2014 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

The unprecedented growth of digital has changed the way consumers discover content. TV is no longer the only screen through which consumers fulfil their desire for entertainment content as Digital, more specifically YouTube have emerged as alternative sources of consumption of entertainment. As a result of which, the lines are blurring across screens and today’s landscape is dominated with content transcending across screens. Most of the TV content is now made available across digital touch points such as YouTube, Shahed & Cinemoz and more importantly the movement of Digital content to TV consumption is also gaining momentum. We are now embarking into an era where demand from advertisers is also evolving which in return is opening up new channels of monetization via product placement, branded content, and content creation directly for brands. The rules & restrictions around the Arab world are different from the western culture; we can even see different regulations within the Middle East countries in addition to the absence of clear guidelines that gives the freedom for brands to express themselves freely. Some few watch outs needs to be taken into consideration while producing a piece of content within the Arab Culture: • The wear and appearance of females • The use and discussion of Religion, in addition to the elimination of any subject matter relating to sex & alcohol especially in countries that value the Islamic culture in their society

Results

As an ancient Arab art of storytelling, Hakawati has long been a tradition in the Middle-East, providing a powerful medium for bringing legends, fables, tales and adventures to life. More importantly its given generations of families an opportunity to sit and enjoy something together. As well as a month of religious rituals and practices, Ramadan is also an important part of the year for family gatherings. The challenge was to enhance these gatherings during Ramadan and cement McDonald’s position as a family restaurant. Research told us that whilst children are unquestionably the heart of any household, they often take a backseat during Ramadan, as they’re not obliged to fast and mum is busy preparing Iftar. In addition, entertainment choices are limited as broadcasters shape programming for adults. Therefore, our idea was to create ‘Al Hakawati’ – a storytelling series designed to bring both children and parents together during the holy month.

We created 15 stories with each delivered over two to 3mins episodes by renowned Arab actor Omar Mikati. Each story was scripted from scratch with the spirit of Ramadan at their core – teaching children something new everyday, whilst at the same time conveying powerful moral values. Hakawati was introduced as a standalone TV program which ran on Rotana Khaleejiah and Rotana Cinema and Al Waten TV as part of their daily grids but also published across digital assets such as Facebook and YouTube. As well as giving extended reach, it also offered families more opportunities to sit together and enjoy really storytelling. McDonald’s quickly became a strong force of content during Ramadan, something consumers haven’t seen before which resonates and strengthens the brand position as a family restaurant.

By using Branded Content that was relevant, compelling and entertaining, we successfully brought the family together during the most important time of the year. This in turn led us to significant increases in brand metrics including impression, recommendation and our key KPI objective of reputation, which we’ve exceeded by some distance. It was clear from analyzing social sentiment that Hakawati really engaged its audience with numerous messages of appreciation and gratitude. One story with a very happy ending.