Perfect partner
From teenage hit-and-runs (RIP Ben Kunutu) to sugar baby scandals (Welcome back Rachel), bullying, binge drinking (RIP Jama), and underage drinking, the show has mostly hit the mark in tackling youth-related issues head-on.
That made it the perfect partner for Aware.org’s latest Makers of Tomorrow campaign — a youth-focused initiative designed to shift the underage drinking conversation away from prohibition and fear, toward agency, aspiration, and self-respect.
Aware.org’s CEO, Mokebe Thulo, says the move away from “don’t drink” messaging was intentional. Fear-based appeals had lost their power; young people were disengaged, operating on “social autopilot.” By reframing the conversation to focus on what teens could say yes to — their goals, their independence, and their future — the campaign aimed to disrupt that inertia.
With a strong background in marketing and insights she knows that attention is earned, not given — and that relevance is non-negotiable.
"In marketing, you quickly learn the importance of deep audience insight, creative bravery, and meeting people where they are. In this space, I (and those I work with) apply the same principles, but with a sharper lens on empathy and impact. You can’t change behaviour if you haven’t first earned trust, and trust comes from listening before you speak," she says.
Listening before speaking
Wonder’s head of strategy, Muzi Mthombeni, says this meant starting where young people are, not where adults wish they were. That required listening before speaking, gathering insights from youth voices across South Africa, and building the message into platforms they already trust.
Muzi Mthombeni 7 Apr 2025 From TikTok street interviews to Roblox activations to prime-time Skeem Saam storylines, the campaign met young audiences in their cultural spaces, using each medium’s unique strengths — immersion, immediacy, and emotional connection.
The compelling Skeem Saam narrative arc spread across 24 episodes showing a character grappling with the real consequences of underage drinking; and an authentic, peer-led TikTok series that spreads the message in ways young people find relatable and genuine.
According to Wonder, the campaign delivered remarkable results — reaching over 25 million people, engaging 5 million Roblox players, generating 12 million TikTok views, and drawing 10 million weekly Skeem Saam viewers.
Co-creation
Both client and agency emphasise that authenticity wasn’t a bolt-on, it was the foundation. Co-creation with young people shaped everything from casting to content style. As Thulo puts it:
“Respect is the starting point for any meaningful change. When you speak with young people, you acknowledge their intelligence, agency, and lived reality. That’s what makes them more likely to engage, share, and champion the message themselves. Our role isn’t to be the moral police — it’s to be a credible partner in their decision-making journey.”
For Mthombeni, that respect translated into a hands-on, collaborative process:
“Co-creation was central, not cosmetic. From the earliest stages, young people influenced the where, the how, and the what of our storytelling. They pointed us toward Roblox as a relevant gaming environment. They told us that TikTok street-style interviews would feel most organic. They shaped our casting decisions to reflect characters they see in their own lives. They even pushed us beyond digital spaces, into cultural mainstays like one of South Africa’s most-watched soapies. Their fingerprints are on every layer of the work — which is exactly why it resonates.”
The result is a campaign that doesn’t talk at young people, but builds with them — a blueprint for youth engagement that, in Thulo’s words, treats them as collaborators rather than passive recipients, and validates them as the true makers of tomorrow.
Concludes Mthombeni: "Future youth campaigns must be more than well-crafted messages, they must be acts of validation."
