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Busy Month for Treble

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It was a busy month for the Treble Group as the annual General Tire Lifesaving South Africa National Club Championships took place at Kings Beach for the second year running in Port Elizabeth during late-March.

The event, which has seen some encouraging changes over the past few years, brings together 1 700 athletes from more than 40 clubs and saw them compete in 528 events over seven days to make it the biggest competitive carnival of its kind in the history of South African lifesaving.

As the exclusive commercial and marketing agency to Lifesaving South Africa, while also being the brand activation agency for title sponsors, General Tire SA, Treble worked tirelessly to deliver a world-class event that has a strong family-orientated element. And with Wimpy South Africa joining this year’s event as associate sponsor, Lifesaving South Africa has added even more value to the competitors and fans.

With increased media exposure through Independent Media and Sport24’s online platform, the flagship event has become a major fixture on the South African sporting calendar. Treble’s senior account manager for Lifesaving South Africa, Carmen Taylor, has the seen the annual event go from strength to strength in just a couple of years and is encouraged by its growth.

“Watching the growth of this prestigious event has been a pleasure to witness. Lifesaving South Africa is a voluntary institution built on community and family sharing in a healthy and outdoor lifestyle. The competitive spirit matches the goodwill and sportsmanship that resonates during the championships. Having Wimpy SA on board, has enhanced these values going forward.

“What’s also been encouraging to see is how successful the centralisation of the entire event has been. Last year saw Lifesaving South Africa and General Tire South Africa initiate the very first consolidation of the full spectrum of its national championship events into one extended platform in Port Elizabeth, with the Pool events held at Newton Park and the Surf events at King’s Beach.

“This has been a masterstroke in ensuring competitors [and families] all participate under one event. Nippers, Juniors and Seniors, plus the Pool event, compete in a single competition structure, making the organisation and logistics behind the scenes a streamlined exercise that fulfills every aspect of Lifesaving South Africa’s vision.”

The second year since the reintroduction of surf boat racing, known as the Surf Boat Shootout, has become one of the more popular and spectacular events at the General Tire Lifesaving South Africa National Club Championships. It’s one of the iconic lifesaving events with a rich heritage that has been in the wilderness for many decades.

The surf boat race involves a five-person team and an eight-metre fibreglass oar-driven surf boat. Four members of the team (rowers or crew) row and one member steers the boat (sweep). The crew rows out through the break and around a buoy approximately 500-metres out to sea and returns to the beach.

Surf boat veteran of over 30 years and the 2019 Shootout winning captain, Dave Clements, has been overawed by the interest in the event and is happy to see its regeneration.

“Last Champs was a new era in surf-boating. Thanks to Treble, it was the first time in many decades that we had any form of TV and media coverage, and prize money. Besides that, the coverage on SuperSport was priceless for the sport. The whole lead-up and execution of the event sparked new interest among all the top clubs across SA and we look forward to the coming years.”

 

General Tire sponsorship of Lifesaving South Africa catches award-winning attention

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Sandton, Johannesburg – The Sport Industry Group shortlisted the General Tire sponsorship of Lifesaving South Africa for “Best New Sponsorship” at the 2018 Sport Industry Awards. Treble Group, the exclusive commercial and marketing agents of the sponsorship, partnered General Tire with Lifesaving South Africa in November 2016 in a joint effort to promote safety on the road and safety in the water. We are exceptionally proud of the achievement and with the awareness that the sponsorship has brought to lifesaving in our country.

The marketing campaign takes advantage of Treble’s 360° approach and unites General Tire and LSA’s shared vision of adventure, sport and safety. Covering three key areas, namely, community service, lifesaving as a sport and drowning prevention education, our marketing solution raises awareness with a comprehensive branding and communications solution.

Community service

In the first year, Treble made sure that all 86 lifesaving clubs in South Africa received duty branding, with all 4,500 active lifeguards receiving fully-branded duty kit. LSA was proud to carry the General Tire brand on all designs, emphasising the team effort between the two organisations. We also managed the GT LSA Duty Calls social media competition, which successfully encouraged lifesaving clubs and their local communities to promote the sponsorship across a wide variety of platforms.

Lifesaving as a sport

In March 2017, General Tire stepped up as the title sponsor to the Lifesaving SA Surf National Championships, in Cape Town for the Junior/Senior age categories and in Port Elizabeth for the Nipper age category. Through an ongoing, innovative media campaign, Treble crafted all editorial content in-house and ensured constant media engagement and awareness in print, digital media and television. This included the introduction “Lifesaving” as a unique sporting category on the Sport24 website and network of media, complete with General Tire branding on the web page. The event also received coverage on SuperSport with two 26-minute segments on SS Showcase and SS Catch-up.

