KBL collaborates with creatives in Christmas marketing synergies

  • Launches another limited edition of St Louis Lager alongside Mokgabo Fashion Line
  • BK Proctor, Fifi Wale, Rex Mautle, Tasha T and Karabo Leburu’s creativity shines
    through the merchandise

GOSEGO MOTSUMI

In a hands-on process, Kgalagadi Breweries Limited (KBL) teamed up with five creatives to produce a new limited edition St Louis Lager can styled “Jwa Rona” and a fashion line labeled Mokgabo.

Digital artist Fifi Wale and Rex Mautle’s creative skills are evident in the “Leteisi” that the beer can ‘wears.’ BK Proctor’s designed the St Louis-inspired sneakers, Karabo Leburu brought in the stylish bucket hats while Nene Sefemo came in with the St Louis-inspired backpack.

“Being a home grown brand, St Louis wants to be a part of Botswana and not just from Botswana,” said St Louis Brand Manager, Gaamangwe Ramokgothwane, at the launch in Gaborone recently. “This year we thought to leverage and harness the power of collaboration with talented Batswana who are doing amazing things in different spaces. We saw it fit to form strategic relationships to give a platform to our artists.”

KBL spearheads a “Mo ke Botswana” campaign that seeks to highlight the different elements that make up Botswana in addition to the traditional elements that the country is known for. The modern elements incorporated into the St Louis Lager segment of the campaign came from five creative pillars of art, music, food, fashion and the leteisi adornment of the exclusively Botswana beer.

Said Ramokgothwane: “To highlight our journey of collaboration with the artists in the music space, we pulled off our first virtual concert where we collaborated with various Batswana musicians. In the art arena, we collaborated with Fifi Wale, who is our digital illustrator, and Rex Mautle to deliver ‘Mo ke Botswana’ murals. We have translated this artwork in various trade elements.”

In the fashion and art spaces, KBL adopted the art from the mural for its 500ml limited edition “Ya Rona” can. The can is a continuation of the “Mo ke Botswana” story while “Jwa Rona” is derived from “bojalwa jwa rona” and “go jwala,” which is the act of seeding and overseeing growth of something expected to result in a cornucopia at harvest time.

In addition to the can, the company collaborated with three Batswana artists of fabric with whom it broke into the world f haute couture to anchor the campaign around what is styled “Mokgabo Fashion Line. Here KBL and the artists produced cool sneakers by BK Proctor, bags by Tasha T and bucket hats by Leburu.

“The Mokgabo fashion term speaks to our flair for looking good as Batswana,” Ramokgothwane explained. “We love looking good, hence the term ‘Mokgabo Fashion Line.’ Our other various campaign touch points include a running trade promotion where our customers stand a chance to win any of these amazing merchandise items.”

Also speaking at the launch, the founder of Collections by BK Proctor, Bokang Proctor, said the collaboration was about finding meaningful ways for the two brands can come together to tell a creative narrative and produce a masterpiece. “When you design a shoe, you start by sketching,” he said. “You then transfer the shoe to design a prototype that is sent to a factory where the manufacturing starts.

“So we went through a lot because we had to match the St Louis brand with our identity as a brand. The shoe is made out of leather, which I hope it is from Botswana because the country exports a lot of leather. The shoe represents a true vision of two brands, conceptualized and designed by Batswana for Batswana.”