2015 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Branded content is a slowly growing phenomenon in the Middle East. Apart from a few global FMCG brands, not a lot is being done in this category. One needs to get the right balance of content + strategy + reach using the right platforms - we have a long way to go in these terms. Restrictions that govern all advertising in the region apply to branded content – work must adhere to the region’s conservative mindset. Skin-show is a no-no, as are sensitive subjects like politics and religion. Legal approvals get delayed and it’s hard to stick to a predefined planning calendar. This is even more true for axiom as a large part of its audience comes from Saudi Arabia. Our campaign appeared on axiom’s YouTube channel only as it was a low-budget project. Our TA is sporadic, making it challenging to build a sustained like-minded audience over time. Content’s local relevance is the key to its success – maintaining core platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, partnering with key creators and influencers as well as keeping up with trends. All in all the relevancy of topics per brand needs to grow and that is the aim with axiom.

Results

The insight was based on the concept of Nomophobia – a real-life fear of being separated from your phone. As a telecom retailer, our client axiom wanted to make a statement about this before any other telecom brand from the region did. They were hoping to be seen as a brand that faces the issue rather than runs away from its responsibility as a smartphone retailer. So, the objective of this project had a bit of an image-building element in it, as well as creating something thoughtful and engaging to watch for axiom’s almost 57,000 subscribers. The smaller challenge was to do it quickly and on a low budget. The bigger challenge? How to tackle the subject of smartphone addiction despite being a retailer that sells smartphones. The whole process was treated as a simple social experiment that is turned into a documentary film. We convinced eight people that reflected Dubai’s ethnic diversity to take part and filmed them in areal waiting room. The shoot took just a day of filming, and no one who took part in the experiment knew what they had come for. They were simply filmed doing the things they always do. They all walked in as strangers and walked out as friends. All we did was put the footage together with a build up to explain to those who watched what happened behind the scenes, using interesting statistics to highlight the problem of smartphone addiction. The video was then given a catchy title – Eight strangers, one room – and released on Axiom’s YouTube Channel and promoted on its other social media channel.

The audience was firstly drawn in with an interesting yet not controversial title – the length was maintained at 3 minutes and it was built on a concept that pretty much everyone – especially younger people (the core of axiom’s audience), can relate to. UAE & KSA have the highest smartphone penetration in the world (#1 and #3), this was a subject that would resonate, be appreciated, more so as a brand that actually sells smartphones had dared to say it. We had turned the spotlight on something that happens in daily life and would lead to engaging conversations.

The content continues to get an increasing number of views on YouTube with over 50,000 views generated in a few hours. It led to an ongoing discussion about mobile phone usage and there were many responses which mentioned how much they can relate to the video. This was a first for axiom in terms of a serious message as it is usually a quirky, light-hearted brand. But despite that, it was well received and offered people food for thought by staying true to its core thinking – seriously unlike others.