Coronation communicates trust through iconic South African story

6 July 2012
Coronation communicates trust through iconic South African story

Coronation Fund Managers’ new television commercial, based on the remarkable true South African story of conservationist Lawrence Anthony as captured in his bestseller ‘The Elephant Whisperer’ will launch during the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics tomorrow evening. The commercial can also be viewed on Coronation’s website, www.coronation.com/trustisearned.

Shot by award-winning director Robin Goode of Giant Films, the commercial recreates how in 1999 Anthony provided refuge on his Thula Thula game reserve to a herd of rogue elephants that were destined to be killed. Against all odds, Anthony managed to rehabilitate the herd and ensure their safety and longevity at the reserve. At times he put his life at risk, but through his constant acts of humanity and perseverance won the trust, firstly of the matriarch Nana and, through her, the entire herd. “This remarkable demonstration of trust earned over time made the story a perfect fit for Coronation, a company that shares this ethos, and builds on their previous commercial based on the wonderful true-life story of Christian the Lion,” commented FoxP2 executive creative director Justin Gomes.

Says Coronation chief investment officer, Karl Leinberger: “When our agency (FoxP2) presented the idea of using Anthony’s story in our commercial I immediately identified with it, having read the book two years prior. It is, beyond doubt, a powerful story of how trust is earned over time, and what is more, it is a true South African story.”

Leinberger adds: “As a business we know very well the constant focus required in building and maintaining our clients’ trust. With the ongoing global economic crisis the relationship of trust continues to be tested as investors seek to protect their hard earned assets. For close to two decades, earning our clients’ trust through long-term wealth creation has been our number one priority.”

Sadly, some weeks prior to filming, Anthony passed away and so the commercial is told through the eyes and voice of his wife, Françoise Malby-Anthony, which adds another layer of emotion and authenticity to this remarkable story, says Gomes. The role of Lawrence is played by renowned South African actor-director Albert Maritz.

The elephants used in the commercial were with the full support of the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization, an independent, non-profit group founded by Anthony in 2003. During filming the welfare of the elephants was monitored by veterinarian Hamish Currie, a director of NGO Back To Africa. Coronation is a proud sponsor of both the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization and Back To Africa.

Perspectives of the story and the message that it communicates are available for download from www.coronation.com/trustisearned. Those who have been interviewed include Coronation CIO, Karl Leinberger, Lawrence’s wife, Françoise, and David Bozas, the game ranger who featured so prominently in the book.

Enquiries:
Louise Pelser, Coronation Fund Managers
T: 021 680 2216
M: 076 282 3995
E: lpelser@coronation.co.za

Notes to the editor:
Coronation Fund Managers
Coronation Fund Managers Limited is one of southern Africa’s most successful third-party fund management companies. As a pure fund management business it provides individual and institutional investors with expertise across Developed Markets, Emerging Markets and Africa. Clients include some of the largest retirement funds, medical schemes and multi-manager companies in South Africa, many of the major banking and insurance groups, selected investment advisory businesses, prominent independent financial advisors, high-net worth individuals and direct unit trust accounts. We are 29% staff-owned, have offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Gaborone, Windhoek, London and Dublin and are listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. As at the June 2012 quarter-end, assets under management total R309 billion. Coronation is a corporate member of the WWF.
For more information visit www.coronation.com.

Lawrence Anthony
Born in Johannesburg South Africa, Lawrence Anthony was an internationally acclaimed conservationist, environmentalist, explorer, and bestselling author. Given the epithet ‘South Africa’s conservation giant’, Anthony was also named by respected author and explorer Tom Clynes as ‘one of his six most influential and impressive people.’ Among his many recognitions and awards, he was a recipient of the United Nations ‘Earth Day Medal’ presented at the United Nations in New York in 2004 and recipient of the Earth Society ‘Earth Trustee’ award presented at the United Nations in 2004. He also was an international member of the esteemed Explorers Club in New York. Anthony was the owner and long-standing head of conservation on the Thula Thula game reserve in South Africa and founder of The Earth Organization (recently renamed The Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization), a privately registered, independent, International conservation and environmental group with a strong scientific orientation. An acknowledged African wildlife expert, Anthony is probably best known for his bold conservation initiatives, including the rescue of the Baghdad Zoo at the height of the war in Iraq in April 2003, and his expeditions into the jungles of southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in an attempt to keep the Northern White Rhino from extinction. At the age of 61, he sadly passed away just ahead of his planned March 2012 conservation gala dinner in Durban to raise international awareness of the rhino-poaching crisis, and to launch his new book, ‘The Last Rhinos: My Battle to Save One of the World's Greatest Creatures’.
For more information visit www.lawrenceanthony.com.

The Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization
The Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization is an independent international conservation and environmental organisation with a strong scientific orientation. Founded by South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony in 2003, the organisation seeks to reverse the dwindling spiral of the plant and animal kingdoms and our environment through education and action. It has its head office in South Africa and operates in seventeen countries. The organisation is also the only affiliate of South Africa’s oldest scientific association, the South African Association for the Advancement of Science [S2A3]. The Presidents of both S2A3 and the prestigious Royal Society of South Africa sit on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization.
For more information, contact Yvette Taylor, executive director, on 031 266 2024 or info@earthorganisation.org, or visit www.earthorganization.org.

Back To Africa
Back to Africa was founded in 2000 as a non-profit organization that offers an alternative approach to species conservation. Over the period the organisation has concerned itself with the restoration of mammalian populations in Africa that have been decimated as a result of poaching and habitat destruction. Back to Africa identified that by relocating rare and endangered African species that exist in zoos worldwide to their natural habitat, one could achieve the dual objective of enhancing the existing populations as well as improving their genetic integrity. To date, the organization has successfully reintroduced the rare sable antelope to the Mokala National Park close to Kimberley and has recently moved the remaining four fertile Northern White rhinos left on earth to the Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya.
For more information visit www.backtoafrica.co.za.