2014 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Branded Entertainment in the MENA region has become an ever increasingly popular platfomr for brands. Media channels especially TV stations have become increasingly open to working closely with brands not only as sponsors but as active contributors to programming content. At the moment the majority of branded entertainment is straightforward brand logo based visual sponsorship edits. However L'Oreal Maybelline has become one of the first brands to fully integrate within the show content.

Results

We started by building a Beauty Room backstage at the Arab Idol studios A room dedicated to Maybelline New York to show how all the contestants achieve their looks each week using Maybelline New York products We instilled our Eva Atallah to become a pillar in the production, leading a team of experts to style the contestants and create the make-up looks for the female contenders and presenters. Each week, we created a 'Live Feed' from the Beauty Room on the Maybelline New York Middle East Facebook page and the MBC Website for viewers to interact with all the backstage action. We shared behind the scenes photos of Eva making over the contestants ready for their performances on the live shows Eva revealed the Maybelline New York products she used to create these looks with the aim to inspire viewers to do the same. We also conducted a Beauty Room competition for women to share their look with winners getting the amazing opportunity to fly to Lebanon to watch the finales live. We created original online content for the Beauty Room’s online presence with how-to videos using Maybelline New York products We introduced ‘The Look of the Month’ – where we showed the best looks for the month that women could get inspired from to create their own star look. Our communications were timed to coincide with the biggest launch of the year, the iconic Colossal Kajal, and the comeback of the historical hero, the Colossal Mascara Smokey eyes.

We recruited star make up artist Eva Atallah as our brand expert, who had the experience and the much desired "it" factor that defines the Maybelline girl. Eva Atallah's journey with Maybelline started in New York, with an intense training program, to prepare her for her role. We introduced our new make up and look expert to the Arab world on the most popular TV show in the history of regional TV, Arab Idol. As a show that prides itself on showcasing the transformation of its contestants, it served as the ideal platform and partner to showcase the brand identity.

We achieved an 81% increase in sales of Colossal Kajal across the brand vs. the target of 50%. Became the #1 eye SKU across all competitor brands Maybelline New Yorks GRP’s increased by 366% vs. previous year Our Facebook fans of Maybelline New York, Middle East surpassed our target grew by 68% YouTube views ran into the millions We effectively expressed what Maybelline New York and the Arab World have in common; a love of beauty and the opportunity for individual expression through beauty.