The Hustling Times @ Norrsken

We made the news. Literally!

Combustion orchestrated a tactical print promotion campaign, by designing an entire newspaper for Pebla - an early-stage Rwandan fintech startup & challenger brand. The limited-run newspaper was specifically addressed to, & targeted at, Norrsken East Africa’s diverse mix of venture capitalists & investors, tech-curious individuals, & potential partners working in Norrksen House, Kigali, where Pebla’s new working space is located.

To illustrate the hardships typically faced by African startups in their early days, we named the newspaper The Hustling Times. A testament to the grit & determination of the brand’s young & pioneering founding team.

Inside it are 6 full page ads for Pebla, promoting the Pebla app’s features, its coming-soon arrival on all device App Stores, as well as QR codes to scan & join its already populated waitlist (9K+ people), & test an early-access beta of the Pebla super app. 6 full page ads that the brand would otherwise have to pay a fortune to secure (on a very limited startup budget) in any other newspaper, & with no real target audience.

So we made the news. Literally!

& all of Norrsken is reading all about it. “This the beginning of something special here at Norrsken House”, said Elie Habimana, Managing Director for Norrsken East Africa.

The decision to print a newspaper was actually done out of respect. Rwanda is one of the cleanest countries in Africa. So anything remotely close to litter, or anything that could end up flying down the street, or anything scattered about as stickers on streetlights, walls, doors, gates or floors will get you in trouble. But what about a newspaper? Placed in a very specific context? Targeting a very specific group of people? For one day? & that’s where it all began.

We collaborated with Don’t Be A Stranger on art direction, to give The Hustling Times newspaper an impressive level of intentionality in its design. The back page design is a direct reference to Imigongo; the traditional design system of Rwanda, known by its instantly recognizable geometric line patterns in black & white. Because if you want to visually communicate on a deep level with Rwandans, you do it with Imigongo patterns. We even put it inside the newspaper’s masthead as a kind of logo.

The Hustling Times was - & continues to be - a successful marketing effort. “The Pebla newspaper” - as it is being referred to amongst Norrsken members - has led to 8,600 impressions in under 24 hours, made Pebla the most popular startup in the Norrsken venture hub, & helped to secure several investment pitch opportunities within the 48 hours since the 6 copies were distributed around the hub. Funny enough, 4 out of 6 of the newspapers have also gone missing!