2015 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

On the digital platform, there is a high level of freedom on content, and the restrictions primarily pertain to scenes around alcohol, sexual content, other anti-Islamic content, or any discussion that can be taken as being anti-government.

Results

The Black Abaya, a traditional black gown worn by Arab Women, has long been the symbol of Arab conservatism. However, sweeping winds of change across the middle east have enabled Arab women to push boundaries in many aspects of their lives including fashion. We knew that if we were able to champion a Abaya fashion revolution, we could elevate Persil Abaya Shampoo, Henkel’s specialized liquid detergent for black Abayas, to an iconic brand within the Abaya care segment, thus overcoming the threat of similar offerings by over spending competition. Through social monitoring across the region, we identified up and coming designers who were exploring the rejuvenation of the traditional Abaya style and allowed our audience to choose who would become Persil’s champions of change. To bring this fashion revolution to life, we partnered with 6 of the chosen champions to design and tailor modern Abaya collections and produced 6 pieces of inspirational and interactive content revolving around the designers’ sources of inspiration, styles, journeys, struggles, and even an inside view into their homes and closets. Hosted on Persil Abaya Shampoo’s social platforms, the content became the heart of the campaign. But the campaign proliferated into a “cross platform” activation. While digital media drove the activation, we also tapped into MBC1, the most prominent TV station, and kicked off a monthly segment featuring a fashion show for the designers’ work. Women rallied behind these budding designers for inspiration. Open conversations allowed them to share behind the scenes footage, instagram exclusive sneak peaks into upcoming designs, and ideas around abaya accessories.

We had a heavy promotional campaign online, living on Facebook & YouTube. Through these platforms, we advertised our episodes to the relevant female audience in the GCC, and before every episode advertised trailers where we provided a sneak-peak of the forthcoming episode.

Our drive towards creating an influential fashion initiative delivered staggering efficiency results including: Over 7 million impressions Reached 4.2 million unique eyeballs, Recruited 20k fans on Facebook More than 2 million video views The campaign contributed to a 5 % boost in sales in KSA and uplifted positive sentiment and perception, keeping Persil Abaya Shampoo as the #1 brand for Abaya care and fashion. Lastly, championing this abaya revolution, spearheaded a fashionista movement that continues to inspire Arab women towards self expression.