When Castle Lite and Bathu were looking to come together and create something extraordinary, the courtship wasn’t a long one.  Both brands are very much in touch with culture and at the forefront of setting trends.  So, it made perfect sense for them to come together and share their platforms with one another.

Castle Lite is the biggest premium beer brand in Africa, not only serving extra cold beer across the continent, but also setting trends in experiences, brand innovation and culture. Bathu, on the other hand, is an innovative shoe design brand that wants to use its creative work to tell the untold South African township story to the world. And it is here where they intersect; rooted in their innovative and ground-breaking DNA, are two brands who do experiential very well, and this lets them tell a story that transcends borders. “Castle Lite and Bathu are like-minded brands with many parallels.

The consumer is at the centre of both these brands, and with that in mind, ideas brought to life are meaningful and culture shaping. It was a privilege to partner with Bathu and use our platform to tell the story of a very successful South African product. Like Castle Lite, Bathu is bold and authentic, unlocking a space for consumers to step out, have fun and look good doing it.” said Castle Lite Brand Director, Silke Bucker.

For Founder and MD of Bathu, Theo Baloyi, it’s really been about staying true to both brands’ authenticity and what their consumers love about them. “Bathu has an extremely loyal following and growth trajectory while Castle Lite is a well-established brand with a phenomenal following and footprint, and this supports the Bathu expansion strategy,” he said.

Whether it is hosting the biggest Hip-Hop concert in Africa, or telling a story that is unique to Mzansi, the innovative nature of Castle Lite and Bathu is undeniable and it seeps through the resultant shoe which they have launched, as well as the Unbox Yourself campaign which is being used to market the collaboration. Baloyi and Bucker shared similar sentiments, saying that they wanted to give people the gift of self-expression.

“The idea behind the shoe was to create an “open canvas” effect. This allows people to express themselves through customization as they UNBOX themselves,” he expressed. Everything that Castle Lite and Bathu did was centred around the consumer to ensure that they are participating and getting value out of this collaboration.

This approach ensured that everything was engaging, such as bringing the consumer into the process to choose where the brands should launch the campaign via an online poll. “Unbox yourself talks about our consumer being reunited with the Street and the freedom thereof,. The new-normal and new-found love for freedom inspired our campaign call-to-action and aims to inspire our consumer to go out into the streets with the latest swag – always acting responsibly off course,” Bucker concluded.