2015 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

Our integrated media campaign instantly moved the region. In one week, our Online Films received 1 million views with over 580,000 likes, comments, shares, retweets. By the last week of Ramadan, we reached more than 25 million people regionally, gaining over 11 million Social Media impressions with our campaign hashtag as a liberating outlet. And the region appreciated being understood, increasing their Brand Love by 42% (the highest Coca-Cola ever achieved in MENA & its most important global metric). We never wanted to change the Arab world, we just wanted to pave the way for stronger connections with our families.

Creative Execution

We first wanted to let our audience know that it is ok to break the norm, so we launched our campaign with inspiring TV ads we aired openly, featuring situations deeply relatable to all Arabs. To prove that it is possible to overcome our tensions, we then identified and reached out to leading Arab influencers who were struggling with their own inability to Open Up. We interviewed them up-close and personal, digging deep beyond the outer layers of their celebrity persona to uncover internal family struggles of their own. We resolved their tensions for the first time, surprising millions of their followers and inspiring them to have the same courage. We turned their candid stories into Online Films, establishing our campaign hashtag (#OpenUp) as an outlet of expression on Social Media. We then gave people the chance to share heartfelt messages with others through Mall Activations, strengthening their family connections.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

In the Arab world, expectations dominate our everyday lives. From the careers we’re expected to follow, the people our parents want us to marry, down to our formal behavior at home. These are all pressures we face, which creates extreme tension that we keep bottled up, afraid to express our true feelings as it’s considered taboo in society. During the month of Ramadan, when things are supposed to get better, brands put even more pressure on us with Ads that paint a fake, happy picture of our lives and families, making things even worse. As a big FMCG brand, Coca-Cola faced the risk of falling into this. So we decided to go the root of our tension: the fact that we don’t tell each other how we really feel as Arabs. We invited our audience to #OpenUp. To speak the unspoken and have a real connection with our families.