Following the flash floods that occurred in South Africa in early December 2016, the Meteorological Department of Zimbabwe warned that Zimbabwe might be affected by the same predicament rendering this rainy season dangerous. Armored with such news, Zimplats took the initiative and approached Civil Protection Zimbabwe so that they couldjoin hands in an effort to save the lives of the Zimbabwean people.
This initiative from Zimplats did not come as a surprise because Zimplats is known for caring & sustainable development of the communities within which it operates, direct & indirect employees and the nation at large. Seen as how in the past years, Zimbabweans have lost lives & property due to lightning, flooding & related issues, Zimplats realised the need to act and save the lives of many. A stitch in time saves nine. With such a huge task, Zimplats and Civil Protection Zimbabwe (CPZ) chose to work with Dicomm McCann to create and make sure that people of Zimbabwe are aware of the dangers that come with the rainy season and act accordingly. Given our history of championing many revolutions (from an advertising point of view) such as the launch of mobile money in Zimbabwe, their choice was an obvious one because we ensured that the people of Zimbabwe understand what mobile money is and since we launched EcoCash, it has remained one of our brands.
We are humbled to be one of the agencies known for developing simple yet successful awareness and educational campaigns that have touched the lives of most Zimbabweans. Having been roped in, we kept in check with the Civil Protection Zimbabwe guidelines, a simple yet powerful theme, “Be safe, save lives” was used to drive the message through to everyone concerned. Dissected under most local languages including Venda, Suthu and Tonga, the campaign sought to ensure that all Zimbabweans were reached and were aware of how to protect their lives and also save the lives of others.
We are not yet out of the woods but judging from the incessant rains that have been received in Zimbabwe and the reduction of lives lost due to lightning & crossing flooded rivers, we can confidently say our campaign has connected with the people. We are humbled to be part of such a great story.