2015 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

In Egypt, smartphones are the ultimate status symbol. They are only for the elite. To everyone else, there was no real need for smartphones in their daily lives. Not only were they limited by their means and intimidated by the unapproachable image, they were alienated by the very idea of the smartphone. So how do you launch Tecno Mobile, a lower tier Chinese brand to the masses? You democratize the smartphone.

Success of the Campaign

The commercials, and their punchlines spread like wildfire online, with many crowning the previously unknown brand's campaign as as the best among the giants vying for attention during the Egyptian version of the Super Bowl, Ramadan. Online engagement rate with the brand rose by 6900% and Tecno sold out of stock twice, all within the span of one month. The campaign also garnered heavy media attention, with many news outlets and blogs writing about it. And most importantly, launching Tecno as a household name in the Egyptian market.

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

In an unprecedented move, we decided to completely abandon the conventional polished world of technology communication. Instead of breathtaking lifestyle shots, we went down to the real world of Egyptians. We spoke to people using their own language, humor and insights, and brought smartphone benefits seamlessly to their daily lives. Everyone can like, comment, chat, video call, check-in and even take a selfie. Now everyone can own a smartphone. And we carried this idea through to our print and outdoor campaign. On the digital front, a change of image was also needed and so all brand communication was switched from English to Arabic.