Drowning prevention education

General Tire also sponsored LSA’s Schools Watersmart Programme, a CSI programme that aims to enrich the drowning prevention portion of South Africa’s national curriculum. General Tire and LSA take education around drowning prevention to the next level with interactive talks and workshops, and excursions to the beach, where learners get to witness lifesavers in action. The programme has trained 48 facilitators throughout South Africa, who, in turn, reached over 17,000 learners in 2017. This does not include the number of learners affected by 15,000 posters and flyers distributed at school outreaches and social events.

 

Since the inception of the sponsorship in January 2017, lifesaving in South Africa has grown form strength to strength and the awareness of the General Tire brand has become synonymous with lifesaving. We are holding thumbs for General Tire and Lifesaving South Africa for the Sport Industry Awards in May 2018.

Treble Group congratulates Lifesaving South Africa on achieving Federation of the Year at the 2017 SA Sport Awards

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Johannesburg – Lifesaving South Africa walked away with the prestigious title of Federation of the Year at the 2017 SA Sport Awards on November 12, 2017. Treble Group is extremely proud of LSA’s accomplishment and of what the hard work that our partnership has achieved.

LSA has been the national association for lifesaving and lifesaving sport since 1913, and has saved over 120,000 people from drowning in that time. Today, they are leading the fight against drowning with over 7,000 volunteer lifeguard patrolling beaches, lakes and pools across South Africa.

In December 2016, Treble began their exciting journey as the exclusive commercial and marketing partner to LSA by igniting General Tire’s sponsorship of the organisation. General Tire, a brand of Continental Tyre SA, has agreed to an initial three-year commitment to LSA with an initial budget of R5.2 million. As LSA’s primary sponsor, General Tire has assisted lifesaving clubs and members with duty kit and duty area equipment. General Tire has committed a media investment to elevate the profile of the organisation as well as the sport in South Africa. The media exposure delivered by Treble and General Tire has helped the sport of lifesaving to grow and compete with other national sporting codes.

Treble has also been integral in confirming HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco as Patron to Lifesaving South Africa and the initiation of an ongoing partnership with the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation SA. The partnership launched with a donation of 200 rescue craft to LSA, worth R2 million. Her involvement has added another dimension to a significant year for LSA.

In 2017, General Tire and LSA launched an active education program aimed at decreasing drowning-related tragedies among children and adults. The Watersmart programme is a classroom-based, educational water safety program developed to complement the current Grade 4 Life Orientation curriculum. The program, presented by LSA Watersmart facilitators, was delivered free-of-charge to 80 schools nationwide, reaching over 12,000 learners in its first year.

Treble has truly enjoyed the journey with Lifesaving South Africa so far. Congratulations to LSA on winning Federation of the Year. You truly deserve it and we are proud to have worked with you, General Tire and HSH Princess Charlene to showcase what you are made of! We look forward to creating many more memories like these in the future.

Watch LSA President, Dylan Tommy in an interview with Sport Federation TV, talking about what Treble has delivered this year: https://youtu.be/6siCQb29ZcA?t=632

For more information on Treble’s involvement with LSA, visit: https://www.treblegroup.com/tag/lifesaving-south-africa/

Treble announces Princess Charlene’s patronage of Lifesaving South Africa

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Umhlanga, Durban – It was a gathering of well-known local dignitaries and friends of Her Serene Highness, Princess Charlene of Monaco, who were present to witness the announcement of The Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation in South Africa’s patronage of General Tire Lifesaving South Africa. Treble was there to pull out all the stops and deliver a royal-standard event.

Treble staged the announcement at the luxurious Beverly Hills Hotel in Umhlanga and was attended we invited such dignitaries as former South African Rugby star John Smit and current Springbok Tendai The Beast Mtwarira. Numerous South African Surf Legends were also there to make their presence felt, including Shawn Thompson and Jason Ribbink. The host for the night was South African comedian and the official LSA brand ambassador, Siv Ngesi, who kept the crowd in giggles throughout the evening.

As the exclusive commercial partner to Lifesaving South Africa, Treble worked with LSA to secure HSH Princess Charlene to come on board as the official patron to the impactful organisation. Having a common goal and vision of promoting water safety, HSH Princess Charlene accepted this special call, which is close to her heart.

Mr Gavin Varejes, President of PCMFSA, also announced the distribution of two-hundred rescue boards, valued in excess of R 2 million, from PCMFSA to LSA, in conjunction Cell C and Richmark Holdings. This will see that every LSA-affiliated lifesaving club in South Africa receives rescue boards to carry on their critical service to the community. DHL came on board again to manage the delivery of the rescue boards to all clubs in the country.

