2013 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

Sprite has been virtually non-existent in the Middle East for three years. We were tasked to bring it to life along with its core value message of being a refreshingly honest brand that doesn’t promote bullshit. Our strategy was to encourage young Saudis to adopt this kind of mindset in their lifestyle, and introduce Sprite as a refreshing soft drink that inspires you to be true to yourself. Our audience was not familiar with the brand, and has never been exposed to this bold tone of voice, especially in Saudi Arabia, where every kind of content is constantly filtered.

Creative Execution

We deliberately used YouTube as the main activation tool. Our young target audience represents 70% of the Saudi population, spending a daily average of 15 hours on the Internet. It was just right to use the only channel with minimal content filtering, and maximum self-expression: YouTube.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

We implemented an activation-led campaign by creating a 5-minute video series taking an honest spin on life. Sprite Minalakhir was born. We broadcasted on YouTube, our website, and social channels. Initially criticized by those unprepared for brutal honesty, it worked to our advantage.

Results

Although the campaign received harsh criticism in the first few weeks, in a period of only 8 weeks, we turned most haters into followers. We grew from only 53 fans Facebook to around 400,000 active fans, with over 6,000 participations in the competitions. The show went from almost getting canceled, to hitting over 5.5 million views… and counting. Annual sales growth of 2% in KSA jumped to an incredible 15% growth during the first half of the campaign! And most importantly, we created a self-expression movement around Saudi youth, encouraging them to say things the way they are.