Grid Worldwide delivers another game-changing African rebrand | The New Showmax  

In a bold move to revolutionise streaming in Africa, MultiChoice has launched the new Showmax. With the aim of becoming the number one streamer across the continent, the updated Showmax offers customers an effortless, affordable and accessible way to stream African and international content, including the English Premier League, all with a powerful new look and feel.

As a company that builds brands, Grid Worldwide has worked with MultiChoice over the past 18 months to deliver a Showmax product that is stronger at every touch point. “Brand elevation is about curating an end-to-end solution that caters to customer needs, improves the user journey, enhances brand status, and ultimately builds business equity in a way that is meaningful and impactful,” says Xavier Marot, General Manager at Grid and agency lead for the MultiChoice account.

The rebrand of Showmax is holistic in every sense and tailored for Africa in functionality and experience. The multi-million-Rand investment into the content offering, new products such as Premier League in your pocket, competitive price points, and strategic partnerships are a testament to the group’s ambition of scaling rapidly across the continent.

Digital first

Showmax’s utilisation of best-in-class streaming technology has not only widened the product offering but compelled the brand update to be considered from a digital-first perspective. Grid integrated heavily into the streaming platform, ensuring that every element of the user interface enhanced the overall brand experience whether on mobile, laptop or television. In addition, brand applications were reviewed for predominantly mobile users, as 60% of the African population access the internet via their mobile devices.

For Africa by Africa

As a brand that seeks to put Africa first, the new Showmax colour palette intentionally pays homage to the African horizon. Far more than just colour consideration, the vibrant rebrand provides category distinction, showcases brand tone, and revitalises a streaming service that is not only world-class, but fit for Africa. Ensuring it resonated with current consumers, testing of the revitalised brand also revealed that 80% of Showmax customers preferred the new brand and cited it as one that would drive them to subscribe.  

‘X’ marks the start

In a creative solution to update the existing brand identity, the team transformed the existing static ‘X’ in Showmax into the key communication element. The ‘X’ became the central entry point for the brand and is now used dynamically on the customer interface to display information and as the holding device to promote the array of local and international content on the platform.

The playful and imaginative brand personality of Showmax was also brought to life in unique X-shaped avatars that allow the customer and partner brands to own a character within the brand identity. For example, the Premier League is upweighted in its own avatar, bringing authenticity and a unique identity to the partnership. “We wanted to appeal to the more personable characteristics of a streaming service,” explains Gregory Trombetta, Executive Creative Director at Grid Worldwide. “These avatars have already been so well received and speak to the brand’s playful personality as Africa’s original storyteller.”

Distinctive content system

As a streaming service’s hero product is the content that it offers, the Showmax rebrand was intentionally designed to best support, enable and empower just that. The brand CI was meticulously curated to house the dynamic application of content across different platforms and successfully promote the key offering of the business.

“We’ve invested in every aspect of Showmax to help us achieve our ambition of becoming Africa’s number one. It was never just about a pretty new logo. Grid is one of the few agencies that appreciates that challenge and partnered with us to develop a brand that enabled our business,” comments Yatish Narsi, Chief Marketing Officer of MultiChoice Group.

Proudly adding Showmax to its stable of iconic African rebrands, Grid, who was named Medium-Sized Agency of the Year in Financial Mail’s AdFocus Awards in 2022 and 2023, is excited about the prospects that lie ahead as MultiChoice grows and strengthens.

“We’re not just another agency. Our intentional approach to Investment Creative™ has allowed us to grow with the MultiChoice business,” states David Cohen, joint CEO and partner at Grid. “Their success is our success, and we are passionate about working with companies that seek to build on African business and talent.”