The Treble team facilitated our usual world-class standard of event management, securing the venue, coordinating décor and catering, and delivering the dazzling branding solution. We are extremely grateful to Her Serene Highness, Princess Charlene of Monaco, for taking on this role and we look forward to working with her Foundation.

Treble delivers world-class branding and media solution for 2017 General Tire Lifesaving SA National Championships

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Camps Bay, Cape Town / Kings Beach, Port Elizabeth – Treble recently activated two outstanding events over two weeks for the General Tire Lifesaving South Africa National Championships, lifting the profile of the sport in the South African sporting sphere and giving the sport and organisation the recognition it deserves.

As the exclusive commercial agent for Lifesaving South Africa (LSA) and the marketing agency for the General Tire sponsorship of LSA, Treble was the official branding and communications agency for the Master and Junior & Senior National Championships held in Camps Bay, Cape Town from March 30 to April 1, and for the Nipper National Championships held at Kings Beach, Port Elizabeth from April 6 to April 8.

Treble Group Managing Director, Kyle Nel comments, “We are proud to have staged and facilitated this excellent, world-class sporting event, and ensuring our clients project their objectives accordingly. We are thrilled to associate ourselves with such a community, and to join the drive in growing awareness around water safety and drowning prevention.”

LSA’s mission is to be recognised as the world’s leading water safety organisation, which is accessible to all communities, and to be at the forefront in the development of aquatic skill, measured by competition, dynamic leadership and marketability. Treble secured General Tire as the official sponsor of Lifesaving South Africa, in a move that fitted perfectly with General Tire’s mission to be safe on the road, as well as in the water.

In addition, Treble was responsible for securing additional partners to the events. DHL was appointed as the official logistic partner for LSA and aQuellé came on board as the official water supplier.

A full branding solution, which included beach branding, inflatable competition arenas, stage and big screens, a VIP viewing tower and a public activation zone, Treble was the master mind behind the success of the events.

A well-crafted social media and communications content plan engaged with the clubs and lifesavers across all lifesaving platforms. A media partnership with media giant Independent Group included daily and weekly coverage in local newspapers (Weekend Argus, Cape Argus, Saturday Independent and Sunday Tribune) to promote and showcase the event across the country. The Treble Media video production team was responsible for shooting a range of inserts for SuperSport. This included a Showcase feature, five Catch Up inserts, two Blitz inserts and two dedicated 26 minutes highlights programmes, which featured on SuperSport in April. These televised showcases are a type of broadcast that LSA had not been exposed to previously.

The events were well supported by a host of local South African celebrities for the General Tire Lifesaving SA Celebrity Challenge. Springbok rugby legend Percy Montgomery, local comedian and Lifesaving SA brand ambassador Siv Ngesi, Paralympian swimmer Achmat Hassiem (himself a former lifeguard), and Expresso presenter Ewan Strydom, competed against each other over a series of lifesaving events. The grand prize of R20,000 donation to a charity of choice. The prize went to Percy Montgomery, who donated it to the SA Children’s Home, as well as the GT LSA Water Smart Programme.

Treble is proud to have facilitated this exciting partnership and to have delivered a professional sports event. The ability to leverage and maximise the various elements that the General Tire sponsorship provides has been an amazing experience and we are excited to deliver even more in the future.

For more information about General Tire and Lifesaving South Africa, visit: https://www.lifesaving.co.za/gtlsa/, or follow GT and LSA on social media:

General Tire: Facebook @GeneralTireSA   Twitter @generaltire_sa   Instagram @generaltire_sa

Lifesaving SA: Facebook @LifesavingSouthAfrica   Twitter @LifesavingSA   Instagram @lifesavingsouthafrica

General Tire and Lifesaving South Africa launch sponsorship & call-to-action to captivated media!

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa – The glamourous Grand Beach Café in sunny Cape Town was abuzz with media, lifeguards, City officials, industry executives, personalities and swimwear models on Wednesday afternoon for the grand announcement of General Tire as the official sponsor of Lifesaving South Africa.

The event opened with refreshing cocktails at the Grand’s opulent beach bar, before commencing with the business of the day.

Guests were ushered into the cool shade of the restaurant where the press conference began with Kyle Nel, MD of Treble Group, introducing the first speaker of the day, President of Lifesaving South Africa’s (LSA) Dylan Tommy.

Tommy touched on key points on preventative drowning, safe swimming zones and LSA’s commitment to reducing the number of drownings. He also schooled media on the Water Smart programme, whereby LSA had trained up 43 presenters to go into schools conveying their water safety mission statement in the form of an interactive lesson, which was heard by 9000 learners over a period of 6 months.

