Game Show Makes
South African Retailer a Winner


Cape Town,South Africa - Retail furniture group Ellerine Holdings gained national attention and changed a contestant’s life with its game show “Fortune for You.” Ellerine Holdings teamed up with SCA’s independent distributor Conceptualise to offer contestants one million Rand ($100,000 U.S. dollars) with SCA’s Wheel Spin. Contestants had a chance to spin the wheel and win the grand prize if the wheel stopped on the prize-winning slot.
The weekly game show, which is co-owned by Vodacom, South Africa’s foremost cellular provider, helped boost awareness of the Ellerine Holdings’ participating brands — Oxford Furnishers, Town Talk, FurnCity, and Ellerines. It also increased sales of Vodacom cellular products, which were sold through the Ellerine participating stores.

“There’s no other game show where you could win so much money (in South Africa),” says Conceptualise

representative Amanda Slabber. “$100,000 is a life changing impact in the target market we were aiming for. It is a huge prize and most people can’t even imagine it.”

The excitement surrounding the prize helped draw people into Ellerine stores. Those who purchased a Vodacom product through one of the participating Ellerine stores were automatically entered into a central data base.


“The promotion was a big success and we are planning another in 2003. Besides the fact that our objectives were achieved it was also very fulfilling to be able to award a prize that had a life changing impact on one of our loyal customer’s lives.”
Joseph Gunther
Marketing Director Ellerine Holdings

A drawing was held to qualify those who would participate in the “Fortune for You” game show for the $100,000 grand prize. The show, which ran for 26 weeks, had one finalist per show. To win, the finalist had to spin two wheels, each with 12 slots. Each wheel had a slot labeled with the grand prize amount of $100,000. If the arrow on both wheels pointed to the prize-winning slots, the contestant took home the winning amount.

Finalist Caroline Nkosi, who comes from an underprivileged area of South Africa, had borrowed spending money from a friend for her trip to the game show. “She was very excited about the prize she’d already won.

I don’t think she even considered the possibility of winning the grand prize,” says Slabber.

When both wheels stopped on the grand prize slots, Nkosi and the film crew burst into tears. “It was a very moving moment and one none of us will ever forget,” says Slabber.

For winner Nkosi, the prize is a chance at a better life. She’s bought a truck to help her husband in his grocery business, and a house for her family. She also purchased a sewing machine so she can start her own business, and is investing the remainder for her children’s education and her retirement.

For the sponsors, the contest generated an amazing amount of publicity and revenue — so much so that they plan to pick up the show for another season. “The client is extremely happy with the results so far,” says Slabber.