2013 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

With no detailed data or monitoring of Branded Entertainment within the Middle-East, forecasting or providing an accurate summary of the market is somewhat difficult. However, from our own research (both brand & audiences) and of course BE campaigns, we’ve seen that there is a real appetite for creating and consuming content in the region. In terms of the restrictions, the rules around what can and can’t be done by brands vary significantly around the region such as KSA, but in many markets there is a lack of regulation (or governing body) that means a brands presence can be easily placed, associated or integrated within a piece of content. However, topics, themes and even situations must be taken into consideration when planning and producing any piece of Branded Content. These includes • The clothing and appearance of females • The proximity between female & male presenters • The treatment of culturally sensitive topics such as marriage and national dress • The use and discussion of Religion • The exclusion of any subject matter relating to sex & alcohol in KSA

Results

With high unemployment and rising living costs – there has been little for Moroccan youth to cheer about. Approaching its 20th anniversary, McDonald’s had the perfect opportunity to get closer to youth and inject some much-needed optimism into Morocco. Like youth worldwide, talent shows have captured the attention of young Moroccans. However, audience involvement is often limited to watching as economic realities mean many cannot provide support to their compariots. 5m Morrocans live on around $1.50 a day so $2 SMS to vote is a lot to ask. In response, we created ‘J’Aime Ton Talent’ – a place for young Moroccans to showcase their talents and emotions for McDonald’s at no-cost. By offering a free platform for youth to share their talents, we could provide them with an opportunity to be recognized and positively connect them with McDonald’s. At the same time, we could completely involve them in McDonald’s 20th anniversary celebrations. With young Moroccans incredibly tech-savvy, heavy web users and so socially connected, ‘J’Aime Ton Talent’ was created with digital consumption in mind, becoming Morocco’s first online platform for talent sharing. On offer to the five most talented individuals was a share of 1 Million Dirhams ($100K) – a first in Morocco. Potential talents could compete in five categories - Music, Comedy, Photo, Video & Art. Making the hot or not decisions were judges including DJ Momo, Younes Lazrak, Mali Mohamed, Dino Sebti and El Moulim Arsi. Talents were judged on four factors - theme, technique, originality and of course integration of McDonald’s. All submissions were encouraged to share entries across social networks and unlike other talent initiatives votes were free – courtesy of McDonald’s. Multiple touchpoints were used to support ‘J’Aime Ton Talent’ including TV, radio, outdoor, ambient, partnerships, magazines, merchandizing and POS.

Through ‘J’Aime Ton Talent’, we provided our target audience with entertaining content that was both compelling and relevant. This was achieved by a thorough understanding of our target audience and unearthing key insights that were used to form the basis of our strategy and subsequent idea. Full details of these insights, along with the challenge and creative execution can all be found in the next section.

We gave Moroccan youth a completely immersive and engaging experience that was entirely built around them and the things that make them tick. J’Aime Ton Talent has garnered 178,256 submissions to date across the five talent categories - nearly three times more than initially targeted. Whilst on the J’Aime Ton Talent site, users spent an average of 8 minutes per visit – the equivalent of 2 years of rich and entertaining brand interaction. Finally, from a business perspective, weekly visits to McDonald’s rose by 7% – three times initial targets. After successfully celebrating its 20th anniversary, McDonald’s remains number one. SOURCES: http://www.jaimetontalent.ma, Google analytics, McDonald’s Fast Track & Deep Dive