-catching visuals that represent the various meanings of owning your tomorrow, such as starting a business, breaking generational curses, or finding your passion. The visuals are designed to appeal to the emotions and aspirations of the potential student, as well as to showcase the diversity and richness of Richfield’s offerings.

Street poles are usually displayed amongst high-speed/high traffic areas, meaning advertising has to get the point across as quickly as possible. Our approach for the street poles was to keep it simple and affective by speaking to Richfield’s various qualifications, specialisations, campus locations, and messaging around Richfield’s distance and contact learning offerings to communicate the flexibility of the institution when it comes to learning

The campaign extended into printed brand and marketing materials such as prospectuses, brochures and leaflets, communicating the various offerings that Richfield provides.

Explanatory film: The story of Paul

Roche Diagnostics plays a leading role in many areas of cardiovascular disease by providing total IVD solutions across the cardiovascular continuum.

The cardiac branding campaign emphasized the importance of the diagnostics insulation in cardiac area and the impact on disease management. The cardiac branding campaign named Sharing hope is focused on strengthening Roche Diagnostics’ leadership in heart failure and generating awareness of NT-proBNP. This new marketing initiative highlights the emotional journey that patients and physicians face in heart failure, and the contribution of NT-proBNP along this disease journey.

We developed the cardiac explanatory film to tell the story of the Paul, the patient, and the management of his chronic heart failure. We developed the script based on the campaign narrative and created a friendly, approachable and relatable illustration style and animation to fit with the campaign messaging, to share hope. The story of Paul helps patients see that they can live a full life with better patient management of chronic heart failure through regular visits to a cardiologist and the use of cobas® h 232 to monitor NT-proBNP

Brand refresh: A new beginning

Tswalu is a privately owned game reserve in the heart of the Kalahari, founded by the Oppenheimer family. The ecotourism destination serves as the epicentre of a conservation project to return the Kalahari to its former state. Tswalu consists of three unique business areas, a luxury eco-resort, an artist’s residency, and a research facility geared towards understanding and conserving key ecosystems of the region. The funds derived from the resort funnel directly into the study and preservation of the environment and its inhabitants. The artist’s residency, in turn, provides artists of varying disciplines the opportunity to study and capture the fauna and flora of the region, culminating in an art exhibition to raise funds for the Tswalu Foundation.

Tswalu decided to turn a new leaf and reposition the brand to capture the various areas of the business and promote the understanding, empowerment, and artistic interpretation of the Kalahari ecosystem and the wider communities.

Awards

CSS Design Awards 2019: Innovation Design Award (Tswalu website)

CSS Design Awards 2019: Special Kudos Award (Tswalu website)

CSS Design Awards 2019: UI Design Award (Tswalu website)

CSS Design Awards 2019: UX Design Award (Tswalu website)

The Tswalu brand positioning was inspired by two key pillars: the Oppenheimer family creed “To leave our world better than how we found it” and the San people’s ethos of respecting and preserving the land for future generations. In keeping with this methodology, the Tswalu identity captured the three principles of history, art, and conservation. Tswalu’s history is represented by the ancient petroglyphs found on the property. These marks left for future generations mirrored Tswalu’s creed: to leave our world better than how we found it.

This is a new chapter in the Kalahari’s evolution, where people are once again respecting and preserving the land, thus leaving their mark on the area. Art is represented through our exploration of contemporary Bushman art, using modern techniques to reinterpret their history. The final form of the identity is inspired by the Camelthorn tree, a native protected species in South Africa.

The new brand challenges the misconception of the Kalahari as a lifeless desert and positions the region as a lush, green oasis worthy of preservation.

The word Tswalu can be translated as 'a new beginning,' a concept beautifully mirrored in the use of a botanical symbol to represent life, growth, and rejuvenation.

The colour palette is inspired by the Kalahari and its natural flora. The dark hills, distinctive red sand, rich greenery, and vibrant yellow flowers of the Camelthorn tree all add a unique colour story to our brand.

The browns are indicative of the perception of the Kalahari as dry and desolate, while the vibrant and rich greens and yellows showcase the reality of the Kalahari’s rejuvenation.

Inspired by the botanical theme of the new Tswalu identity, we incorporated botanical studies of the regional flora into our visual language system, thus visually preserving and celebrating the conservation of the Kalahari.

As a starting point, we approached Gill Condy, a renowned botanical artist and current artist in residence at Tswalu, to create a series for botanical studies to be used in our collateral.

The brand guidelines are inspired by traditional field guides and naturalist journals. These documents are generally used to document the behaviours and characteristics of various animal and botanical species. This pocket guide documents the behaviours and characteristics of the Tswalu brand, including current snapshots and notes for ease of reference.

As part of the brand relaunch, Tswalu partnered with Michelin-starred South African chef, Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen to offer a unique dining experience to its guests. Opening an extension of his renowned French restaurant called Klein Jan at Tswalu. The unique dining experience offered personalised menus as wax-sealed letters to our guests.

Photography courtesy of Rachel L’Antigua for Style | Native and Tswalu Game Reserve.

Video courtesy of Tswalu Game Reserve.