Not since Drum magazine in the 1950s has a print medium caught the hearts and minds of people across Africa like the smash comic series Supa Strikas.
It has become Africa's first mass-market comic phenomenon by harnessing the continent's passion for soccer and the universal appeal of quality comics.
Supa Strikas expanded into Kenya last year. This followed launches in Uganda, Nigeria, Botswana, Namibia and SA in the past two years. Circulation has climbed to more than 1,1m copies and about 10 people read each copy.
The comic features the trials and tribulations of a fictitious local soccer team and its entertaining characters.
Readers are as young as nine and as old as 50, but are mostly in their teens, a notoriously difficult market for advertisers to reach. Strikas' success stems from innovative marketing and distribution models and clever adaptation of an existing concept.
Soccer comics are not new. Anyone who remembers Roy of the Rovers, a post-World War 2 British comic about a soccer hero, will be able to relate to Supa Strikas. What makes this one different, though, is that it makes its money through advertising built into the story. Boards around the fields carry real ads for Nike, Metropolitan and Spur restaurants, and cartoon taxis are branded. Caltex sponsors the team. Holding company Strika Entertainment has secured long-term sponsorships from other leading brands, including Coke. Each country has its own basket of advertisers.
Caltex was the first advertiser to take the plunge . "We went to Caltex with a concept," says Oliver Power, cofounder and director of Strika Entertainment. "They saw the potential and signed up almost immediately."
The benefits for Caltex have been significant. "Caltex has become synonymous with Super Strikas," says the fuel company's brand specialist, Janet Finch. "We built brand recognition and awareness in a new market very quickly." The average reader is not yet driving a car, but Caltex is building loyalty in the next generation of drivers.
Another coup was to convince the holders of the largest newspapers in its target markets to distribute the comic free or for a nominal sum. In SA, City Press gave the fledgling comic a chance in 2001. But after 18 months demand began to outstrip supply and Strika Entertainment entered a joint venture with the Sunday Times.
"Research conducted by BMI Sponsor Watch and Consumer Insight Agency indicated that our readers were exceptionally loyal and would follow the product to a larger circulating carrier," says Power. The move to Sunday Times widened the comic's exposure significantly.
In turn, the newspaper gains the opportunity to cement relations with its readers. "We [Sunday Times] get some of the best response from Strikas readers," says the newspaper's general manager, Andrew Gill.
In Uganda the comic is distributed by the leading newspaper, New Vision, in Kenya by Saturday Nation and in Botswana by Mmegi newspaper. The exceptions to this model are Zambia and Nigeria, where the comic is for sale at news agents and small general dealers.
It may be fictional, but Supa Strikas enjoys a large and loyal fan base, with thousands of official Supa Strikas Supporters Club members.
A number of Supa Strikas' biggest fans now work with the company. Makhosonke Zuma has been following the story since its inception and has collected every comic published in SA. "I'd die for soccer," he says. "But this story, with its good guys and bad guys, is so real that I live in the story and relate to the characters on a personal level." His regular competition entries and meticulously compiled storylines led to him being hired as a researcher.
Another, senior illustrator Mfundo Ndevu, had just flunked his exams in the Eastern Cape when he sent a series of Strikas drawings to the company. "I'm a huge soccer fan, but I've also been drawing since I was young. I sent the drawings in, but I never thought I'd have the opportunity to work here."
Innovative marketing and distribution is only as good as the story is compelling. Here the storytellers have created a home-grown African comic that is relevant to the aspirations and concerns of Africans. The tale combines soccer fantasy and individual aspirations slapped between gritty slices of real life.
"Readers can identify with the characters," says Finch, "because their reality is mirrored in the pages." Social problems feature as story issues, but are dealt with in a constructive and positive fashion without browbeating readers.
In the end, though, Strika Entertainment is a commercial venture. Profitable after just three issues, the company is now turning over around R20m annually and does more than just produce Supa Strikas, though this is the flagship brand.
The company is moving into corporate communications, using comics as the medium of communication. For the Gauteng health department, it produces eKasi, a comic for young people which focuses on HIV/Aids and related social issues.
Other corporate clients include Caltex, BMW, Bank of Botswana and Western Union, which operates in about 30 African countries.
