Layer 1:
Shopper advocacy
100 verified shoppers bought Act II and posted their own “Only in SA” stories to their feeds. Most of the campaign’s volume and trust came from here.
South Africa is a movie: how real shoppers made Act II the popcorn
Act II had been quiet in market for a while and wasn't part of the social conversation. theSalt Activate brought it back with 100 real South Africans, each buying Act II and posting their own “Only in SA” story. Paid media then sent viewers to the Act II page on Checkers Sixty60.
the challenge
Getting Act II back into the conversation
South Africans share "Only in SA" moments all the time, and "grab the popcorn" is already how a lot of people react to them. We wanted Act II to be that popcorn.
the approach
South Africa is a movie. Act II is the popcorn.
The competition mechanic was part of every piece of content:
1
Buy any Act II 3-pack box, or any three individual flavour packs.
2
Share your wildest “Only in SA” moment or story.
3
Post with #MakeItCrunch and #OnlyInSA and tag @act2sa for a chance to win a weekly voucher.
The campaign ran in three layers, each with its own job.
Layer 2:
Lifestyle creators
Three comedy and lifestyle creators led with POV skits and storytelling, which set the tone and got more people joining in.
Layer 3:
Performance media
Creator content ran as whitelisted ads on Meta and TikTok, with deep links that opened the Act II product page on Checkers Sixty60.
Goal vs Achievement
The campaign beat every reach, content and traffic benchmark set in the proposal, most of them by a wide margin, and Act II sales on Sixty60 went up.
5.21x
Link clicks vs benchmark, with 58 636 clicks through to Checkers Sixty60
vs 11 250 planned
369
Pieces of shopper content audited across three platforms (3.69x plan)
IG 34% · TikTok 33% · FB 33%
100
Verified unique advocates
96.2%
Platform saturation rate
21.4x
Organic reach vs plan (2.1M OTS)
8.9/10
Weighted sentiment score
1.8x
Paid impressions vs benchmark, with 1.53M delivered
1.05M
TikTok video views from performance media
~4x
Lower cost per click than planned, and a 6.82% link click-through rate on Meta
+48.4%
Sales on Checkers Sixty60
Average daily Act II sales across the campaign (18 May – 6 August), compared with the pre-campaign baseline from 18 March to 17 May. Units sold rose 42% and orders rose 40% over the same period.
Top-performing content
The pieces that did best were local, funny and unscripted, and each one still explained how to enter.
Yerik Jomei • TikTok
An “Only in SA” rant with a pack of Act II in hand.
123 400 video views
Tee Pillay • Instagram
“POV: you’re the nosy neighbour aunty.”
38 400 video views • 13 155 engagements
Lauren Gouws • Instagram
“Only in South Africa can a normal Tuesday turn into courtroom drama over a crayon.”
61 100 video views • 43 178 engagements
What shoppers said
A lot of the comments came from people saying they'd bought Act II, or were about to.
89% positive 8% neutral
Positive comments mentioned the movie-theatre butter smell, the three-minute cooking time, and good value for movie nights and study breaks. Neutral comments were mostly questions about which flavours were in stock, microwave times and bundle deals.
The takeout: people moved quickly from commenting to buying, which showed that the Sixty60 deep links and the proof-of-purchase mechanic were working.
the short
story
South Africans told the stories, and Act II was in every one of them.
Key takeaway
South Africans were already telling these stories. Now Act II is part of them.
Questions brand marketers ask about this campaign
How did you explain the competition without the content feeling like an ad?
Each shopper and creator told their story first, then showed how to enter: buy the qualifying packs, share a moment, use the hashtags and tag @act2sa. Lots of people commented 'Entered @act2sa', so the instructions were clearly understood.
How did you measure the effect on sales?
The paid ads linked straight to the Act II product page on Checkers Sixty60, and we compared Sixty60 sales during the campaign with the period before it started. Every advocate also uploaded proof of purchase, which we verified.
Why use shoppers, creators and paid media together?
Shoppers bring volume and trust. Creators set the creative tone and make the idea feel current. Paid media gets the best content in front of the right people, with a quick way to buy.
Does the brand own the content produced?
Yes. Brands keep the usage rights to content made through theSalt campaigns and can reuse it on their own channels, in paid media and in future campaigns.
If you're not in the conversation, you're still being talked about.
Your next campaign is already in theSalt's network
More than 730,000 real South Africans, profiled, verified and ready to talk about brands they genuinely connect with. With theSalt Activate, customer voices are accessible at a speed and price point that changes what is possible.
