How MTN Celebrated South Africa’s 12th Official Language
This year’s Rugby World Cup coincided with another significant event, Deaf Awareness Month. In South Africa, with the prospects of the Springboks rugby team winning the fourth cup in a row, and sign language being added to the official list of 12 languages in the country, celebrating both at the same time was a given – at least for the MTN and TBWA Hunt Lascaris teams.
The mobile network approached the creative agency to rally the entire country around the South African rugby team, by singing songs of encouragement – known as Gwijo – which are part of the World Cup celebrations. But of course, there are many deaf people in the country who were left out of these celebratory songs and so, the teams behind the campaign began translating Gwijo and Xhosa songs of encouragement into sign language, to deliver a memorable first.
Conveying the signed songs and driving the celebrations in this spot are singer Cathy Williams and children from St Vincent School for the Deaf. “It was important to Cathy and the St Vincent kids that they weren’t seen as sign language ‘interpreters’, but that they were literally singing ‘Mtaka Mama’ in their voice, in their language,” the creatives at TBWA explain.
To share more about the process, TBWA Hunt Lascaris senior copywriter Brendan Jack, creative director Greig Watt, creative director Juliet Honey and creative director and copywriter Jared Osmond all speak to LBB’s Nisna Mahtani.
LBB> Sign language is now South Africa’s 12th official language. How has this created a conversation and awareness in the country and why was it so important to acknowledge and celebrate?
Brendan, Greig, Juliet & Jared> Our country has 12 official languages, but it also has 35 native languages. It’s a really diverse country. So being able to include our latest official language was extremely important to us. If you know South Africans, we’re a very welcoming country; including the deaf community made us happy and proud. This collaboration embodies the true spirit of South Africa, where diversity is celebrated and inclusiveness is championed. A testament to our collective commitment to win as a country, no matter our differences and abilities.
An amazing statistic that speaks to conversation and awareness is that, during the campaign, local online searches for ‘How to learn sign language’ increased by 125%.
LBB> Tell us about what MTN wanted to achieve with this spot – which went live in Deaf Awareness Month – and how you came on board to support them.
Brendan, Greig, Juliet & Jared> The initial brief was to create a massive nationwide campaign to galvanise the entire country behind the Springboks, who faced winning an unprecedented fourth Rugby World Cup. For this, we used the power of Gwijo, and Xhosa songs of encouragement which are deeply embedded in our local culture. But we soon realised that over four million South Africans showed their support in another way… those who used signing to sing. With the World Cup aligning with Deaf Awareness Month, it was the perfect opportunity to include our deaf community.
LBB> Songs of encouragement – known as Gwijo – are part of the Rugby World Cup celebrations. How did you go about incorporating sign language into this tradition?
Brendan, Greig, Juliet & Jared> Gwijo is the backbone of the campaign. From what we could tell, this was the first time Gwijo got translated into sign language for a nationwide integrated campaign. We partnered with St Vincent School for the Deaf, who took the lead in translating the chosen song, ‘Mtaka Mama’. One thing with Gwijo is that there aren’t always perfect translations from Xhosa to English, as these traditional songs can be interpreted in slightly different ways – so we briefed the teachers and students to create the best version possible to share with the country.
St Vincent also got to perform live during halftime for an international rugby crowd and created online tutorials teaching everyone how to sing the song in sign language.
LBB> The visual imagery of the campaign is striking with the choir singing and signing along. Can you tell us a little bit about the planning process behind this?
Brendan, Greig, Juliet & Jared> The planning came down to creating a visual spectacle that supported our lead signer, Cathy Williams. It was important to Cathy and the St Vincent kids that they weren’t seen as sign language ‘interpreters’, but that they were literally singing ‘Mtaka Mama’ in their voice, in their language.
So, the core idea was to represent the many unified South African voices supporting the Springboks - but visually, through the physical action of signing the song.
The synchronised choreography of the school kids portrayed this unified sentiment of the actual song lyrics and captured the visual rhythm and beat of the song, while their physical movement is based on exaggerated sign language actions to mimic that of their interpreted lyrics.
We had multiple meetings with the teachers from St Vincent and Cathy, together with our choreographers (Kryptonite Dance Academy), to ensure we delivered the correct signing translation, but thereafter to start building the actions that the kids would perform.
LBB> When it came to the logistics of filming the spot, how did you coordinate and practise with St Vincent School for the Deaf and then what was the process of filming it like?
Brendan, Greig, Juliet & Jared> We rehearsed multiple times with our school kids and Cathy, so the shoot went fairly smoothly. It’s obviously quite a feat to get hearing-impaired people to synchronise to an audio beat, but our incredible choreographers brought their full experience, passion and patience to the project.
They really embraced the fact that the core group of kids were hearing impaired and built the synchronised movements step-by-step by creating visual cues throughout the process. It was really amazing to watch the first rehearsal unfold, and within an hour the kids had it down – focused, confident and caught up in the infectiousness of a song they couldn’t hear but could ‘feel’.
LBB> Why was it important to celebrate inclusiveness in this way and how does South Africa’s spirit champion this message?
Brendan, Greig, Juliet & Jared> Our country faces a lot of socio-economic obstacles and pressures. Winning the World Cup was arguably more important to lift our country’s spirit than any of the other rugby nations. If you saw the celebrations and fans uniting across the country after the tournament, you’d see just how much it meant. With so many languages and cultures, fragmented in so many ways, ensuring that everyone was included was extremely important.
LBB> Why was it important to highlight the sign language within the larger choir and how did that deliver impact within the spot?
Brendan, Greig, Juliet & Jared> The singing was epic and beautiful, goosebump-inspiring. And seeing the visual representation of the song lyrics brought an even bigger feeling to an already big track. Gwijo is all about the harmony of the song, for everyone to be able to participate in the harmony. Seeing sign language adding to the harmony took it to the next level. Highlighting that we were all united, in all 12 official languages.
LBB> For those who don’t understand the language, can you let us into what the words and signs are conveying within this spot?
Brendan, Greig, Juliet & Jared> As mentioned, we feel this is the first time this Gwijo has been interpreted into sign language at this scale. It was important that we got it as perfect as possible. ‘Mtaka Mama’ is about togetherness and the nation’s defiant spirit, emphasising that we’re all brothers and sisters. It’s a soul-stirring anthem that transcends race and language.
LBB> What was the most rewarding part of working on this spot? And what was the most challenging?
Brendan, Greig, Juliet & Jared> The entire process was momentous. We started off with a powerfully meaningful song and then got to work with the kindest, most dedicated staff and kids from St Vincent. It just got better as we progressed, watching everything come together with the entire cast and crew was awe-inspiring.
Every aspect of the production felt like a new learning experience. And getting to work with this community on a project that could actually have such a profound impact, uniting our country as a single voice, was amazing. Even more so now that the Springboks won the World Cup.
LBB> Are there any funny or interesting stories from set that you’d like to share with us?
Brendan, Greig, Juliet & Jared> Just the entire idea of delivering a synchronised ‘dance’ routine, based on an emotionally charged piece of local music, with hearing impaired school kids. It still blows our minds.
