2014 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

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.

Creative Execution

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.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

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. 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