2016 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

As one of Lebanon's leading brands, Al Rifai has a responsibility to maintain its leader's position at a time when brands are fighting for attention. The client wanted to launch a Ramadan campaign that would stand out from the clutter while also developing their CSR initiatives during the Holy Month. We wanted to create a feel-good, emotional piece that would reinforce Al Rifai's leadership position, but place it as a socially-aware, culturally-connected brand, inciting a personal conversation between brand and customer. However, with a limited budget we needed to find a medium that would allow for maximum reach and effectiveness.

Results and Effectiveness

Within the first week of its launch, the film received 500,000 views, thousands of likes and comments as well as messages from all around the world praising the initiative. The campaign quickly spread online, with the brand being lauded for supporting an important social problem as well as showing Islam in a positive light, at a time when it is getting a lot of negative media attention. In terms of sales, the film raised awareness in markets where Al Rifai was previously unknown - which was evident in the increased global online sales during Ramadan and the months after.

Creative Execution

The film was implemented mainly on Facebook. The limited budget didn't allow for a lot of media expenditure and therefore left us with the option of placing our funds on pushing the film to go viral - making sure that it bounced from newsfeed to newsfeed to gain exposure.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Al Rifai's existing customers have a very trusting relationship with the brand. As one of the heritage Lebanese brands, it is is seen as a symbol of endurance and quality by its customers. Ramadan is the most expensive time of the year for a Pan Arab TV campaign. With a limited budget, anything we did would be lost in the clutter. We needed to create a campaign that was so compelling, that it would advertise itself. We needed to win the Ramadan audience.