2016 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

Arabic coffee is deeply ingrained in the Arab culture and a true part of Middle Eastern tradition. The Arabic coffee market is also 4 times the size of Instant coffee. To tap into this large and potentially profitable segment, NESCAFÉ launched Arabiana, the world’s first truly INSTANT Arabic Coffee in September 2013. Today the brand is still quite young. Ramadan is when (traditional) Arabic coffee consumption peaks, so it was the perfect time for NESCAFÉ Arabiana to be active. A big challenge for the brand was to change a well-entrenched habit among Arabic coffee drinkers. We wanted them to switch from purchasing loose unbranded coffee from local roasteries, to purchasing NESCAFÉ Arabiana from supermarkets. As most FMCG brands tend to be rather serious and traditional in their approach to Ramadan communication, NESCAFÉ Arabiana focused instead on the lighter side of Ramadan, drawing on the quirky Saudi humour that is (also) a distinguishing quality of the holy month, to launch its campaign. In May 2014, NESCAFÉ Arabiana created “Talking Cups” for Arabic coffee drinkers across Saudi Arabia. This integrated campaign had a series of funny online videos about a family of illustrated coffee cups as its focal point. The sketches satirizied the eccentricities of Saudi society and were inspired by typical Saudi characters and situations that highlight the connection between coffee and local communities. In terms of media, Arabiana could not hope to match the spending from beverages (such as PEPSI), that have huge budgets for Ramadan. We took advantage of the massive online video revolution in Saudi and focused our efforts on online platforms, the channel most relevant to Saudi youth, as a cost-effective means to introduce NESCAFÉ Arabiana into our audience’s everyday conversations. “Talking Cups” surpassed expectations. Ramadan sales of (all) NESCAFÉ instant coffee rose by 25%. Arabiana alone achieved incremental sales of 90% over the previous year’s figures. Social media was abuzz with high video viewership, discussions, engagement and sharing of personalized cups. As of July 2014, the brand had more than 3 million paid views and 4 million organic views, while YouTube subscribers increased by 190% (vs 90% target). A post analysis test showed high likeability for both the promo and the YouTube shows, with 56% having purchased NESCAFÉ Arabiana coffee after seeing the promo. NESCAFÉ Arabiana proved that good content will drive consumer desire and business results.