In a world where convenience is king, shoppers know that more often than not, “easy” means “expensive”. But that’s all changing, courtesy of Makro’s latest locker delivery system, currently being piloted in Gauteng. Now shoppers will have access to Makro’s incredible offers without having to go in store!

Makro’s Marketing Director, Melanie van Rooy, challenged 34 to develop a campaign, with simplicity at its core, to launch this new offering to the market.

Secure lockers were installed at nine Sasol and McDonald’s outlets in Gauteng, allowing online shoppers 24-hour access to collect their purchases. After ordering online and selecting the locker delivery function, users will receive an SMS with a unique code to unlock their purchase at their selected locker – any time, day or night.

This effectively means that the retailer with only 19 stores nationally will open doors in neighbourhoods around the country.

“The first challenge was to find a name for the new delivery system,” said 34’s Creative Director Wilton Ackeer. “It was key that both the name and the campaign reflected the ease and convenience of the delivery system itself.”

“And that’s how Makro Pick-Up was born,” quipped Ackeer. “We wanted a name that told a story of everyday purchases that seamlessly fitted into your daily life.”

The creative concept for the campaign followed suit. 34’s strat and insights team identified the shopper barriers for engagement, which the creative had to solve, which at first proved to be quite a daunting task.

“When inviting new shopper behaviour, it’s important to investigate and analyse what stands between the shopper’s current entrenched ways, and the behaviour we seek to change,” said Elina Nambala, 34’s Strategist. “Makro’s greatest challenge would lie in not only compelling shoppers to make use of the service, but showing them how Makro Pick-Up would add value to their everyday life.”

Ackeer continued, “We considered the hustle and bustle of modern-day living; how a shopper mom will go from beating the early morning traffic to catching her son’s soccer match later that afternoon, and we used this insight as the basis of our creative execution”.

From there, the concept tactically took shape. On street poles, at bus shelters, on social media and digital banner ads, in-store and at tactically relevant events – shoppers were exposed to why Makro’s new online delivery offering fits perfectly into their everyday lives.

Makro’s Marketing Director, Melanie van Rooy, said, “Makro is innovating and we are excited to bring this offering to South Africans, making Makro’s large inventory and great value deals accessible for everyday purchases. We are extremely happy with how well the concept has been received by the public and our online shoppers. We continue to roll-out more lockers as part of the field test and will look to take them beyond petrol forecourts and 24-hour fast food outlets, to business parks and public transport hubs; meaning shoppers can fit Makro in between watching cat videos on the Internet and the 5pm train home”.

34 is a through-the-line agency, with a unique approach to creating demand, driving sales and building brands.