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Driving Holiday Swap KZN to victory

Innovative reality TV show wins top international award

Holiday Swap KZN

December 2015 - South Africa's ground-breaking reality TV show, Holiday Swap KZN, which showcased exciting holiday adventures in KwaZulu-Natal while exploring the breath-taking landscape of the province, has won a major international content marketing award.

The show scooped the Most Native Ad Format Award at the inaugural Drum Content Awards in the UK, beating off strong competition from global campaigns by Philips and Mercedes Benz.

First Car Rental is proud to have been the reality show's official transport partner.

Holiday Swap KZN was an innovative partnership between First Car Rental's BEE partner, Thebe Tourism Group, and Tourism KZN, that aimed to showcase KwaZulu-Natal as an appealing, easy and affordable travel destination to middle class South Africans.

The show first aired on SABC1 in February 2015 and ran for 13 weeks. In each episode, two teams of three friends went head-to-head to win the holiday of their dreams. Teams were required to complete adventurous, and sometimes daunting challenges, like dirt carting, zorbing and skydiving that took them to the far corners of KZN.

First Car Rental provided the teams with vehicles for all the challenges over the 13 weeks.


Holiday Swap KZN

From left to right: Image 1: Celebs from the first episode of Holiday Swap KZN. Image 2: Team Arabian Punks cheering on Team WowKZN to the finish line in Episode 3



Thebe Investment Corporation

Said Jerry Mabena, CEO of Thebe Services, "The recognition received through this accolade is a very proud moment for every team member who worked tirelessly to create the quality production collectively achieved. To be recognised on a global scale by The Drum Content Awards, competing against big brands like Mercedes and Phillips, is a milestone and highlight to a project we are proud to have our name associated with."

Commenting on Holiday Swap KZN's win, the Awards judges said, "Holiday Swap KZN was an engaging use of the TV game show format with high target-audience appeal, as evidenced by an amazing uplift in viewer figures over the series and all executed on a very keen budget."

What is Native Advertising

The Drum Content Awards, new for 2015, honoured the best in modern marketing, with Holiday Swap KZN's award recognising the rise of native advertising.

Native advertising if a form of marketing where brands pay for the placement of content on platforms outside of their own media. The content is usually entertaining and targeted to a specific audience. Native advertising doesn't disrupt the user experience and offers helpful information in a format similar to other content on the media channel.

In December, stand the chance of winning flights, car hire and accommodation in the Fly / Drive / Stay competition, courtesy of FlySafair, First Car Rental and Anytime Holidays. To enter, click here.

First in Car Hire. First in Service.