2015 Winners & Shortlists

Creative Execution

We created an online series starring famed ex-footballer Barakat struggling to find a job after retirement. Each episode portrays a situation where he attempts to become an online entrepreneur only to be shot down by his grandmother “Bakinam” - a funny and cynical old lady who give the impression that anyone – even a grandmother – could use these services, emphasizing ease of use. Throughout all scenarios, Bakinam schools Barakat on Vodafone’s online services. The three webisodes highlighted each service, and the combination of compelling content pushed the services into the spotlight to be the first Egyptian telecom campaign that’s entirely digitally-led.

In one month, episodes reached 80% of our Facebook target audience (16 Million). Video content received 136% more views than the set KPIs, leading to 15% increase in total channel video views. Qualitative success was also evident. Major news portals and personal YouTube channels shared the viral material, showing the target’s likability to the webisodes. Super Teta references were all over Egyptian social media. E-shop traffic increased by 92% while Facebook witnessed an increase of 18% new fans and the community generated 47% more interactions. Mobile application downloads increased by 20% and 99% of the current users updated their application.

Leveraging its leadership on the digital space, Vodafone embraced the objective of shifting consumers’ mindset from offline services to its new online assets such as the e-shop, mobile app, and website services. Despite the ease and reliability of these services, most customers – including our target audience, 16 to 34 years old – stood behind barriers of fear and distrust of making use of the online services. They did, however, respond to video content and social media engagement. A campaign that promotes online services to the younger generation target had to be communicated strictly online. For a target that is also a heavy social media user, our media strategy had to make sure we push the webisodes heavily to reach them whenever and wherever they’re interacting all the time.