2016 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

Not known for Broadband, STC was behind in terms of market share due to fragmented tactical communication across the Broadband portfolios of its various Business units. They needed to come up with an umbrella platform for STC Broadband that would encompass all the services, be they fixed or mobile, in order to differentiate STC from the competition, and make it the point of reference. The challenge was to anchor an emotional benefit for this platform, enhancing STC’s image, while tackling the various functional RTBs. Building on the insight that Saudi Youth are very active online, we launched an online Hub, “LaYwagif”, which hosted entertaining Branded content in the form of sitcom series with multiple episodes and seasons. Sure enough, the portal became an entertainment destination, and we decided to post another series that went beyond the Broadband service: “Rayi7 Rayi7” was a newly created series that promoted Roaming services.

The Campaign

STC developed a new communication platform for its Broadband offering which addresses the Youth target audience. The new platform’s positioning responded to young people’s need to discover their purpose, express themselves and pursue aspirations. “Don’t let anything stand in your way”, the creative idea, was an open invitation to the Broadband generation that builds on this sense of discovery and achievement, as STC’s Broadband will go the extra mile to prevent anything from getting in the way of their Education, Entertainment, Fun, Business etc… To bring this creative idea to life and still be relevant to our target audience, we created an online Hub “LaYwagif” (first of its kind in the region), on which we posted various sitcom-like series, each with several episodes and seasons – featuring different characters and injecting subliminal messages about STC’s Products and Services, while above all being engaging and entertaining.

Creative Execution

Whenever a new episode was launched on the portal, a campaign was developed to draw our audience to the content. Each began with a teaser for the episode, driving attention to STC’s destination entertainment site “LaYwagif”, especially given that YouTube Saudi stars were being featured. Simultaneously, a targeted online campaign drove additional traffic and created hype around the episode. YouTube pre-rolls supported with online and social media ads, driving traffic to the episode’s on-site page. TV, print & outdoor were used to help build awareness and equity, featuring clips from the show and highlighting its key messages.

The popularity of the shows represented an unprecedented success in terms of positive results: Views: • LaYwagif shows achieved 24,492,567 views (across all episodes). • Rayi7 Rayi7 shows achieved 12,803,589 views (across all episodes). • That’s a grand total of 37,296,156 views. Brand Health Tracker: • STC became a consistently leading Brand in Broadband. • Brand Equity for STC in Broadband continues on an upward trend, with its Brand Equity Index of 8.7 exceeding that of Mobily (STC’s closest competitor) by at least 6 points. Market Share: STC became market leader – with a 50% market share in 2015, compared to 40% the previous year. The total earned publicity value for the STC Broadband is $470,000.