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.
Our young target audience spends a daily average of 15 hours on the internet. So we used YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, as pillars for our direct communication with Saudis.
That’s why these channels were for us the best medium for communication and activation, with minimal content filtering, and maximum direct, Saudi self-expression.
And to keep the discussions enjoyable, we used comedy to send refreshingly honest fun messages.
The Brief
In a market known for censorship and considered one of the top 10 enemies of the internet with over 400.000 pages blocked we had to find a way to encourage young Saudis to be as bold and refreshingly honest with a no-bullshit attitude – just like Sprite is.
With insights from partners and focus group discussions we realized that we have to increase awareness by spreading our message of refreshing honesty with comedy and keep up the engagement levels with ongoing communication starters taking an honest spin on life and social struggles.
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 cancelled, 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.
Execution
Once the idea for Sprite Minalakhir was born and extensive research into relevant topics were finalized we started the shooting and production of our 5 minute video comedy episodes right where our target audience sits.
We aired on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and the Minalakhir-website.
The first few weeks we received harsh criticism from our target audience who was not prepared for a brand as bold and honest as Sprite.
Staying true to ourselves and our brand message we soon increased the number of our followers and contributors who started self-expressing, communicating and spreading the message. Our young Saudis became our voice online which encouraged us to pursue our plans.
The Situation
With the task to bring Sprite to life, in the heavily censored KSA, we created an online interactive platform for Saudi self-expression. To find the right insights and talents, we collaborated with “Sa7i”, a daring YouTube channel.
Our target audience spends a daily average of 15 hours online. Not only were we spreading the refreshing truth on our special edition Sprite cans around KSA, but to activate our campaign we launched a 5-minute online video series taking an honest spin on life. So we used YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, as pillars for our communication with Saudis and created a Minalakhir-website.
The Strategy
Entertainment programming on television and radio is subject to government censorship and control in Saudi Arabia, this includes all branded content of any kind.
Digitally, although the kingdom of Saudi Arabia represents one of the largest digital markets in the Middle East, it is still considered one of the top 10 enemies of the internet with over 400.000 pages blocked.
To bring Sprite back to life and spread the message of refreshing honesty through 5 minute video episodes we needed to identify the right platforms for our target audience where they had the right for self-expression.
With insights from Saudi partners and focus group discussions we went live with YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and a website and encouraged young Saudis to follow Sprite and express themselves around relevant topics around life and society.