2011 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

Increase trial by 25% among Egyptian households & market share by 5% via taking the highly engaging TV & viral campaigns of Never Say No to Panda to the REAL WORLD.6 months after launch of TV & viral campaigns (Nov 2010),it was evident that consumers were hungry for a face to face interaction with the beloved Panda.We took our Panda to the stores around Egypt in a program that runs until end of 2011,where we target to sample 2 million samples in a highly engaging fashion that communicates the Brand Idea of irresistibility & its creative interpretation of Never Say NO to Panda.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

Obviously the in store execution of Never Say No to Panda lent itself naturally to the “Big Idea”. However, in order not to become just another in stores event, we had to wait 6 months after the launch of the TV and viral campaigns in order for our Panda to be well known among most Egyptians for its attitude and mission and in order to guarantee a strong level of consumer’s excitement and engagement. Consumers who were still saying “NO” to Panda and were still buying other brands were intercepted by our Panda at the shelf and were literally chased in a scary manner until they picked up the Panda brand instead. Those who still refused even when threatened by our scary Panda were later given a free sample, which obviously they couldn’t say NO to.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

This unique combination of; a sales drive, brand building and a sampling/ trial event in one has given consumers a rare opportunity to engage with the brand like no other brand ever did before in Egypt and has basically given consumers room to play the role of the “victims” featured in the Panda’s TV campaign and to live the experience in ''Real Life''. Results of ''Never say no to Panda'' indicates that Arab Dairy has taken over market leadership in White cheese in Egypt as per ''Tetra Pack'' volume purchases.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

The Activation program is a literal translation of the brand creative idea of “Never say no to Panda”. Consumers and fans around the world were communicating online their desire to meet and interact with our scary Panda. We thought of an idea to let them interact with the world most famous Panda while we were hammering the campaign idea by attacking only those who did not pick the Panda brand first. After the Panda’s appearance, most shoppers would immediately remember the TV campaign and under their mixed emotions of fear and joy, they would immediately switch to the Panda brand.