Ekhaya Backpackers

We use culture to pull people in rather than interrupt them. We believe stories should be felt before they are watched. For Ekhaya Backpackers, we did not promote a television series. We created an experience that South Africans could step into first.

The Insight

South africans often fall in love with their country through travel experiences. Reviews, listings, and bucket lists shape how places are discovered and trusted. Booking dot com plays a central role in this behaviour, with sixty percent of local travellers using the platform to book accommodation. If trust and belief live there, then that is where the story needed to begin.

The Idea

Instead of advertising the show, we listed it. We turned ekhaya backpackers into a real booking. A fictional soweto backpackers was placed inside the world’s most trusted travel platform. It was not presented as a trailer or a promotion, but as a lived experience.

The Execution

We created a fully functional booking dot com listing using images and details from the series. There was no luxury and no five star promise, just an honest and recognisably south african stay. We drove traffic through digital audio and social media, offering bookings at thirty nine rand, the same price as showmax mobile. After booking, guests received a whatsapp confirmation. Then communication stopped. Frustration followed, and as expected, south africans took to x to complain.