A new television commercial in the University of Pretoria’s (UP) ‘A World of Answers’ campaign innovatively highlights the work UP researchers have been doing to help in the national and global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The advert can be viewed here and is being flighted on a number of major TV channels.

“Shooting the advert posed significant challenges, since our campuses are no longer the hives of activity they once were,” says Isabel de Necker, Senior Marketing Manager at UP. “We therefore had to develop a concept that used the empty and open spaces to show that even though we are in lockdown, there is still significant work being done at UP in the global fight against COVID-19.”

The advert is the latest in UP’s A World of Answers brand campaign, which was launched in 2019. “This campaign positions UP as a leading research-intensive university by highlighting our world firsts in research, which included our researchers working with the international team that was responsible for the first image of a black hole, and the first middle-ear transplant using 3D-printed bones, among others,” De Necker says.

The campaign included a television commercial, print and social media adverts, as well as a broadcasting component with an online podcast series that highlighted UP researchers on the 702 talk radio station.  

Following the success of this campaign, Professor Tawana Kupe, UP Vice-Chancellor and Principal, wanted to highlight the University of Pretoria’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the solutions UP has provided. According to Prof Kupe, “UP’s research is of a world-class standard, and our research has a direct benefit on society by finding solutions to transform lives for the better. We were one of the largest institutions which encouraged staff and students to work from home even before we went to lockdown, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within our community. We did so based on the advice of our own experts and international trends at the time.”