2013 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

After 6 episodes, BlackBerry improved their preference by 5%** Consideration increased by 4%** while Apple dropped by 1%** BlackBerry segment’s “HaroBnaro” was an immediate hit, received a staggering 5.3 million views*. Fans’ posted 31,500 comments* and 161,000 likes* on YouTube With 90,000 downloads*** to date the app rose to become the no.1 local app on App World in Saudi Arabia. BlackBerry managed to reverse their downhill preference trend by tying up with one of Saudi’s most influential personalities by creating an exclusive entertainment experience for its users and allowing them to be part of a satire revolution.

Creative Execution

Meet Omar Hussein, John Stewart of Saudi Arabia, creator of the satire show 3al6ayer (AALTAYER); a YouTube based show with 43 million views* and 500,000 subscribers*. For the first time, we invited Saudi youth to be part of the show. Omar seamlessly wove BlackBerry into 1.5 minute segment of his 7-minute show called “HaroBnaro” (“Hot out the Oven”). Using the fans’ input, he brought his coveted sense of humor and satire to create his most memorable segment to date. The interactivity between Omar and his BlackBerry fans was designed around his own unique and culturally relevant style. We created a BlackBerry mobile app that allowed fans to submit topics, messages, requests, questions and ideas for the show, get access to exclusive content, fan video replies, behind the scenes and watch the show. The app was supported on Aaltayer's YouTube channel, BlackBerry’s social pages and featured in BlackBerry App World.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

In a period where Samsung and Apple launched their new S3 and iPhone5, BlackBerry was struggling to sustain its relevance among youth in Saudi. BlackBerry needed a breakthrough platform to make it a preferred brand again. Saudi media is widely government and censorship-controlled. Youth struggle to find appealing mainstream content that speaks their language or allows them to participate in building their own entertainment experience. This paved the way for a new source of entertainment lead by young talent on YouTube, who have their own voice and who are becoming a phenomenon with millions of followers. Video has become the leading activity among Saudi smartphone users and generating the highest YouTube views globally. Saudi Youth created their own kind of uprising, a satire revolution. A perfect opportunity for BlackBerry to reconnect and reverse the brand’s declining equity making it a preferred brand once again.