Echefula

As more and more of the young people in the South East, the home of Hero Beer, drifted from their cultural identity, the brand understood that it had to do something to remind its drinkers of their proud legacy.

Together with the brand, we created “Echefula” – never forget (your identity) – a campaign that fused the people’s heritage with pop culture to bring about a reawakening of pride in the Target Audience’s traditional identity. This of course led to a surge in Hero’s brand awareness and sales.

The campaign won the most number of medals in the 2019 edition of Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival, as well as a shortlist in the 2020 Loeries in South Africa.

Aha Gi Efula

A key foundational element of Igbo philosophical thought is the concept of “Onye aghala nwanne ya” (leave no one behind). It is rooted in the deep belief that the individual succeeds when the community does.

And nothing illustrates this better than the “Imu ahia” (apprenticeship) system.

In this system, one journeys far from home – a forerunner or ‘frontiers person’ if you will – establishes themselves, brings their kith over, teaches them the ropes of their trade and, eventually, sets them up (settles them).

In doing this, not only do you build your community, you build a legacy that outlives you, ensuring that your name is never forgotten.

By tapping into this philosophy and the everyday stories of ordinary people travelling far and wide to make something of themselves, we created a campaign, AHA Gị EFULA, for Hero Beer. It is a campaign rooted in history as it is in the everyday pursuit of the average young person trying to shoulder the burden of responsibility that providence has placed on their shoulder.

To Our Rising Sons

The rising sun is symbolic to the Igbo people of South East Nigeria, and when we pitched for the Hero account, our idea was to mine the emotional significance of this icon to celebrate the people at whom Hero is largely targeted. Also, the copy was carefully-worded to appeal to the sentiments of a people who have, since the end of the Nigerian – Biafran civil war, been on a journey of pulling themselves by the bootstraps and building up themselves and their communities.