His speech was a perfect lead in to Dr Colleen Saunders’ talk on drowning statistics and the shocking statistics that there are roughly 1500 fatal drownings in South Africa every year, most drownings occur in children under the age of five years old and that for every female that drowns, there are four males that drown. Dr Saunders also mentioned how much of a positive impact the General Tire sponsorship could mean for research and statistics, which would mean more accurate reporting on annual drownings which in turn would protect the most vulnerable members of the populace.

Jamie Jacobson, lifeguard at Clifton Lifesaving Club, says he became a lifeguard, at first, for sport and because of the fun factor, but as he got older he enjoyed helping people, keeping the beach safe while learning new skills.

Spearheading the General Tire LSA sponsorship is Niel Langner, Marketing Manager of Continental Tyre South Africa (Conti), who also highlighted the importance of having fun on the beach, a dam, a home swimming pool, driving home General Tire’s pay off line ‘Anywhere Is Possible’. Langner expressed GT’s delight in getting involved in an initiative with ‘soul’ – ‘There is a good synergy in what we’re trying to achieve by reducing the amount of road related fatalities. It’s about facilitating the work of the 7000 volunteers of Lifesaving South Africa, multiplying their efficiency by providing funding and providing equipment.’

General Tire has come on board to support LSA across their three main areas of operations:

  1. Naming Rights Partner to both Senior and Nipper National Championships
  2. Primary Partner to LSA Duty Squads
  3. Presenting Partner to LSA Schools Water Safety Programme

The overall Call to Action was for parents, City officials, Lifesaving South Africa, General Tire executives and members of the media, to help reduce the number of drownings around the country.

Members of LSA then went on to simulate a rescue in the crisp waters of Granger Bay, to an astounded crowd, some whom have never seen a rescue take place before. All the action was captured on a Go-Pro which underlined the importance of LSA’ work and punctuated the event with an actuality aspect.

The launch ended with members of the media and invited guests schmoozing, networking and being treated to delicious ‘beach lunch’ and drinks which rounded off an informative launch in a beautiful setting in the Summer sun.

General Tire and Lifesaving South Africa partner to promote water safety across South Africa

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa, 20 December 2016 – We are proud to announce that the General Tire brand is officially the new title sponsor to Lifesaving South Africa (LSA). The General Tire brand is a brand of Continental Tyre South Africa. In line with the Continental Tyre South Africa road safety ‘Vision Zero’ initiative, General Tire identified the opportunity to partner with LSA to not only keep you safe on the roads but to keep you safe when you are at the beach, swimming pools or at a dam. The General Tire motto is “Anywhere is Possible,” enabling customers to enjoy their journeys and adventures. Keeping you Safe on the Road and on the Beach!

LSA is a service and sporting organisation that is committed to providing lifeguarding services and to help the development of aquatic skills to all communities of South Africa. LSA equips thousands of lifeguards with the skills needed to protect South African beaches and inland swimming areas to create safe havens for tourists and communities.

During the peak season, between December and January, South Africa experiences a high rate of drownings and road accidents. The General Tire and LSA partnership is the perfect blend of both environments, illustrating the importance of promoting safety on the road and safety on the beach.

“General Tire is proud to be associated with LSA. General Tire is committed to making a difference and partnering not only with LSA, but making a difference to all the voluntary lifeguards who contribute to the safety of the South African public,” said Niel Langner, CTSA Marketing Manager.

General Tire has come on board to support LSA across their three main areas of operations:

  1. Naming Rights Partner to both Senior and Nipper National Championships
  2. Primary Partner to LSA Duty Squads
  3. Presenting Partner to LSA Schools Water Safety Programme

Niel Langner stated, “We are both proud and excited about this opportunity to partner with LSA. We have made an initial 3-year commitment and look forward to working with lifeguards, clubs and LSA to build our profile and association with this great South African organisation and the public who enjoy the benefits of the service that LSA provides.”

“We appreciate and understand the difference this sponsorship will make to Lifesaving South Africa. We are very aware of the tough economic climate and to have an international brand like General Tire come on board to support LSA is greatly appreciated. We are committed to working closely with the General Tire team to ensure that both our and their objectives are met as we move forward together,” said Dylan Tommy, LSA President.

Treble Group is proud to have facilitated this exciting partnership. The Treble team has a thorough understanding of the sport and service LSA provides and will work with General Tire and LSA to leverage and maximise the various elements that the sponsorship provides. In due course, working with LSA, more detailed information will be coming forth regarding the opportunities and benefits General Tire plans to initiate with LSA and its associated Club.