2014 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Media consumption trends in the region show increasing popularity of reality TV shows and talent shows in specific. There is a growing trend of heroing the consumer and transforming the ordinary next-door consumer into a celebrity and propelling them into stardom. Piggy-backing on this trend, brands currently act as sponsors for big shows to generate top-of-mind awareness. In addition to spot buy, strategic product placement guarantees visibility throughout the show. That said, brands are now slowly moving into creating branded content, less on mass channels such as TV and more on owned platforms (Youtube, websites) and shying away from TV that requires high investment. However, given that TV viewership rates in the GCC can sometimes go up to 80-90%, creating relevant content on TV becomes an un-missable opportunity for brands. This is especially true for mass/masstige brands that benefit from speaking to wide audiences who are continuously consuming TV content. Given this context, branded content is poised to become more popular in the GCC region. In regards to restrictions, brands have to abide by the media channel’s rules – especially TV. TV stations sometimes demand content to be shared through their social media, in an attempt to calibrate brand’s exposure and control content quality.

Results

Amongst growing competition and considering little differentiation between physical products sold at different retail stores, Faces (beauty retailer with wide network in ME) needed to drive further differentiation for its offering based on intangible assets that are true to the Faces brand: beauty expertise and local know-how. We needed to establish Faces as an expert within the beauty retail industry and demonstrate a wide understanding of the needs of the local audience. Faces knows that every woman desires to be uniquely beautiful, seeking advice that is both accessible and reliable. In a way, she is searching for ways to become an expert herself. Building on the insight, we created Wojooh Jamalek (Faces of Your Beauty): a live 15-minute beauty contest that ran on MBC1’s Sabah Al Kheir Ya Arab program. Contest relied on audience participation and gave chance for ambitious women to demonstrate their artistry and share their passion. Judged by three fashion/beauty experts, one of eight chosen contestants was eliminated each week, resulting in one winner named Faces Beauty Makeup Star. The campaign was launched through the brand’s owned media (FB page/ Website) in which a teaser campaign ran to recruit participants. Then we launched the competition across several media platforms. Print and display media were the main media support to the program to drive consumers to the brand’s social media sites. Pillar Pan Arab magazines were selected to ensure wider reach across the GCC to generate more traffic. We supported the campaign with TV spot buy to associate Wojooh Jamelek with Faces. We also sustained communication through continuous PR coverage in dailies, weekly magazines and online websites. In addition to the expected press releases, we created relevant content for readers through make-up tips and advice from the contestants.

Online campaign analytics reveal that the cost per view for the content published online was 62.5% lower than the market benchmark, indicating organic sharing of content, less due to paid media, but more to engagement with the content itself. In addition, customer service feedback from stores around the region witnessed an increased demand for in-store beauty styling tips and make-overs, with special requests to meet the winner make-up artist. This indicated a shift in consumers’ minds as to what the brand can offer in addition to the commoditized products sold at the store.

The campaign exceeded the sales targets set for each of the markets and resulted in a consolidated 16% increase versus the same period of the previous year. Market Sales Growth in (Mar-July 2013) vs same period 2012 Target Growth KSA +23% +18% Kuwait +9% +5% Bahrain +5% +4% Consolidated markets +16% +6% In addition to clear sales results, campaign exceeded its online targets, delivering lower than market benchmarks. • Website visits jumped from 87,154 to 208,522 (139% increase) • Unique visitors increased from 63,989 to 125,625 (96% increase) • 481,328 views of which 403,482 unique views for the videos uploaded • CPV (cost per view) of $0.03 , below benchmark of $0.08 • Display campaign: 4.4 million impressions, 82K clicks This campaign was the first of its kind within the beauty retail category. Due to its significant results (sales, free media publicity, and online engagement levels), client ensured that we run this operation for a second season.