2015 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Brands don’t customize a lot when it comes to integration especially automotive brands who limit themselves to product placements. Rarely do brands push to go beyond traditional integration to co-create content with channels and shows themselves. Additionally, creating content for a market like KSA has always had its restrictions. Brands and agencies have to be mindful of the conservative and traditional nature of the society that Saudis will risk anything to preserve. This leads to content on mediums such as TV to be heavily censored. Leading broadcasting groups like MBC have a very strict guideline on branded content in the region, ensuring content created is not entering advertising territory and more importantly is providing the viewer with added value. This environment of restrictions has led to generic branded content.

Results

"Built Ford Tough" is more than a tagline, it’s the brand promise. Ford wanted to bring this brand promise to life in a region that hadn’t been exposed to it. Ford wanted to go beyond a well-produced TVC to showcase their line-up of trucks. MMA is a test of extreme toughness and versatility, which resonates well with the Built Ford Tough brand positioning of having the toughest vehicles that adapts to any environment. Through integrations on Desert Force and Al Batal, we were able to take advantage of a holistic campaign across on-ground, TV, Online and Social, allowing us to showcase the trucks in action and bring the brand to life. The “Build Ford Tough” (BFT) trucks were integrated in the reality shows every step of the way. Ford Trucks were the official cars for transportation across the series. During fight sequences, Ford enjoyed prime visibility with center cage branding. Key features of the trucks were brought to life through tailor-made fighter challenges, seamlessly integrated into the show. Ford’s Strongest Fighter Challenge tasked fighters to showcase their strength by pulling the trucks across the finish line. The towing capacity was demonstrated through a tug of war challenge while its high load capacity was on display during training where fighters had to load the trucks with tyres. With MBC Action’s Desert Force, Ford received massive on-ground exposure through car placement, BFT logo on staff t-shirts and more. An online competition around the brand was created on Facebook, for a chance to meet the fighters and ask one TOUGH question which was then broadcast on MBC.net. Al Batal’s episodes were televised across Fox Channels and on their YouTube page with the watermarked BFT logo. Through an effective sponsored integration, Ford annexed all competition from being associated with MMA in the region.

MMA is the fastest growing sport in the Arab world as evidenced by surge in fans but it was still untapped by brands. We selected the two leading MMA properties in the region, Desert Force and Al Batal for integrated sponsorships. Then we turned Ford from a sponsor to an integral part of the shows. On social media platforms of both shows, teasers and episode snippets were pushed by online paid media and further supported through outdoor branding. To create buzz around the launch of the new seasons, both shows held on-ground events such as live weigh-ins with heavy Ford presence.

With dominant branding across the show and 50% airtime exposure during fight sequences, the brand couldn’t be missed. The integrations contributed to an 8% increase in 2014 Ford SUV sales vs. 2013. Through YouTube & Shahid.net, the brand gained more than 2M earned views on the respective show channels. With Desert Force, we received AED 8M net media value of exposure for Ford i.e., 50% free additional net media value in comparison to investment plus an additional AED 3.6M free branded content value. Moreover, the on-ground activation contributed to over 14,000 people being exposed to the Ford brand. With custom integrations, industry leading brand exposure, and real business results, these collections of branded content are truly Built Ford Tough.