Spectrum and Ster-Kinekor partner again

 Ster-Kinekor’s corporate social investment efforts are focused primarily on assisting young children  in underprivileged communities by identifying and helping those with visual problems nationwide  and contributing to the elimination of refractive errors among these children through a project called  “Vision Mission”. In a recent bid to say thank you to their viewers for their contributions to this project,  the company has once again relied on their Primedia counterparts, Spectrum, to take their message  to the big screen.

 Ster-Kinekor, through the “Vision Mission” project, has made it a priority to ensure that children, especially those from underprivileged areas, have access to screening and affordable treatment for correctable eye problems which, if left uncorrected, could lead to severe vision impairment in adulthood. The project is completely funded by Ster-Kinekor customer contributions. Movie-goers are encouraged not just to see movies, but also to “help others see them too”, by making a R2.50 donation when they book movie tickets via the Ster-Kinekor self-service terminals or online booking facility.

Through these contributions, Ster-Kinekor raised almost R 1 million over the last year which enabled them, with the assistance of the Department of Health and Education and voluntary ophthalmic nurses, to screen 69 102 children across 256 schools and provide 2 117 children with glasses they desperately needed.

Overwhelmed by the generosity of their customers, Ster-Kinekor called in digital media experts, Spectrum, to conceptualise and produce a 2D screen advertisement to say “thank you”. "The partnership between Spectrum and Ster Kinekor was a perfect match,” says Geraldine Engelman, CSI Manager at Ster Kinekor.

“Chief Creative Officer, Dinesh Diar understood and followed the brief from the onset. We felt that after six years of our call to action campaign, it was time to acknowledge our customers’ contributions and to show our appreciation for their efforts,” explains Engelman. “Even in our declining socio-economic climate, our customers still provide support to the disadvantaged, and we wanted this kindness to be acknowledged and communicated through the advertisement, with the purpose of retaining our current 13 to 15% giving customers who support this project and to increase this number to 20% over the next 5 years,” she continues.

Directed by Diar, the advertisement features Ster-Kinekor’s employees from various departments saying “thank you” in South Africa’s 11 official languages.

But there’s more to the advertisement than first meets the eye: the font used in the words and the background of “floating” letters is the same as that used by optometrists in conducting eye tests. The music, colours and images carry a subtle underlying message and work together to create a powerful, emotional impact.

“The team, consisting of sound engineer Anthony Mearns, graphic designer Victor Jacobs, and editor Elaine Fifield, was confronted by two key challenges in the production of this ad,” explains Diar. “Firstly, this is not an advertisement to sell a product. We needed to convey a sincere, heartfelt message, which is not as easy to communicate via film as one would think. Secondly, we decided to use real Ster-Kinekor staff members. While providing more credibility for the advertisement, none of them are professional actors or actresses, so from a director’s point of view, I had to take a different approach to get the right shots and ensure that the emotion conveyed in the final cut was genuine. You can see it in their eyes,” he concludes passionately.

While not the typical fun, light-hearted project they are used to, the production team at Spectrum displayed their diverse skills and talents and rose to the challenge to create a message of depth and symbolism which evokes an emotive reaction from the audience. “The advertisement is simple, yet professional,” says Engelman, “and it emulates Ster-Kinekor’s values of interdependence and common purpose”.

The “thank you” message will go live in December at all Ster-Kinekor theatres across the country.

For more information about Spectrum’s production facility please contact Dinesh Diar on 011 691 6900 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For more information about the Vision Mission project please visit the Ster-Kinekor website: www.sterkinekor.com or email Geraldine Engelman on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .